England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a 36-14 win, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
If the groups play out according to the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have drawn Italy, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in France.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third 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
