England along with Welsh Placed in the Same Group for the 2027 World Cup in Australia
England together with Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.
This pairing recalls their infamous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock group stage elimination.
Key Group Pairings
The Irish and Scotland also share a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Portugal, both made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that same group.
Notably, the victors of these two groups cannot meet holders and world number one the Springboks before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group.
Tournament Implications
Should the groups conclude in line with the current world rankings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would remain separated from both the English and the Irish until the final.
In that scenario, Argentina would be the remaining top-ranked nation on that half of the elimination bracket as those northern hemisphere teams.
Hosts Face Major Opener
Hosts the Wallabies find themselves alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.
The Wallabies will open the World Cup in the city of Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster match designed to jump-start the event.
Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have been paired with the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the USA and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the World Cup expands to twenty-four nations from the 20 who took part in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup history.
While the victor of Pool F may avoid some of the game's biggest beasts initially, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.
A total of four of the other six pool winners will play 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
