England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as underdogs in France, complete that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, presuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.
This edition will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other 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
