England and their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical pool 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 pairing echoes their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish and the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 win, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Implications
If the pools play out in line with the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. France are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will face a third-placed side from the pool stages.
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
