The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw recalls their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish alongside Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 win, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
If the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia find themselves alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture designed to jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are grouped with Japan, future 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 grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence.
While the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.
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
