Americas Rugby News Rugby news from across the Americas!
In the first Semi Final of Rugby World Cup 2019, England face New Zealand in Yokohama on Saturday. The match is remarkably to be the first time since 1999 that the teams meet in a RWC match.
Both England and New Zealand go into the Semi Final undefeated. England made light work of Tonga, the USA and Argentina in the pool stage before drawing 0-0 with Italy based on a match cancellation. In the Quarter Finals a second half dominant display saw the Wallabies falling to a heavy defeat.
Jones has opted for just the one change from the win over Australia. It comes in the pivotal position of fly half wherein George Ford returns from the bench to stat at no 10. This sees a shift for captain Owen Farrell to inside center and Manu Tuilagi to outside center with Henry Slade named on the bench.
New Zealand have also avoided changes. Their side features just one alteration with Scott Barrett named to start out of position at flanker. As such the world’s leading second-row combination of Brodie Retallick, and Sam Whitelock will lock the scrum with Scott Barrett a surprise choice on the blindside flank joining Ardie Savea and Kieran Read in the back-row.
Competition between England and New Zealand dates back to 1905. Despite 114 years of history between the teams there have been just 41 prior matches. Of them New Zealand has 33 wins, England 7 and there was a draw in 1997.
During the RWC 2015-2019 cycle there was just one match between England and New Zealand. It was part of the 2018 November Internationals and saw the All Blacks claiming a 16-15 win at London’s Twickenham Stadium.
The lack of regular competition between the teams during the Eddie Jones era means that there is little in empirical evidence to use to make comparisons. Based on form, results and selections ARN predicts an upset win with England winning by 4 points to reach the RWC 2019 Final.
ENGLAND RWC 2019 RESULTS
W – England 35-3 Tonga
W – England 45-7 USA
W – England 39-10 Argentina
D – England 0-0 France
W – England 40-16 Australia
NEW ZEALAND RWC 2019 RESULTS
W – New Zealand 23-13 South Africa
W – New Zealand 71-9 Namibia
W – New Zealand 63-0 Canada
D – New Zealand 0-0 Italy
W – New Zealand 46-14 Ireland
W – Win
L – Loss
D – Draw
TEAMS
ENGLAND
1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Jamie George, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 4 Maro Itoje, 5 Courtney Lawes, 6 Tom Curry, 7 Sam Underhill, 8 Billy Vunipola, 9 Ben Youngs, 10 George Ford, 11 Jonny May, 12 Owen Farrell (capt.), 13 Manu Tuilagi, 14 Anthony Watson, 15 Elliot Daly
Replacements: 16. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Dan Cole, 19 George Kruis, 20 Mark Wilson, 21 Willi Heinz, 22 Henry Slade, 23 Jonathan Joseph
NEW ZEALAND
1 Joe Moody, 2 Codie Taylor, 3 Nepo Laulala, 4 Brodie Retallick, 5 Sam Whitelock, 6 Scott Barrett, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Kieran Read (capt.), 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 11 George Bridge, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 13 Jack Goodhue, 14 Sevu Reece, 15 Beauden Barrett
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Angus Ta’avao, 19 Patrick Tu’ipulotu, 20 Sam Cane, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Sonny Bill Williams, 23 Jordie Barrett
Date: Saturday, October 26
Kick-Off: 17:00 local (01:00 Pacific, 04:00 Eastern, 05:00 Rio de la Plata)
Venue: International Stadium, Yokohama
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
Assistant Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France) & Romain Poite (France)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Latin/South America), NBC Sports Gold (USA), TSN 1/4 (Canada)
