Rugby Union Today: England beat USA and the short side
Another busy day in the rugby union game as England produced an improved display to hammer the USA and secure their second victory of the 2019 World Cup.
What’s on the site
England found a bit more fluency as they beat Gary Gold’s USA 45-7 to put themselves in a good position ahead of their big game against Argentina. They touched down seven times, with Joe Cokanasiga grabbing two of them, and you can see those tries in the highlights.
That tournament is also discussed in ‘The short side,’ which delves into the main talking points looking towards the contests this weekend. The Australia v Wales encounter is the big one but also look out for the battle between Japan’s Amanaki Mafi and Ireland’s CJ Stander.
Finally, a former player who will be engrossed in that match between the hosts and the 2018 Six Nations winner is ex-hooker Shane Byrne, who gave his opinion on the World Cup so far.
What’s in the news
Like England, Italy currently have a perfect record in the World Cup after putting together an impressive effort in thrashing Canada 48-7. It puts them on 10 points in the group but a bigger test awaits in South Africa.
Elsewhere, Ireland named their team for the upcoming match versus Japan with fly-half Johnny Sexton ruled out of the game, while the hosts sprung a surprise by leaving captain Michael Leitch on the bench.
What’s on social media
Worth looking back to yesterday and this wonderful and emotional post-match interview…
Goose bumps. Congratulations to Uruguay
— Jim Hamilton (@jimhamilton4) September 25, 2019
What’s on TV
The Rugby World Cup continues where all the games will be exclusively live on ITV. It should be another thrilling weekend of action with Australia versus Wales the standout contest this Sunday.
Elsewhere, the PRO14 season gets underway and it begins on Friday with the Cheetahs playing host to Glasgow Warriors and Ulster going head-to-head with the Ospreys, live on Premier Sports.
On BT Sport, the Premiership Rugby Cup has reached its second round as Leicester Tigers host Exeter Chiefs and Northampton Saints take on Wasps, while Sky Sports are showing the Mitre 10 Cup.