Pacific Nations Cup provides vital testing ground before Rugby World Cup

The pool stages of the 2023 Rugby World Cup are in the books, with England finishing at the top of Pool D for a spot in the quarter-finals. England completed a clean sweep of victories against Argentina, Japan, Chile and an albeit trickier encounter with Samoa, to confirm their spot in the final eight. Steve Borthwick's men take on Fiji this…

4. Pool D: Japan vs Argentina - 12:00 Noon KO, Nantes The all-important fixture in Pool D this weekend, sees Japan take on Argentina with the winner progressing to the quarter-finals. The stakes don't come any bigger for the two nations, and amongst all of the convoluted Rugby World Cup permutations it could not be any clearer… win and go through,…

Today, one of the most important matches of 2023 Rugby World Cup pool play will take place in Toulouse. Japan and Samoa enter tonight's match (3:00 pm ET, Peacock) with their quarterfinal hopes still alive, but only one team will still be in the hunt after the final horn sounds at Stadium de Toulouse. Entering the contest, they and the rest of Pool…

Samoa to win by one to 12 points 1pt 8-5 Coral, Ladbrokes T&C's apply18+begambleaware.org These teams have met at the pool stage at the last two World Cups and Japan have taken the spoils on both occasions. But Samoa are showing a new steely side this year and are rightly made favourites for this showdown in Toulouse. Neither team have caught the…

Midweek action in the Rugby World Cup will see Namibia go all out for a historic win against Uruguay and Japan and Samoa square off in a crunch clash, writes Quintin van Jaarsveld. Wednesday, 27 September - 17:45 The battle in Lyon marks the end of a rocky road for Namibia. After a tournament-opening 52-8 defeat to Italy and 71-3 thumping by the…

Japan lost to England in their last match at the 2023 Rugby World Cup Samoa lost to Argentina in their last World Cup match on Friday The Brave Blossoms have won two of their last three World Cup meetings with Samoa Japan and Samoa dropped to 1-1 at the 2023 Rugby World Cup after suffering heartbreaking defeats to England and Argentina,…

The third round of the 2023 Rugby World Cup is fast approaching, with the pool stages beginning to take shape after the opening fortnight of action. There are only eight spots up for grabs in the knock-out stages, with this weekend presenting real'make or break' matches for some nations. The action will commence in Pool A on Wednesday afternoon,…

England went into the 2023 Rugby World Cup with little expected of them, their captain serving a suspension, and a run of poor form that extended back to last year. But after an impressive win over Argentina in their opener, the outlook is a little more optimistic ahead of their second Pool D clash with Japan (3:00 pm ET, Peacock) Entering last…

You can watch England v Japan in the Rugby World Cup on ITV1, 8pm Sunday Japan lost 52-13 the last time they faced England, and the Red Rose have conceded totals of three (three times), seven, ten and 11 points in their pool matches against tier-two teams at the last three World Cups.

If the Brave Blossoms were to venture out of their hotel in Monaco, where they are staying ahead of their Rugby World Cup Pool D game with England, and head to the famous casino they would see their opponents are overwhelming favorites to not just win Sunday's game in Nice, France, but top the pool. The 2003 champions put aside some recent poor…

Rugby World Cup 2023 is fast approaching, with the blockbuster opener between tournament hosts France and the All Blacks now a week away. The Stade de France showstopper highlights a huge opening weekend of action with South Africa and Scotland doing battle, and England and Argentina also facing off. Read on as we run an eye over Pool…

Japan coach Jamie Joseph named an initial 30-man squad for the Rugby World Cup on Aug. 15. Three days later he added four players, while also announcing that lock James Moore had pulled out of the squad due to a conditioning issue. On Aug. 28, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced that lock Uwe Helu and center Shogo Nakano had dropped out of the…

England v Japan - September 17th, Nice No strangers to a Rugby World Cup upset, Japan are the second banana peel England are set to encounter, with back-to-back slip ups a genuine possibility in France. Despite not having the element of surprise which caught of South Africa in the immortalised'Brighton Miracle' of 2015, Japan have proven their…

The Japan men's rugby national team poses for a photo on August 15 in Tokyo. (ⒸSANKEI) Nearly half of the 30 players named to Japan's 2023 Rugby World Cup squad on Tuesday, August 15 were listed on the Brave Blossoms roster four years ago for the sport's biggest tournament. Head coach Jamie Joseph announced the team's roster at a news conference in…

Loose forward Kazuki Himeno was on Tuesday named Japan captain for the 2023 Rugby World Cup as the Brave Blossoms seek to replicate their impressive performances on home soil four years ago. Hosts Japan were the first Asian team to make the quarter-finals in 2019, beating Ireland and Scotland before losing to eventual champions South…

When the Rugby World Cup 2019 kicked off in Tokyo, Japan, the excitement was palpable. The anticipation of Japan's performance, however, held a twinge of uncertainty. A relative underdog in a sport dominated by Western and Southern Hemisphere giants, Japan was more familiar to the world as the gracious host rather than a fierce competitor. Yet, as…

Steve Borthwick needs to shake off the Six Nations cobwebs, and get to grips with his England side ahead of the Rugby World Cup. The fly-half selection saga is yet to see a decisive winner, with Owen Farrell, Marcus Smith and Sale outsider George Ford all looking to make the squad and book their tickets for the Eurostar. England have been gifted…

With the Autumn Nations Series resumes this week with more intriguing clashes on offer, Planet Rugby dives into five storylines ahead of the action. Pressure is once again compounding on England head coach Eddie Jones after his team fell short to Argentina 30-29 on Sunday. Jones took responsibility for the loss claiming he was experimenting ahead…

New Zealand survived an almighty effort from Japan to win 38-31 in Tokyo, scoring five tries to win their first match of the 2022 end-of-year tests by a slender margin. The first half started in scrappy fashion, with neither side able to keep possession for long and the only points coming from the boot of Takuya Yamasawa following a penalty.…

The 2009 movie Invictus, directed by Clint Eastwood, told the inspiring story of how former South African president Nelson Mandela rallied the support of a nation badly divided by the rancorous racial legacy of apartheid behind the national rugby team, the Springboks. With the backing of all ethnic groups, the team overcame numerous difficulties to…

With just under two months remaining before Japan faces Russia in the opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup, the Brave Blossoms return to the Pacific Nations Cup after a three-year hiatus. The PNC usually features the Pacific nations of Fiji, Tonga and Samoa, but this year Japan, Canada and the United States also join the tournament to aid with…

GLOUCESTER, England (Reuters) - A clash between Six Nations strugglers Scotland and Japan normally looks fairly uninspiring on paper but the game on Wednesday has suddenly become the Rugby World Cup fixture the whole world is talking about. The question is whether Japan can back up their momentous victory over the Springboks on Saturday or will…

Japan performed one of the greatest Rugby World Cup shocks of all-time when they defeated South Africa in Brighton on Saturday. Their 34-32 victory over the Springboks not only stunned one of the pre-tournament favourites, but it also showed evidence that rugby union's traditional big guns are being caught up by teams who in the past have just…

Japan recorded a narrow win over Samoa in their last World Cup match Argentina defeated Chile in their previous contest in Pool B The Pumas are favourites to win over Japan in their final pool match Win or go home. Japan and Argentina will square off this coming Sunday, with the winner advancing to the quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World…