The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their memorable meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish and the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. On that occasion, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, further top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
Rugby World Cup 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
