England along with Wales Pitted in the Same Group for the 2027 World Cup in Australia
The English side together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their famous clash in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, Ireland secured a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the groups play out according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener
Hosts Australia find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, the Lelos and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's existence.
Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other 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
