The English side together with their Welsh counterparts will face off in an identical pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early clash in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing echoes their famous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Key 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 victory, with Scotland unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, who each impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and top-ranked South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
If the pools play out according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland until the final.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Blockbuster Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.
In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and Canada as the tournament grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
