The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw mirrors their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside the Scots also share a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play 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
