England and Wales have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock early exit.
Key Group Draws
Ireland and the Scots also share a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Implications
If the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group winners will play 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
