The English side together with Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
Ireland alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa before the final, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
If the groups play out in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
Rugby World Cup 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
