"66 into 33" - England players Steve Borthwick is considering for World Cup - Ruck

“66 into 33” – England players Steve Borthwick is considering for World Cup

Steve Borthwick is currently keeping track of around 66 players before trimming the group to 33 for the Rugby World Cup later this year.

England have so far arranged three summer warm-up matches as part of their preparations for Rugby World Cup 2023.

The first match will see England take on Wales in Cardiff on Saturday 5th August, before hosting Wales in the return fixture at Twickenham the following weekend.

The final match in the series will see Fiji visit Twickenham on Saturday 26th August.

An additional away fixture is also expected to be arranged for the weekend of 19th/20th August.

  • Wales v England: Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Saturday 5th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC
  • England v Wales: Twickenham Stadium, London. Saturday 12th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC
  • England v Fiji: Twickenham Stadium, London. Saturday 26th August 2023. Kick-off: TBC

Borthwick’s men have been drawn in Pool D for Rugby World Cup 2023 – alongside Japan, Argentina, Samoa and Chile.

England will begin their RWC 2023 campaign against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday 9th September.

All kick-off times are shown in UK & Ireland time (with local time in brackets).

  • England v Argentina: Stade Vélodrome, Marseille. Saturday 9th September 2023. Kick-off: 8:00pm (9:00pm local)
  • England v Japan: Stade de Nice, Nice. Sunday 17th September 2023. Kick-off: 8:00pm (9:00pm local)
  • England v Chile: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille. Saturday 23rd September 2023. Kick-off: 4:45pm (5:45pm local)
  • England v Samoa: Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille. Saturday 7th October 2023. Kick-off: 4:45pm (5:45pm local)

The Rugby World Cup quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of 14/15 October, with the semi-finals on 20/21 October and the final on Saturday, 28 October.

ENGLAND HOPEFULS:

BACK-THREE CONTENDERS:

Joe Cokanasiga (Bath)

Tommy Freeman (Northampton Saints)

Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)

Jonny May (Gloucester)

Ollie Thorley (Gloucester)

Cadan Murley (Harlequins)

Henry Arundell (London Irish)

Anthony Watson (Leicester Tigers)

Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)

Adam Radwan (Newcastle Falcons)

Max Malins (Saracens)

George Furbank (Northampton Saints)

Ollie Hassell-Collins (London Irish)

CENTRE CONTENDERS:

Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)

Dan Kelly (Leicester Tigers)

Guy Porter (Leicester Tigers)

Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)

Will Joseph (London Irish)

Joe Marchant (Harlequins)

Fraser Dingwall (Northampton Saints)

Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby)

FLY-HALF CONTENDERS:

Marcus Smith (Harlequins)

Fin Smith (Northampton Saints)

Owen Farrell (Saracens)

Owen Farrell, Captain of England during the Six Nations Match between England and Italy at Twickenham, London on 12 Feb 2023 (Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)

George Ford (Sale Sharks)

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