England rugby

Japan chasing first ever World Cup quarter-final

Joseph, who has named his 31-man squad, said playing against heavyweights like New Zealand and Australia over the past four years had helped them develop the mental and physical toughness needed to compete at the global showpiece.

The Brave Blossoms took the Pacific Nations Cup earlier this month by trouncing Fiji, Tonga and the United States, moving up to ninth in the world to match their highest-ever ranking ahead of the Sept. 20-Nov. 2 tournament.

England sound warning with massive win over Ireland

At the heart of England's second triumph in three warmup tests was man of the match Manu Tuilagi, who bristled with power and intent to torment an Irish defense that fell to pieces in the second half.

Ireland scored first through a Jordan Larmour try, but their hopes of the win that would lift it to No. 1 in the world rankings at the expense of Wales quickly disintegrated.

England make 11 changes to their team to face Ireland

Only Elliot Daly, George Ford, Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola survive from the 13-6 loss in Cardiff in a revamped selection that will see Ford and Owen Farrell pair up from the start for the first time in 14 months.

Ford continues at fly-half with captain Farrell starting at inside centre and lining up alongside Manu Tuilagi in midfield. Former age-group international pairing Ford and Farrell last started a Test at 10 and 12 when England lost 23-12 to South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2018.

Rugby star saved from suicide reveals 'several England players I know dread training camp’

The 32-year-old played more than 200 games for Wasps, Sale and Leeds and toured Argentina with England in 2013 and now has his mental wellbeing on track after seeking counselling.

But it wasn't that way when he stood on the wrong side of a hotel balcony in Dubai during a mid-season break with Wasps players, thinking of jumping from the 15th floor. 

"I imagine suicide is very different with different people," he told The Guardian in a compelling tale of the pressures of professional rugby.

Cokanasiga named in England’s Rugby World Cup squad

The 21-year-old was born in Fiji but moved to England with his family when he was three-years-old.

He currently plays for Bath in England and got his first call up to join the England rugby team back in 2017.

Some other players included in the squad by Coach Eddie Jones are Maro Itoje, Mako Vunipola, Billy Vunipola, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi, Anthony Watson and Ben Youngs.

Among those missing out are Brad Shields and Danny Cipriani.

England is pooled Tonga, France, Argentina and USA.

England beat Wales 33-19 in WC warm-up

The result means the All Blacks climb back above Wales to top of the world rankings despite the weekend's record defeat to the Wallabies.

An England line-up featuring only a handful of regular first-choice starters overpowered Wales thanks to tries from Billy Vunipola, Joe Cokanasiga and Luke Cowan-Dickie, as well as flawless kicking from captain and flyhalf George Ford.

England still mentally scarred from 2015 World Cup

England fell apart in the second half against Scotland as a 31-0 lead was squandered with only a converted injury-time try salvaging a 38-38 draw.

Jones now plans to recruit an expert to work on his team's mentality.

"It's like we have some hand grenades in the back of a jeep and sometimes they go off when there's a lot of pressure," said Jones.

"We have a few of them and we've got to get rid of them."

Joseph added to England squad

The centre has not featured for his country since last year's tournament and missed nine months of action due to an ankle injury.

However, Joseph returned for club side Bath this weekend and the 27-year-old – who has scored more tries in Eddie Jones' tenure than any other England player – will travel to Portugal on Wednesday with the rest of the squad.

Joseph has 17 tries in 40 matches for England, who begin their Six Nations in Dublin on February 2.

Vunipola out of Lions tour

Vunipola had been nursing the injury throughout the Aviva Premiership while playing for Saracens.

England backrower James Haskell will replace Vunipola and will join the camp following the Premiership final this weekend.

Vunipola, who was born in Australia, has played 34 tests for England and was expected to be the starting number eight for the Lions in their three-test series against the All Blacks.

Lions coach Warren Gatland said he was disappointed for Vunipola, who had been looking forward to joining the squad

Jones says England's World Cup plan is still on track

The Six Nations champions headed to Dublin in search of a record-breaking 19th Test victory only to barely fire a shot as they fell 13-9 to an Ireland side that could have won by much more.

England are attempting to arrange an additional fixture with the All Blacks at Twickenham in November, but media reacted with scorn to their failure to claim a place in history.

Among the words used to describe the display at the Aviva Stadium were "thuggish", "brain dead", "arrogant", "wrecking balls in chains" and "back to square one".