England v USA preview: facts, stats and teams
Ahead of England’s first Test match of the summer against the USA at Twickenham Stadium, here is everything you need to know.
England have named eight uncapped players in the starting XV including Harlequins fly half Marcus Smith a week after he guided his club to the Gallagher Premiership title last weekend.
There are also four finishers who could earn their first England caps in Jamie Blamire, Trevor Davison, Ben Curry and Jacob Umaga, as Eddie Jones looks to see a number of players at Test level with regular starters with the British & Irish Lions or rested.
Gloucester flanker, and captain, Lewis Ludlow has been chosen to lead the side becoming the first person since Nigel Melville to captain England men on their debut, with prop Ellis Genge named vice captain.
The USA are playing their first Test match since the 2019 Rugby World Cup with head coach Gary Gold naming five uncapped players in their matchday 23 in flanker Riekert Hattingh, fly half Luke Carty, wing Mika Kruse and replacements Matt Harmon and Michael Baska.
Lock Gregory Peterson (Newcastle Falcons) and full back Will Hooley (Saracens) both play their club rugby in England. It will be a first appearance at Twickenham since 1999 for the Eagles who have lost all six previous meetings with England.
- When? Sunday, 4 July
- Kick-off? 1400 BST
- Where? Twickenham Stadium
- Coverage? Live on Channel 4, match centre on EnglandRugby.com
Views from the camp
England head coach Eddie Jones: “It’s not about getting Test experience, it’s about those guys earning the shirt.
“We were all disappointed by our packs display in the Six Nations and this is the first opportunity for the England pack to show that we want to be a pack that’s feared around the world.
“[Marcus Smith] He’s a bright young talent. It’s exciting for him to get the opportunity on Sunday and whatever he does he will be better the next time he plays.
“From our observations we found that Lewis [Ludlow] was the most effective club captain, he’s a good player and he’s continued to develop his game."
England captain Lewis Ludlow: "Leading from the front is the way I like to go about my business, I wouldn’t ask anyone to do something if I wasn’t willing to do it myself.
“I’ve played with a lot of these guys through age groups and some I’ve known for a long time – I’ve known Ellis [Genge] since I was at Hartpury College.
“To be able to get back on the pitch with those guys and some of the most exciting players in the Premiership, I’m really looking forward to it.
“It’s a massive opportunity and that’s one thing we’ve spoken about since we walked into camp. With the guys away with the Lions and people being rested it’s an opportunity for a group of young lads that have been going well in the Premiership, there is not one player here who’s not at the top of their game at the moment.”
USA head coach Gary Gold: “We’ve had a good few days in England getting the guys back together with a number of productive training sessions under our belts.
"For us, the important thing is to ensure our younger players are exposed to this quality of competition early and often in their playing career.
"As we look ahead to World Cup qualification against Canada and now two test matches against Ireland, we are confident we will see the experience of these games pay dividends heading into the next two World cup cycles.”
Previous meetings
2019: England 45-7 USA - Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe (Rugby World Cup)
2007: England 28-10 USA - Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens (Rugby World Cup)
2001: USA 19-48 England - Matthew J. Boxer Stadium, San Francisco (Summer tour)
1999: England 106-8 USA - Twickenham Stadium, London (Summer tour)
1991: England 37-9 USA - Twickenham Stadium, London (Rugby World Cup)
1987: England 34-6 USA - Concord Oval, Sydney (Rugby World Cup)
Facts
- England have met the USA six times previously, winning each of those encounters, four of those clashes have come in Rugby World Cup fixtures (1987, 1991, 2007, 2019).
- The last time England hosted the USA was in a warm-up game for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, scoring 16 tries in a 106-8 win at Twickenham; one of five occasions England have scored a century of points in a match.
- This will be the first time England have ever played a home game in July, the only month of the year they’ve never played a Test match on home soil; the USA meanwhile find themselves playing on Independence Day for the second time in their history (12-6 v Canada in 2009).
- The USA have won just one match in the professional era against Tier 1 opponents other than Japan, beating Scotland in 2018 in Houston, overturning a 13-24 half-time deficit to prevail 30-29.
- This will be the USA’s first match since the 2019 Rugby World Cup, where they lost all four of their pool stage fixtures (England, France, Argentina, Tonga).
- England’s last six matches that have fallen during the summer of a British & Irish Lions tour have been against Argentina (W5, L1), their opponents this summer do mirror their opponents from when the Lions toured Australia in 2001 however, beating Canada twice and the USA once on that North American tour 20 years ago.
- Since Eddie Jones took the reins as England Head Coach in 2016 his side has lost just three of 32 games at Twickenham (W28, D1), averaging 3.8 tries scored per game in that period.
- Joe Cokanasiga (England) scored a brace of tries for England when they met the USA at the 2019 Rugby World Cup, in what was his most recent appearance for England.
- Lewis Ludlow will captain England on his debut, the fifth player to do this for England and the first since Nigel Melville in 1984, he made a league high 280 tackles in the English Premiership in 2020/21, whilst only Sam Skinner (10) stole more lineouts than the Gloucester player (9).
- Greg Peterson (USA) made the joint most Premiership appearances for Newcastle this season (17), winning the second most lineouts of anyone in the league (99, including 2 steals).
Teams
England
15. Freddie Steward, 14. Joe Cokanasiga, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Ollie Lawrence, 11. Max Malins, 10. Marcus Smith, 9. Harry Randall; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Curtis Langdon, 3. Joe Heyes, 4. Josh McNally, 5. Charlie Ewels, 6. Lewis Ludlow (C), 7. Sam Underhill, 8. Callum Chick.
Finishers
16. Jamie Blamire, 17. Beno Obano, 18. Trevor Davison, 19. Ted Hill, 20. Ben Curry, 21. Lewis Ludlam, 22. Dan Robson, 23. Jacob Umaga.
USA
15. Will Hooley, 14. Mikey Te'o, 13. Marcel Brache, 12. Bryce Campbell, 11. Mika Kruse, 10. Luke Carty, 9. Ruben de Haas; 1. David Ainu'u, 2. Mikey Sosene-Feagai, 3. Paul Mullen, 4. Gregory Peterson, 5. Nick Civetta, 6. Jamason Fa'anana-Schultz, 7. Riekert Hattingh, 8. Cam Dolan.
Replacements
16. Joe Taufete'e, 17. Matt Harmon, 18. Dino Waldren, 19. Nate Brakeley, 20. Psalm Wooching, 21. Hanco Germishuys, 22. Michael Baska, 23. Calvin Whiting.
