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England and their Welsh counterparts have been drawn in the same pool for the World Cup in 2027, setting up a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Pool F by Tonga and Zimbabwe.

This pairing echoes their infamous meeting in the group phase of the 2015 tournament, where a Welsh win at England's home ground contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.

Key Group Draws

The Irish and the Scots also share a group once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, they secured a 36-14 victory, with Scotland unable to progress to the quarter-finals.

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

Notably, the winners of these two groups cannot meet defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the final, assuming the South Africans win their assigned pool.

Knockout Implications

Should the pools conclude according to the current world rankings, other top favourites like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the final.

In that scenario, Los Pumas would be the other top-ranked nation on the same side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland.

Hosts Draw Blockbuster Opener

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

Australia will kick off the tournament in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a marquee match designed to launch the competition.

In other groups, holders the Springboks have been paired with Italy, Georgia and Romania. The French team are grouped with Japan, 2031 hosts the United States and Samoa.

Larger Format for 2027

Argentina will take on Fiji, Spain and the Canadian team as the tournament grows to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in 2023.

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

While 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 Group B – probably Italy – in the first knockout round.

Four of the remaining six pool winners will play a team that finished third from the pool stages.

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