England and Wales will face off in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, replicating the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools conclude according to the current global standings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and Ireland until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have drawn Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce 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 game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group winners will play a third-placed side 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
