The English side and Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This draw recalls their famous clash in the group phase of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham played a part in the English team's surprise early exit.
Other Notable Pool Draws
Ireland alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group together, replicating the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each impressed as underdogs in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans win their own group.
Tournament Implications
If the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland until the championship decider.
In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on the same half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have drawn Italy, the Lelos and the Oaks. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Expanded Tournament for 2027
Argentina will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
Four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third 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
