The English side together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing echoes their infamous clash in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.
Key Group Pairings
Ireland and Scotland also share a group together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a 36-14 win, with their opponents unable to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, complete that same group.
Significantly, the winners of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.
Tournament Ramifications
Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would remain separated from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Blockbuster Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will open the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a marquee match aimed at jump-start the competition.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are in a pool with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.
Larger Format for 2027
Los Pumas will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.
This edition will feature a round of 16 round for the first time in the competition's history.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the runner-up from Group B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
A total of four of the other six group winners will face a team that finished third from the initial group phase.
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
