England and their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Group Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 win, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa before the final, presuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups conclude in line with the current global standings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 stage for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six pool 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
