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England together with Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a highly-anticipated pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by Tonga and the Zimbabwean Sables.

This draw echoes their famous meeting in the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup, where a Welsh win at Twickenham contributed to the hosts' shock early exit.

Key Pool Pairings

Ireland alongside the Scots also share a group together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland claimed a convincing win, with their opponents unable to progress to the quarter-finals.

Los Teros and Portugal, 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 are kept apart from defending champions and world number one the Springboks until the showpiece match, presuming the South Africans top their assigned pool.

Tournament Ramifications

If the groups conclude in line with the current global standings, other top favourites like New Zealand and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from both the English and the Irish until the championship decider.

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

Hosts Face Major Fixture

Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their trans-Tasman rivals and triple champions the All Blacks in Group A.

The Wallabies will kick off the tournament in Perth on 1 October 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at launch the event.

Elsewhere, reigning champions South Africa have drawn Italy, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, 2031 hosts the United States and Manu Samoa.

Larger Tournament for 2027

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

This edition will introduce a round of 16 stage for the very first time in the competition's history.

Although the winner of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the game's heavyweights initially, they will meet the runner-up from Pool B – most likely the Italians – 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