England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, promising a major early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.
This pairing mirrors their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where Wales' victory at England's home ground contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.
Other Notable Group Pairings
Ireland and the Scots also share a group once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents failing to advance to the quarter-finals.
Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks win their own group.
Knockout Ramifications
Should the pools conclude in line with the current global standings, other leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Major Fixture
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Los Leones and Canada as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 round for the very first time in the competition's history.
While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.
Four of the other six pool winners will face a third-placed side from the pool stages.
RWC 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
