England in Pool D at 2023 Rugby World Cup
England have been drawn in Pool D with Japan, Argentina and two others to be confirmed at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.
In what will be the 10th edition of the Rugby World Cup, Eddie Jones’ side were one of 12 teams that automatically qualified after their performances in Japan last year.
England were in band one for the draw along with current world champions South Africa, New Zealand and Wales, and were drawn against Japan in band two and Argentina from band three. The teams from Oceania 1 and Americas 2 will be discovered once the qualifying process has been completed.
The ceremony for the draw primarily took place at Palais Brongniart in Paris but was hosted online globally on World Rugby’s digital channels.
At the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan, England progressed to the final after topping their group and securing knock out wins against Australia and New Zealand for the chance to compete for the William Webb Ellis Cup. However, the Springboks triumphed 32-12 in Yokohama to secure their third World Cup.
England memorably won the World Cup in 2003 through Jonny Wilkinson’s drop goal in extra-time against Australia and as well as the final last year, and have also reached finals in 1991 and 2007.
The tournament is scheduled to run from 8 September 2023 to 21 October 2023 with the confirmed fixtures and kick-off times to be announced in due course.
Reaction
England head coach Eddie Jones: “I think the quality of all the pools is very high. Argentina have a great World Cup record and Japan are the most improving rugby nation in the world so it’s going to be a great challenge to see who gets through the pool.
“Japan is going to be a tough game because they play the game differently, we don’t get many chances to play against teams like them so we’re going to be have to be really well prepared.
“You then have the contrast of Argentina who played maybe the most physical game we saw in 2020 against the All Blacks. It’s probably the most contrasting pool in terms of style and philosophy of play and that’s what probably makes it the most interesting.
“France hosted a fantastic World Cup in 2007 and I think at the end of that one it was the best we’d ever had.
“France has beautiful rugby grounds because rugby is the sport of a lot of the towns - they have a great, tight stadiums. I remember the quarter final in 2007 in Marseille it was a warm, sunny day so you’ve got to be prepared for relatively warm conditions. It should be a fantastic festival of rugby and given what I think what has happened in the world over the last period of time it will be a festival of sport."
England captain Owen Farrell: “If you look across them all they’re all tough pools but obviously with the way that Japan and Argentina are going at the minute, and some of the rugby that has been played over the last few years by them, it’s going to be a tough pool.
“Argentina are an unbelievably passionate team and everybody knows that.
“The way that they’ve performed over this rugby championship that’s just gone on is fantastic.
"There is a long time to go before the World Cup and there’s a lot of time for everybody to improve and make a run for it. That’ll be the thing now where everybody is looking to build to make sure that when it comes to the World Cup starting, they’ll be at their best."
Be part of it
If you want to be part of the greatest rugby tournament in the world, now is your chance.
Our official travel company, England Rugby Travel, will be offering ticket-inclusive travel packages to Rugby World Cup France 2023 and you can sign up to be the first to hear when they are launched right here.
