England

England v Uruguay preview

Stuart Lancaster's men became the first hosts to ever go out of a Rugby World Cup in the group stages after losing to both Wales and Australia in Pool A.

England have named a young team to face winless Uruguay in Manchester.

"There's a lot of people who've waited a long time to see England play in the north of England," Lancaster said.

"We have a lot of young talent on show and that talent will excite the crowd and it's up to us to do that. We want to leave people with the feeling that actually this is a good team."

Warren Gatland supports Stuart Lancaster

England became the first hosts to fail to reach the knockout stages after losing to Wales and Australia.

Gatland said the media reaction to the exit amounted to an "assassination" of Lancaster's coaching team.

Asked if he had sympathy with his English counterpart, Gatland replied: "Absolutely yes."

Wales and Australia play each other on Saturday to decide the winners of Pool A, while England face bottom-of-the-group Uruguay in a dead rubber at Manchester's Etihad Stadium.

England Rugby World Cup failure needs swift inquest - Mike Ford

Ford, now head coach at Bath, was part of the management team at the 2011 tournament in New Zealand.

And he says any fallout following the group-stage exit this time around should take place at once.

"I hope it doesn't take a long time," Ford told BBC Radio 5 live. "The review should not last three months."

Defeats at Twickenham by Wales and Australia ensured England became the first host nation not to progress to the knockout stages of a World Cup.

VIDEO: 2015 Rugby World Cup - England must put heartbreak behind them, says George

Australia knocked England out of the tournament on Saturday by defeating the hosts 33-13 at Twickenham.

See video for what Debutant George has to say.

 

Sam Burgess out of England squad

Coach Stuart Lancaster has made nine changes after the 33-13 defeat by Australia which knocked his side out.

Alex Goode, Jack Nowell, Henry Slade, George Ford and Danny Care all come into the back line, with Owen Farrell switching to inside centre.

Mako Vunipola, James Haskell and Nick Easter come into the pack, with Chris Robshaw continuing to lead the side.

Centre Brad Barritt, who started against Australia, is not available because of an arm injury, while lock Courtney Lawes has not recovered from the knee injury he suffered against Wales.

Inexperience cost England - Stuart Lancaster

England have the youngest squad  in the competition with an average age of 26.2. Each player averages 25 caps, the second fewest in Pool A.

"It's hard to make selections when you have an inexperienced team and bringing more inexperience in," said Lancaster.

England face Uruguay at Etihad Stadium on Saturday in their dead-rubber final group game.

Although they beat Fiji in their opening match, defeats by Wales and Australia meant England became the first host nation in history not to progress beyond the group stages.

Fiji beat Uruguay 47-15

Nemia Kenatale and Leone Nakarawa, plus two penalty tries, helped the Pacific Islanders lead 26-10 at half-time, earning a bonus point before the break.

Uruguay had not scored a World Cup try since 2003, but Carlos Arboleya and Agustin Ormaechea crossed in each half.

Fiji eased away in the final quarter with three more tries, as Uruguay were reduced to 14 men as Ormaechea saw red.

Uruguay now travel to Manchester for their final pool match on Saturday against hosts England, who have also already been eliminated from the tournament.

VIDEO: 2015 Rugby World Cup - England win a career high for Foley

Foley guided the Wallabies to a 33-13 win over England, consigning the hosts to the tournament scrapheap after just three games.

Foley has now ensured he will start against Wales at the same venue on Saturday night, with his performance against England set to go down in the pantheon of great games from Australian fly-halves.

See video for highlights.

VIDEO: Rugby World Cup 2015 - England set for must-win Australia clash

Up next for Stuart Lancaster's men are Australia. They face the Aussies in a must-win game on Saturday.

Beat the Wallabies and England are all but guaranteed their place in the next round. However, a draw would still earn the men in white a stay of execution. 

Defeat and it's goodnight England.

England v Australia: Biggest game of our careers - Stuart Lancaster

About 82,000 will be at Twickenham on Saturday, and defeat means England would be the first World Cup hosts to fail to reach the knockout stages.

They have won four of the past five meetings with Australia.

"It is a huge game, at home. With the whole country behind us, we'll be difficult to beat," Lancaster said.

Australia have won both their matches in the tournament, while England let slip a 10-point lead with 30 minutes remaining to lose 28-25 to Wales in their previous encounter.