England and Wales have been drawn in the same pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
Ireland alongside the Scots also share a group once again, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups conclude in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group 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
