England will play two home fixtures at Twickenham next summer as part of their preparation for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Eddie Jones’ side will host Wales at Twickenham on Saturday 12 August in the second game of a double-header.
In their opening warm-up game, England will travel to Cardiff to play Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday 5 August. England will also take on Fiji on Saturday 26 August – their last match before they travel to France for the Rugby World Cup.
They will play a further away fixture, the weekend before, with opposition to be announced in the coming months.
After the summer fixtures Jones’ squad will base themselves in Le Touquet, in the north of France. Their opening 2023 Rugby World Cup game is against Argentina in Marseille (Saturday 9 September), before playing Japan, Chile and Samoa in Pool D.
“These matches will be crucial as we enter our final preparation stage for the Rugby World Cup,” said Jones. “It’s our chance to develop our tactical approach, improve our game fitness and to say thank you to the supporters for the last four years.
“We’re very fortunate to have such a tough opponent in Wales and to play them both home and away, along with the atmosphere we always experience in Cardiff. It will be great preparation for the squad.
“We also know Fiji are a rapidly improving team under Vern Cotter, they have some excellent individuals and are a similar proposition to Samoa who we will face in the World Cup.
“These are the matches where the World Cup is almost in touching distance and the feeling that the support of a full Twickenham Stadium will give the squad real momentum going into the tournament in France.”
England’s 2023 Rugby World Cup squad according to the bookies
Props (5):
- Ellis Genge 1/50
- Kyle Sinckler 1/10
- Mako Vunipola 1/5
- Will Stuart 1/3
- Joe Marler 2/5
Hookers (3):
- Jamie George 1/14
- Luke Cowan-Dickie 1/6
- Jamie Blamire 5/6
