England along with Wales Drawn Together for the 2027 World Cup Down Under

England together with Wales have been drawn in the same group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated early encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This draw recalls their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at England's home ground played a part in the hosts' shock group stage elimination.

Key Pool Pairings

The Irish alongside the Scots have likewise been drawn in a group once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing win, with Scotland failing to advance to the knockout stages.

Los Teros and Os Lobos, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.

Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa until the final, presuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.

Knockout Ramifications

Should the pools play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and France would also be kept apart from the likes of the English and Ireland all the way to the championship decider.

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

Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener

Tournament hosts Australia have been drawn alongside their great rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Pool A.

Australia will open the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster match aimed at jump-start the event.

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

Expanded Format for 2027

Los Pumas will face Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.

The 2027 tournament will introduce a last-16 round for the very first time in the competition's existence.

Although the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will have to face the runner-up from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.

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

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