England along with Welsh Pitted Together for 2027 Rugby World Cup Down Under
The English side together with their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in an identical group for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage clash in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables.
This pairing mirrors 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 English team's shock early exit.
Key Group Draws
The Irish and the Scots also share a pool together, replicating the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland failing to progress to the knockout stages.
Uruguay and Os Lobos, who each impressed as surprise packages in the last World Cup, round out that same group.
Significantly, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa until the showpiece match, assuming the South Africans top their own group.
Tournament Implications
If the groups conclude according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish until the championship decider.
Under those circumstances, Argentina would be the other highly-seeded nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.
Hosts Draw Blockbuster Opener
Hosts the Wallabies have been drawn together with their trans-Tasman rivals and three-time winners New Zealand in Group A.
Australia will kick off the World Cup in the city of Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture designed to launch the competition.
In other groups, holders South Africa have been paired with Italy, Georgia and the Oaks. The French team are grouped with Japan, future hosts the United States and Samoa.
Larger Tournament for 2027
Los Pumas will take on the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in France.
The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 round for the first time in Rugby World Cup history.
Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's heavyweights initially, they will have to face the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the last 16.
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
