🔗 Share this article

England together with Wales will face off in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, promising a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This draw echoes their memorable meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.

Other Notable Pool Pairings

The Irish and Scotland also share a pool once again, replicating the scenario from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.

Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, round out that same group.

Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks before the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.

Tournament Implications

Should the groups conclude in line with the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.

In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as England and Ireland.

Tournament Hosts Face Major Fixture

Hosts the Wallabies find themselves together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.

Australia will open the tournament in the city of 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, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool 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 World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.

The 2027 tournament will feature a last-16 stage for the very 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 runner-up from Group B – most likely Italy – in the last 16.

A total of four of the remaining six group winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.

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