England and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, just as the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks before the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Knockout Implications
If the pools conclude in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and the Irish until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and Canada as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 stage for the first time in the competition's history.
While the victor of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
