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England together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This draw recalls their famous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the English team's shock group stage elimination.

Key Group Pairings

The Irish alongside Scotland also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the France 2023 tournament. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.

Los Teros and Portugal, both impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that Pool D.

Notably, the victors of these two groups are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their own group.

Knockout Ramifications

If the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other leading contenders like New Zealand and France would remain separated from both England and Ireland until the championship decider.

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

Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener

Hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.

The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.

In other groups, holders the Springboks have drawn Italy, the Lelos and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, 2031 hosts the USA and Manu Samoa.

Larger Tournament for 2027

Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the 20 who competed in France.

The 2027 tournament will feature a round of 16 stage for the first time in the competition's history.

While the winner of Pool F may be kept apart from some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – most likely Italy – in the first knockout round.

Four of the remaining six pool winners will play 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