England together with Wales have been drawn in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw echoes their infamous clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish and Scotland also share a group once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a 36-14 win, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the pools play out in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both England and the Irish until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face a third-placed side from the initial group phase.
RWC 2027 Groups
Pool A
- New Zealand
- Australia
- Chile
- Hong Kong
Pool B
- South Africa
- Italy
- Georgia
- Romania
Pool C
- Argentina
- Fiji
- Spain
- Canada
Pool D
- Ireland
- Scotland
- Uruguay
- Portugal
Pool E
- France
- Japan
- USA
- Samoa
Pool F
- England
- Wales
- Tonga
- Zimbabwe
