RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023
England’s Rugby World Cup campaign took them all the way to the final weekend of the tournament, beating Argentina to take bronze in Paris.
ENGLAND 27 - 10 ARGENTINA
The first pool game of the World Cup saw England face Los Pumas in Marseille. The victory will be remembered for George Ford’s fantastic solo performance, which saw him score all 27 points from the boot including three long-distance drop goals.
ENGLAND 34 - 12 JAPAN
A week later England faced Japan in Nice. Tries from Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant as well as 14 points from the boot of Ford secured the victory, as England held off a tough Japanese side whose points came via the boot of Rikiya Matsuda.
ENGLAND 71 - 0 CHILE
England’s third pool fixture saw them face Chile in Lille, it was the first time the two sides had faced each other. Chile qualified for the Rugby World Cup for the first time in 2023 after a dramatic 52-51 aggregate victory over the USA in the Americas 2 play-off in 2022.
England dominated the game and crossed 11 times in total at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to top Pool D. Tries from Henry Arundell, Theo Dan, Bevan Rodd, Marcus Smith and Jack Willis, as well as 16 points from the boot of Farrell secured the victory, as England held Los Cóndores scoreless.
Henry Arundell on his RWC debut scored a record equalling five tries in a Rugby World Cup match - joining Josh Lewsey who achieved the feat against Uruguay in 2003.
ENGLAND 18 - 17 SAMOA
Borthwick’s team faced Samoa having already qualified for the quarter-finals. Nigel Ah-Wong's first-half brace gave Samoa a 8-14 lead at the break in Lille, but tries from Ollie Chessum and Danny Care secured the 18-17 victory to ensure England remained unbeaten in Pool D after four games.
ENGLAND 30 - 24 FIJI
England beat Fiji 30-24 at Stade de Marseille to book their spot in the Rugby World Cup semi-final against South Africa.
Tries from Manu Tuilagi and Joe Marchant as well as 20 points from the boot of Owen Farrell secured the victory, as England held off a ferocious Fijian side whose points came via Viliame Mata, Peni Ravai and Vilimoni Botitu tries, and nine points from the tee.
ENGLAND 15 - 16 SOUTH AFRICA
England lost to South Africa 15-16 in their semi-final clash at Stade de France in the final few minutes of the Test, after a heroic effort.
Fifteen points from the boot of captain Farrell was not enough, as the World Champions snatched victory with a Handre Pollard penalty.
ENGLAND 26 - 23 ARGENTINA
England triumphed over Los Pumas for the second time in the tournament, running out 26-23 winners at Stade de France, to finish third at Rugby World Cup 2023.
Tries from Ben Earl and Theo Dan, as well as 16 points from the boot of Farrell saw them triumph over Argentina, whose points came via Tomas Cubelli, Santiago Carreras, Emiliano Boffelli and Nicolas Sanchez.
FARRELL MAKES HISTORY
Owen Farrell made history in England's 18-17 victory over Samoa at the Rugby World Cup in France. The 32-year-old kicked eight points, bringing his Test tally to 1,186 to overtake Jonny Wilkinson as England's top points scorer.
Farrell kicked two conversions and a penalty to help his side to a hard-fought win over a spirited Samoa outfit, and was presented with a special message from the man whose record he had just beaten.
Farrell finished the Rugby World Cup as the tournament's highest point scorer, and improved his total Test tally to 1,237.
FIRST RUGBY WORLD CUP
16 players were selected to play for England in what would be their first time playing in a Rugby World Cup.
RETIREMENTS
Three players announced their retirement from Test rugby in 2023 at the conclusion of the Rugby World Cup: Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs and Jonny May. Between them they share 310 Test caps with Lawes and Youngs being two of only five England Senior Men Test centurions.
COURTNEY LAWES
Lawes played in four World Cups, and is one of only five England Senior Men Test centurions, the milestone came in the Summer Nations Series game against Fiji at Twickenham.
He made his debut in the 68th minute of England’s Autumn fixture against Australia at Twickenham in 2009. Lawes scored his first try for England on his 50th appearance for England during a resounding 37-21 victory over South Africa.
BEN YOUNGS
The Leicester Tigers scrum half, who made his debut against Scotland in 2010, had been a mainstay in the England set-up for 13 years.
Youngs scored twice on his 100th cap in a dominant 34-5 win against Italy in Rome. At the time, only two players had achieved the incredible landmark of 100 caps for the men's side in 151 years of English rugby. Youngs touched down twice on the day.
The Bronze Final match against Argentina in Paris was Youngs' last as an England player. He retired with 127 caps, more than any other male player in England Rugby history.
JONNY MAY
The Gloucester wing made his debut against Argentina in 2013, and went on to score 36 tries in 78 appearances, putting him second on the England Men's all-time try scoring chart.
On his 50th Test cap, May led England onto the pitch for their quarter-final clash against the Wallabies at the 2019 Rugby World Cup scoring twice to take England through to the semi-final.
DEBUTANTS 2023
JACK WALKER
Jack Walker made his first international test debut on 12 February 2023 on as a second-half replacement for Jamie George in a victory against Italy at Twickenham in the Guinness Six Nations.
TOM PEARSON
On 5 August Pearson made his Test debut starting in a warm-up defeat against Wales at the Principality Stadium in the Guinness Six Nations.
TOM WILLIS
On 5 August Willis made his Test debut coming on as a second-half replacement in a warm-up defeat to Wales at the Principality Stadium in the Guinness Six Nations.
THEO DAN
On 5 August Dan made his Test debut coming on as a second-half substitute in a warm-up defeat to Wales at the Principality Stadium. Two days later he was included in the squad for the World Cup.
OLLIE HASSELL - COLLINS
Hassell-Collins was included in the squad for the 2023 Six Nations Championship by Steve Borthwick and on 4 February 2023 he made his debut starting in the opening round defeat to Scotland.
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES
GEORGE FORD v ARGENTINA
The victory against Argentina will be remembered for George Ford’s fantastic solo performance, which saw him score all 27 points from the boot including three drop goals.
The Sale Sharks man slotted two 50-metre drop goals in the space of four minutes, as England took the lead for the first time in the match, and the fly-half was on hand again three minutes from the break to fire over another effort from inside the Argentine 22, making it 12-3.
England controlled the second half and Ford added 15 points to start England’s campaign with a morale-boosting win.
HENRY ARUNDELL v CHILE
England dominated the game and crossed 11 times in total at Stade Pierre-Mauroy to top Pool D. Henry Arundell on his RWC debut scored a record equalling fifth try in a Rugby World Cup match - joining Josh Lewsey who achieved the feat against Uruguay in 2003.
Arundell's hat-trick came early in the second-half, as he collected the well-weighted kick of Daly after a fumble from Franco Velarde. On the hour mark he collected his own chip-and-chase to register a fourth try. Moments later Smith then pierced through the Chilean defence with 10 minutes left in the Test to assist Arundell with a record equalling fifth score. England touched down twice more to beat Chile 71-0.
CAP MILESTONES
In 2023 two players received their 50th cap for England.
August 12: Ellis Genge v Wales
27 October: Tom Curry v Argentina
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STEVE BORTHWICK'S FIRST GAME
Former England captain and forwards coach Steve Borthwick was announced as England men’s head coach in December 2022.
Borthwick worked as forwards coach in two Rugby World Cup cycles alongside Eddie Jones for Japan from 2012 to 2015 and for England between 2015 and 2020, with England reaching the final at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Borthwick named his first squad selection ahead of England's 2023 Guinness Six Nations opener against Scotland at Twickenham.
VISITS FROM HER ROYAL HIGHNESS THE PRINCESS OF WALES
Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales was in attendance for two England games during the RWC. The Princess of Wales' first appearance was in Marseille for England’s 27-10 victory over Argentina. The Princess of Wales visited the changing room after the game and congratulated the players having a laugh with George Ford about his kicking performance.
The Princess of Wales then returned to Marseille to watch England play Fiji in the quarter-finals.
SIX NATIONS
4 Feb: England 23-29 Scotland
12 Feb: England 31-14 Italy
25 Feb: Wales 10-20 England
11 Mar: England 10-53 France
18 Mar: Ireland 29-16 England
SUMMER NATIONS SERIES
5 Aug: Wales 20-9 England
12 Aug: England 19-17 Wales
26 Aug: England 22-30 Fiji
RUGBY WORLD CUP
9 Sep: England 27-10 Argentina
17 Sep: England 34-12 Japan
23 Sep: England 71-0 Chile
7 Oct: England 18-17 Samoa
15 Oct: England 30-24 Fiji
21 Oct: England 15-16 South Africa
27 Oct: Argentina 23-26 England
LEGACY, IMPACT & GROWTH
England defence coach Kevin Sinfield embarked on an incredible challenge in 2023, which saw him run seven ultra-marathons in seven days, having set a £777,777 target to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease research.
Sinfield began his challenge on 1 December, running from Leeds to York before moving on to Cardiff - finishing at Cardiff Arms Park at half-time of Cardiff v Scarlets - then Birmingham, Edinburgh, Dublin and Brighton.
The final leg, on 7 December started at Twickenham Stadium and finished on The Mall in Central London.
Kevin has raised over £8 million towards vital research into MND since 2020, having been inspired by his close friend and former Leeds Rhinos scrum half and teammate Rob Burrow, who was diagnosed with the disease in December 2019 just two years after he retired.
“There is one big reason why we should keep going and that’s Rob,” says Kevin, who was joined by Burrow at Headingley Stadium on the starting line for the first leg.
“Rob and his wife Lindsey are the reason we're here and for what we're doing and also the MND community that's been ravaged for decades and is finally getting the support that they need."
“Why would we stop? We haven’t got a cure. We feel we can help some more.”
This is Kevin’s fourth gruelling challenge for MND, with the latest ultra-marathons the toughest yet and coming soon after returning from the Rugby World Cup, where he helped England to a third-place finish.
He added: "I was at the World Cup for two months, before that I was in camp for three. In terms of long runs, up until the start of November, I hadn't done one for five months.
“But, while there are 1,000 reasons why we shouldn't go again, there's one big one why we should – Rob and this beautiful community.
“If there’s someone you’ve not spoke to for months and you’ve had a daft fall out or whatever, please pick the phone up. Let’s look after each other, let’s make this a better place.
Let’s look after the MND community and start looking after each other a bit better.”
The 7 in 7 in 7 Challenge is raising money for the MND Association and Leeds Hospitals Charity's appeal to build the Rob Burrow Centre for MND in Leeds.
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