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England and Wales find themselves placed in an identical pool for the 2027 RWC, setting up a major pool stage encounter in Australia. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and Zimbabwe.

This pairing recalls their memorable clash in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at Twickenham played a part in the hosts' shock early exit.

Key Group Draws

The Irish alongside Scotland also share a group once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland secured a 36-14 victory, with their opponents unable to advance to the quarter-finals.

Los Teros and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that same group.

Notably, the victors of both Pool D and Pool F are kept apart from defending champions and world number one South Africa until the final, presuming the Springboks win their assigned pool.

Tournament Ramifications

Should the groups play out according to the current world rankings, further leading contenders like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish until the final.

In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that half of the knockout draw as those northern hemisphere teams.

Tournament Hosts Face Blockbuster Fixture

Tournament hosts Australia find themselves together with their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Pool A.

Australia will open the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition.

In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.

Expanded Tournament for 2027

Argentina will face the Flying Fijians, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the World Cup grows to 24 teams from the twenty who competed in 2023.

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

While the winner of England and Wales's group may be kept apart from some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Group B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round.

Four of the remaining six pool winners will play a third-placed side 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