England’s second Rugby World Cup fixture sees them take on USA in Kobe as they look to build on Sunday’s victory over Tonga.

George Ford will captain England for Thursday's game (KO 11:45am BST live on ITV) while
prop Dan Cole will play his 91st Test for England becoming the third most capped England men’s player alongside Jonny Wilkinson. Ben Youngs, who is named as a finisher, will join Cole and Wilkinson if he features during the game.

Sale Sharks fly-half AJ MacGinty is named to face England and he will be joined by hooker Joe Taufete'e (Worcester Warriors), prop Titi Lamositele (Saracens), lock Ben Landry (Ealing Trailfinders) and centre Paul Lasike (Harlequins).

The side will be captained by wing Blaine Scully, 31, who previously played for Leicester Tigers and will be featuring in his third World Cup.

• When? Thursday 26 September
• Kick-off? 11:45am BST
• Where? Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe
• Coverage? ITV and Radio 5 live, live updates on englandrugby.com

Views from the camp

England head coach Eddie Jones: “USA are a tough, physical team who are extremely well coached by Gary Gold. There are a number of players who our guys know really well and they are a team we respect. They have prepared two weeks with the marines for this game so they will be fit, tough and be playing for the pride of their country.

"They've had two weeks prep and they are going to come out all guns blazing, so we are going to have to be on our job because we know they are going to give it everything they've got like Tonga did.

"We don't need to make statements, the World Cup is not about statements, the World Cup is about progressing with an aim in mind and being at your best when you need to be at your best."

USA head coach Gay Gold: “You need to match fire with fire. When the power and the pace comes from England, we need to have the vigour from a defensive point of view.

“That’s the idea, although it’s a lot easier said than done. We understand the magnitude of what’s coming and we’re excited about it.

“We want to play against teams of the ilk of England because we need to improve. We’ve got massive respect for them — they’re not World Cup contenders for nothing.”

Key stats

England and the USA have met five times before with England winning all those games, three of those clashes have come in Rugby World Cup fixtures in 1987, 1991 and 2007.

The last meeting between England and USA was at the 2007 Rugby World Cup, England winning 28-10 in Lens with Olly Barkley scoring 18 of England’s points that day (1 try, 2 conversions, 3 penalty goals).

Owen Farrell’s (England) dad Andy Farrell came off the bench for England the last time they met the USA (2007 Rugby World Cup), a game in which USA legend Taku Ngwenya made his debut for the Eagles.

England have won all 17 of their Rugby World Cup matches against non-Tier 1 opposition, those wins coming by an average margin of 41 points.

The USA have won just three of 25 previous Rugby World Cup matches (L22), a pair of wins over Japan (1987, 2003) and a victory over Russia in 2011.

Previous meetings

• 1987: England 34-6 USA (Brisbane)
• 1991: England 37-9 USA (Twickenham)
• 1999: England 106-8 USA (Twickenham)
• 2001: England 48-19 USA (San Francisco)
• 2007: England 28-10 USA (Lens)

Analysis

Former England centre Tom May picks out three players to watch on Thurday.