🔗 Share this article The English and Welsh Placed in the Same Group for the 2027 World Cup Down Under The group draw was overseen by sporting legends including former All Black Dan Carter. The English side and Wales find themselves placed in an identical group for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, setting up a major early clash in the tournament Down Under. Completing the group in Group F by Tonga and Zimbabwe. This pairing mirrors their memorable 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 surprise early exit. Other Notable Group Pairings The Irish alongside the Scots also share a pool once again, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. On that occasion, they claimed a convincing victory, with Scotland unable to advance to the knockout stages. Los Teros and Portugal, both made a strong impression as surprise packages in France, complete that Pool D. Significantly, the winners of both Pool D and Pool F cannot meet holders and world number one South Africa before the showpiece match, assuming the Springboks top their own group. Tournament Ramifications Should the pools play out in line with the current world rankings, other top favourites like New Zealand and France would remain separated from the likes of England and the Irish all the way to the championship decider. Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on the same half of the knockout draw as England and Ireland. Tournament Hosts Face Major Opener Tournament hosts the Wallabies have been drawn alongside their great rivals and triple champions New Zealand in Group A. Australia will kick off the World Cup in Perth on October 1st, 2027 in a blockbuster fixture aimed at jump-start the competition. In other groups, reigning champions South Africa have been paired with Italy, the Lelos and Romania. France are grouped with the Brave Blossoms, future hosts the United States and Manu Samoa. Larger Format for 2027 Los Pumas will face the Flying Fijians, Spain and Canada as the tournament expands to twenty-four nations from the twenty who took part in France. The 2027 tournament will introduce a round of 16 stage for the very first time in Rugby World Cup existence. Although the victor of England and Wales's group may avoid some of the rugby's biggest beasts early on, they will meet the second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round. Four of the remaining six group 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