The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This draw mirrors their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the final, presuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the final.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the tournament in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the very first time in the competition's existence.
While the victor of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group 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
