England together with Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English 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 knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play 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
