The English side and their Welsh counterparts find themselves placed in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This draw recalls their memorable meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Pool Pairings
The Irish and the Scots also share a group together, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.
Significantly, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from holders and top-ranked the Springboks until the final, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the groups play out in line with the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from both England and Ireland until the final.
Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Tournament Hosts Draw Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Pool A.
Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.
In other groups, reigning champions the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and the Oaks. France are grouped with Japan, future hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to twenty-four nations from the 20 who competed in 2023.
The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
Although the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights early on, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the remaining six group winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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