The English side and their Welsh counterparts will face off in the same group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from holders and world number one South Africa before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
If the pools play out in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six group winners will face a team that finished third 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
