The English side together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's shock early exit.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and Scotland also share a group once again, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as underdogs in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Notably, the winners of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one South Africa before the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups play out in line with the current global standings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would remain separated from both England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee fixture aimed at jump-start the event.
In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.
Four of the other six group winners will face 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
