England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw echoes their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise early exit.
Key Pool Draws
Ireland alongside Scotland also share a group together, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the final, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Implications
Should the groups play out in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining top-ranked nation on the same half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.
Four of the remaining six group 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
