The RFU have confirmed that ahead of the 2015 Rugby World Cup England will play three test matches beginning in August.
The warm-up matches will see England take on France and Ireland at home, and then travel away to play France.
"These Test matches will be vital in our preparations for the World Cup," said England head coach Stuart Lancaster.
"To have two internationals at Twickenham Stadium, in front of our passionate fans, will be something to look forward to and we are grateful to the French and Irish unions for helping us arrange these fixtures so soon after the draw."
Fixtures for the 2015 RWC warm up matches:
August 15 - England v France
August 22 - France v England
September 5- England v Ireland
Comments
three6three6 says...
Great summary rugby_rockstar of England's last four RWCs.... I think that tactical moves are being made well before the start of any RWC - and no team would be disappointed in losing a 'warm up' international.... after all it is a chance to build further on team unity and ambition.
After the Wales performance their pre RWC matches in 2011 would have predicted that Wales would have played so well in the tournament? They were playing well enough to be in the final!
Posted 05:05 06th February 2013
Greyprop says...
Waz4before. The answer is in the headline,"warm-ups". I think Englant want a couple of contests before the competition.
Posted 07:27 05th February 2013
waz4before says...
we're not playing wales home & away like we usually do then ....
Posted 05:18 05th February 2013
kybone says...
99call and Headhunter99- Previous history shows that results in world cup warm up games are virtually meaningless. England lost to France in a warm up prior to winning the thing in 03. They then beat Wales by a massive score prior to starting like a team of OAP's at the 07 event. All these games are used for is a final chance for players to put their hands up and a chance to shake off the cobwebs before the proper games start.
Posted 19:48 04th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
I doubt bursting other people's bubbles will be their ambition Pre World Cup. They'll have their own bubbles to focus on.
Posted 18:49 04th February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
1999 - We played USA and Canada. Put three figures on the yanks, I remember Johnno ripping the ball out of an american maul and legging it further than I've ever seen him go, before offloading a try scoring pass to dallagio (no wonder the glory hunter got nicknamed dayglo) Then we scored about 40pts over the big angry toothless Cannucks, (these were the days when you could still have the odd punch up to add to the entertainment value for the fans). Then, come the rwc, our clueless Backs got found out by NZ and SA. Bye Bye 1999 RWC.
2003 - our 2nds smashed Wales in Cardiff and then they narrowly lost to France in Paris, then our 1st team smashed france at twickenham. We then bulldosed our way to world cup glory, That loss in paris stopped england putting together a massive unbeaten run though... sometimes you wonder if anyone will ever beat 17 wins on the trot.
2007 - We lost home and away to France (demolished wales at twickenham though) then knocked France out of their own RWC a couple of months later. (says alot about the warm ups really, france must have been amazed!!! haha!)
2011 - We stomped all over wales in twickenham, embarassed ourselves in cardiff, everyone sing along, "if you're Hape and you know it drop the ball."
then we beat Ireland in Dublin before proceeding to shovel out utter cak for the whole NZ (miss)adventure until France kindly put us fans out of our misery and allowed us to get on with important stuff like quad biking at Franz Josef!!!
So, one things for sure, win or lose, the warm up games are not great indicators of what's actually going to happen a month or so later. Always nice to win though I 'spose.
Posted 17:45 04th February 2013
TVaddict says...
Strong warm-ups!
Posted 17:32 04th February 2013
Headhunter99 says...
I bet the French and Irish unions were only to happy with an opportunity to burst any English bubble near to the World Cup.
@99call - theres also three games England might easily win... now that would be worrying.
Posted 17:05 04th February 2013
99call says...
Well theres 3 games England could easily lose
Posted 15:29 04th February 2013