England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' surprise early exit.
Key Group Draws
Ireland and Scotland also share a group together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, 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 the Springboks before the final, assuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
Should the groups conclude according to the current global standings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to launch the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a round of 16 stage for the first time in the competition's existence.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six group winners will face a team that finished third 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
