England drop to eighth within the world rankings after their 30-22 defeat to Fiji in Saturday’s last Rugby World Cup warm-up sport; they open World Cup marketing campaign towards Argentina in Marseille on Saturday September 9
Last Updated: 28/08/23 2:57pm
England misplaced to Fiji on Saturday at Twickenham
England have dropped from sixth to eighth within the world rankings after their 30-22 defeat to Fiji in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup warm-up match – registering their joint-lowest position within the standings’ 20-year historical past.
Fiji, however, have climbed from ninth to seventh on the again of their gorgeous victory at Twickenham whereas Argentina – England’s important pool rivals in France – are up one place to sixth.
Ireland prime the rankings forward of second-placed South Africa with the 2 heavyweights’ presence in Pool B alongside fifth-placed Scotland highlighting essentially the most lop-sided draw within the competitors’s historical past.
England are within the best group however given their latest run of 5 defeats in six Tests, their assignments towards Twelfth-placed Samoa and 14th-placed Japan now appear to be banana skins.
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After a primary Test defeat to Fiji, England head coach Steve Borthwick praised the ‘Flying Fijians’ for his or her dominant efficiency
They face Argentina in Marseille on Saturday September 9 of their World Cup opener.
Apart from their kind on the sphere, which is underpinned by a leaky defence, they’ve suffered from a sequence of suspensions and accidents which have disrupted their build-up.
While the rankings change after each spherical of Tests matches, England’s lowly position is symbolic of how far they’ve fallen and mirrors expectations over how they’ll carry out on the World Cup.
Borthwick himself defined the significance of the rankings heading into the event when he introduced his 33-man squad on August 7.
“If you could lay it out and say to me ‘what would you want to be right now?’, I’d use [former England coach] Clive Woodward’s words that you want to be the best team in the world,” Borthwick stated.
“Ranked number one, the favourites. That’s what Ireland have right now. Why? Because you want to make sure you’re the best team. Now that’s not our situation, our situation is different.”
