England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground contributed to the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 win, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from holders and world number one South Africa before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both England and Ireland until the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 stage for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the pool stages.
RWC 2027 Draw
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
