England to host All Blacks, Springboks, Pumas and Japan

Planet Rugby

England will face New Zealand and two of their 2023 Rugby World Cup pool opponents as part of their Autumn Nations Series schedule at Twickenham in 2022.

Eddie Jones’ men begin their autumn against Argentina at Twickenham on November 6, followed by Japan six days later, with both sides in their World Cup pool.

The English then play host to New Zealand on November 19, which will be a first meeting with the All Blacks since England beat them in the 2019 semi-finals.

The intriguing series ends with England facing 2019 world champions South Africa on November 26, the Rugby Football Union announced on Wednesday.

Mini World Cup in itself

Head coach Jones said: “These fixtures will be a really important part of our preparation for the 2023 World Cup.

“It’s almost a mini World Cup in itself, and we are fortunate to have it less than a year before the tournament.

“It will be a good litmus test for the team to see where we are at, culminating in playing first and second in the world.

“We saw how much of a difference having a full Twickenham Stadium was this autumn, and we can’t wait to play a series of games against such quality opposition in front of our supporters.”

Tigers keeping head down

Leicester Tigers head coach Steve Borthwick has revealed his team are refusing to look at the Premiership and Champions Cup tables in order to stay grounded.

The Welford Road outfit are flying high at the summit of England’s top flight as they near the midway stage of the campaign and last Saturday they kicked off their European charge with an impressive away victory over Bordeaux.

Connacht visit the Tigers this weekend as Leicester look to continue their remarkable revival under Borthwick, but he insists title-winning chat is off-limits.