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Follow all the action from the World Cup match on the RugbyPass live blog as England take on the USA in Kobe.
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England opened their account with a patchy win last Sunday over Tonga in Sapporo, but the Americans have yet to feature in Pool C. Here are some factors to watch unfold:
Coping with the short turnaround
While the USA are yet to play in the tournament, England are back in action just four days after beginning their campaign with victory over Tonga.
(Continue reading below…)
Coach Eddie Jones had made 10 changes to his side in order to avoid injuries and keep some key players fresh ahead of the later pool matches against Argentina on October 5 and France seven days later.
There could be a price to pay in terms of team cohesion, with the XV to take the field being relatively inexperienced, but England would still hope to have enough to see off the USA.
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Could the USA cause a shock?
The Americans may be rank outsiders for the tournament but they are an improving force in the world game and England should guard against any complacency. On the sevens circuit at least, the US are now a strong side and they may well be contenders for gold when they return to Japan for next year’s Olympics.
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Under the disciplined coaching of South African Gary Gold, the Eagles have already have a win over Scotland under their belts and have beaten Samoa this year. They also boast Premiership experience in the likes of Blaine Scully, Paul Lasike, Titi Lamositele and AJ MacGinty.
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Hoping for improved performance
The much-changed team, and the likely further changes for the next game, isolate the game a little bit from the main campaign but Jones will still want to see improvement on the performance against Tonga to start building momentum. England were scrappy in their opener, conceding too many penalties early on and making numerous handling errors. They will hope to shake that rustiness off.
'If England want to win the World Cup they have got five knockout games… I don’t think they have got the mentality in the squad at the moment to be able to back that up five weeks in a row' https://t.co/5ZPgd7Fm0H
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 25, 2019
Eyes on Vunipola
Billy Vunipola is one player who has been retained in the side, with Jones commenting on how continuous action is better to keep the No8 in peak fitness rather than rest him. Given his history of injuries, this raised eyebrows – although with Mark Wilson not ready to start, options in his position were limited. Not surprisingly given his heritage, Vunipola found himself a marked man against Tonga and he will be keen to get into his stride.
England take on the USA in Kobe today, so here's a look at the stadium that will play host #RWC2019 #ENGvUSA pic.twitter.com/kbj40ytv9g
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 26, 2019
Pressure on the referee
The officials in this tournament have an unenviable task in the coming days after strong criticism of their displays from the world governing body this week. World Rugby said referees’ “performances were not consistently of the standards set” by the organisation and themselves. There have been a number of controversial incidents in the early games of the tournament, most of them involving high tackles. Australian ref Nic Berry will be under scrutiny.
WATCH: England World Cup winner Neil Back reflects on the 2003 finals in the opening episode of the RugbyPass series, Rugby World Cup Memories
Comments on RugbyPass
NZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
22 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
22 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
22 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
22 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
22 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
22 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to comments