England together with their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a major early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Pairings
Ireland alongside the Scots also share a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked South Africa before the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
If the pools play out in line with the current global standings, further top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match aimed at launch the competition.
In other groups, holders South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will face Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the 20 who took part in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the rugby's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Group B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will play a third-placed side from the initial group phase.
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
