🔗 Share this article England along with Welsh Pitted Together for RWC 2027 Down Under The group draw was conducted by sporting legends including former All Black Dan Carter. The English side together with Wales will face off in the same pool for the 2027 Rugby World Cup, promising a major pool stage encounter in the tournament Down Under. They are joined in Group F by the Tongan Ikale Tahi and the Zimbabwean Sables. This pairing echoes their memorable clash in the pool stages of the 2015 tournament, where Wales' victory at England's home ground played a part in the English team's surprise group stage elimination. Other Notable Group Draws The Irish and Scotland have likewise been drawn in a pool together, just as the situation from the 2023 edition. In that tournament, Ireland secured a convincing win, with their opponents failing to progress to the knockout stages. Uruguay and Portugal, who each made a strong impression as underdogs in France, round out that Pool D. Notably, 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 Springboks top their own group. Knockout Implications Should the pools conclude according to the current global standings, further leading contenders like the All Blacks and Les Bleus would also be kept apart from the likes of England and Ireland all the way to the championship decider. Under those circumstances, Los Pumas would be the remaining highly-seeded nation on that side of the knockout draw as England and Ireland. Hosts Face Major Fixture Tournament hosts the Wallabies find themselves 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 blockbuster match designed to launch the competition. Elsewhere, holders the Springboks have drawn the Azzurri, Georgia and Romania. The French team are in a pool with Japan, future hosts the USA and Manu Samoa. Expanded Format for 2027 Argentina will face Fiji, Los Leones and the Canadian team as the tournament expands to 24 teams from the twenty who took part in France. This edition will introduce a last-16 round for the first time in the competition's history. 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 second-placed team from Pool B – probably the Italians – in the first knockout round. A total of four of the other six group 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