England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major early encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
Ireland and Scotland also share a group together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that Pool D.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one South Africa until the final, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland all the way to the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other 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
