England together with Wales have been drawn in an identical group for the 2027 RWC, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing recalls their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the showpiece match, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the groups play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture
Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to jump-start the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play a third-placed side from the pool stages.
RWC 2027 Draw
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
