Pool D continues at the Rugby World Cup tonight as England contest their second fixture at the Stade de Nice. After a rousing, George Ford-inspired 27-10 defeat of Argentina that came despite Tom Curry’s early red card in Marseille, Steve Borthwick’s side have received a much-needed confidence boost after a horror build-up to the tournament. Another win this evening would have them firmly on course to go through to the quarter-finals as group winners.
Japan are always viewed by the heavyweights as a potential World Cup danger after huge wins over the likes of Ireland, Scotland and South Africa in recent years, though this current crop is not quite of the same quality. The Brave Blossoms – who had major scrum issues as they were blown away at Twickenham last autumn – made a slow start against Chile on opening weekend, yet eventually ran in six tries in a 42-12 victory over the plucky debutants.
Borthwick has brought in the fit-again Kyle Sinckler, Joe Marler and Lewis Ludlam for tonight’s showdown, while Jamie Joseph has captain Kazuki Himeno back and also drafts in Shota Horie, Pieter Labuschagne and Tomoki Osada. Follow England vs Japan at the Rugby World Cup live below, with expert analysis from Nick Purewal in Nice.
Live updates
England vs Japan
Spirits high with both teams in the tunnel as Lawes and Himeno lead out their respecitve sides at the Stade de Nice.
National anthems up next.
Final preparations out in a hot and humid Nice!
England vs Japan
Standard Sport’s Nick Purewal at the Stade de Nice
So England will face Japan at Nice’s Allianz Riviera stadium tonight, in what are the most humid conditions of the World Cup yet.
The weather here is far more intense and close than even that of Marseille last weekend for England’s match against Argentina.
So England will need all their conditioning to hit the required pace and tempo in this clash.
England bludgeoned past Argentina last Saturday, but failed to score any tries. Boss Steve Borthwick is not bothered as long as England are winning, but tries are the order of the current rugby world.
So England will either have to buck the trends or buck up their attack in order to thrive in France.
More pre-match thoughts here from Steve Borthwick, who warns against underestimating an experienced Japan side and also hails England’s versatility in the back row with Lewis Ludlam in at No8 and Ben Earl shifting to flanker.
He is also pleased with the strength of his bench, which includes plenty of pace and power and the returning Billy Vunipola…
Borthwick questions World Rugby silence on red card inconsistency
Steve Borthwick is among the high-profile figures to question the officiating at this World Cup so far.
Some of the inconsistencies include Tom Curry seeing his early yellow card against Argentina upgraded to red after a bunker review and a three-match ban reduced to two if he completes tackle school, while similar head-on-head contact has gone completely unpunished in other matches.
Asked for his views on refereeing inconsistency this week, Borthwick said: “Are you saying there isn’t any?
“It has been said and noted that there has been a large amount of commentary from different sources about what appears to be a lack of consistency and transparency in the decision-making process.
“Now it’s not my role to comment on that, it’s World Rugby’s.
“I also note there was a tremendous amount of comment from World Rugby on Owen Farrell for a couple of weeks during our preparation for this tournament. It was a situation that went on and on with lots of comment from World Rugby.
“I note there hasn’t been very many comments from World Rugby – I’m told – in the last week or so. I will leave that to World Rugby.”
Borthwick took a step back when asked if he wanted World Rugby to give greater explanations on their decisions.
He added: “It’s not my matter. It’s for World Rugby.”
England vs Japan
Standard Sport’s Nick Purewal at the Stade de Nice
Our man is in position and offers his pre-match thoughts from the French Riviera…
Challenge to RFU leadership threatens to derail England
A direct challenge to Bill Sweeney and Tom Ilube’s RFU leadership has threatened to undermine England’s Rugby World Cup campaign, writes Nick Purewal in Nice.
Chief executive Sweeney and chairman Ilube have been accused of inadequate leadership by almost half the members of the RFU council.
A letter signed by 30 of the 65 council members and sent to the RFU board on the eve of the World Cup has questioned Sweeney and Ilube’s leadership, especially over claimed forecasted financial losses.
Ilube has branded the letter and its timing “deeply disappointing”, with the RFU having expected full focus on England’s World Cup campaign.
Read the story in full here
Fiji stun Australia to blow Pool C wide open
What a game in Saint-Etienne, where Fiji have just beaten Australia for the first time in 69 years to blow Pool C wide open.
The Pacific Islanders got 14 points from the boot of Simione Kuruvoli to go with a try from Josua Tuisova and another penalty from Frank Lomani to upset the Wallabies 22-15 at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard.
Eddie Jones’ Australia scored tries through Mark Nawaqanitawase and Suliasi Vunivalu – one player with Fijian heritage and another born and raised there – but could not avoid the shock.
They will have to recover fast with a huge showdown looming against table-toppers Wales in Lyon next Sunday.
Fiji now have a two-week break before taking on Georgia in Bordeaux on September 30, having come so close to beating Wales too on opening weekend.
The Stade de Nice is a fine if somewhat small major tournament venue, holding 35,169 for rugby and usually home to OGC Nice in Ligue 1.
It has hosted just the one game at this tournament so far, Wales’ hard-fought 28-8 win over plucky minnows Portugal in Pool C yesterday afternoon.
It will also host Italy-Uruguay in Pool A on Wednesday night and Scotland’s Pool B clash with Tonga next weekend.
England vs Japan tactics
England kick away a lot of ball, which in itself is fine depending on what happens after that.
The problem so far has been that the Red Rose men have struggled to recover the ball, especially when kicking in attack.
If England continue to kick on the front foot, then it is high time they find a way to latch back onto the ball.
