England and Wales will face off in the same group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Draws
The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups play out in line with the current global standings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would remain separated 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.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and the Oaks. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool 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
