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How England fans reacted to France 2023 pool draw
By Josh Raisey
The England draw for the 2023 Rugby World Cup has pleased the majority of their fans online after Eddie Jones’ side were grouped with Argentina and Japan in Pool D. With either the United States or Canada, and Samoa or Tonga likely to fill the final two vacant spots in the pool, there are undoubted challenges in this group. But, on balance, it's no surprise that England fans are rather buoyant.
Based on current world rankings, England are ranked second in the world and the highest-ranked team they will face in the opening World Cup round is Argentina, who are seeded eighth. When comparing Pool A, which sees third-ranked New Zealand face France in fourth, or Pool B, which contains South Africa (first), Ireland (fifth) and Scotland (seventh), the draw looks all the more favourable to those from England.
On top of that, the highest-ranked team England could possibly face in the quarter-finals (should they progress) is Australia (sixth) from Pool C. In contrast, there is a likely showdown between the reigning champions South Africa and one of France or the All Blacks in one of the other quarter-finals.
Even Jones was seen to crack a smile when working out who England will come up against in France, although that could well be because he is now set to face his former side Japan, whom he coached at the 2015 RWC.
Pool D may not be too dissimilar from England’s grouping in 2019, only with Japan replacing France, which proved favourable for Owen Farrell’s side. But given their pool with Wales and Australia in 2015, where England failed to make the quarter-finals, 2023’s group is probably the best of the three and a reward for England’s performance in 2019.
Many fans are still wary of the threat Argentina and Japan pose. The Pumas are fresh from their first-ever win over the All Blacks in November, while Japan showed in 2019 that they are another nation on the rise. But such is the growing depth of talent in the rugby world currently that there are no longer any easy pools.
Eddie Jones full evil genius grin ? loved it.
— Josh Turner (@Josh_turner13) December 14, 2020
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The Rebels situation is understandably a touchy subject for Geoff Parling but I’m currently listening to a podcast with Mat Rogers who bluntly said “the best thing to happen to Australian rugby union in the last 15 years is the Melbourne Rebels going broke”, citing the better spread of talent across Australian rugby.
Having Skelton in the squad for the Lions series is a must. Yes he’s a 2nd rower who's a lineout lifter instead of a lineout jumper but his mongrel is essential as displayed against Wales in November.
As for the 7-1 bench split, I flip flop between praising Rassie Erasmus and Fabien Galthie for playing to their team’s strengths and being willing to embrace the trade-off that comes with a 7-1 bench composition but also believing World Rugby should stipulate that a bench must have at least 2 specialist backs.
Go to commentsRatings seem hugely generous, they were awful one and all.
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