England and Welsh Placed Together for RWC 2027 in Australia

The English side and Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This pairing mirrors their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' surprise group stage elimination.

Other Notable Pool Draws

The Irish and the Scots have likewise been drawn in a pool once again, just as the scenario from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 victory, with Scotland failing to advance to the quarter-finals.

Uruguay and Os Lobos, both made a strong impression as underdogs in France, complete that Pool D.

Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and top-ranked South Africa before the final, assuming the Springboks top their assigned pool.

Knockout Ramifications

Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further top favourites like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland until the championship decider.

In that scenario, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.

Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener

Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.

The Wallabies will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the competition.

Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.

Larger Format for 2027

Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France.

The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.

Although the winner of Pool F may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.

Four of the other six pool winners will face a third-placed side 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