Rugby World Cup Preview – 11.15 am kick-off
England have seen the likes of New Zealand and Australia open their Rugby World Cup 2019 accounts with victories. The Red Rose will be looking to follow suit as they step out against Tonga on Sunday. England are expected to have a comfortable time of things in this one in Sapporo.
England v Tonga odds*
 |
1/500 | 66/1 | 33/1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19/10 | 47/20 | 27/20 |
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on December 20th, 2019 at 5:00 pm)
Rugby World Cup Betting at Bet365
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England v Tonga Preview
England will be keen to bury the nightmares of four years ago when they crashed out of the group stage of the World Cup on home soil. This should be a good game for England in terms of stretching their legs and getting some big-occasion experience into younger players like Tom Curry and Sam Underhill.
George Ford and Owen Farrell line up together at fly-half fan inside centre respectively. This game is being played indoors at the Sapporo Dome. There has been one meeting between England and Tonga since 2000. England won that 36-20 in 2007 in a meeting in France at the World Cup.
Tonga have won just one fixture in the last twelve months. That a friendly success over Canada as part of their World Cup 2019 warm ups back in early August. That is a W1 L6 in them in the last year. Their final World Cup warm-up match was against New Zealand in early September and Tonga were hammered 92-7. During their last seven fixtures they have also lost by 50 points against Wales and by 34 points against Japan. This is going to be a tough experience for them.
England v Tonga Prediction
A positive start is needed by England just for their own belief and self-confidence. There should be no slip up from Eddie Jones’s men here. An England 41-50 winning margin should not be an unrealistic target. England just needs to build big momentum now ahead of their tougher group challenges against Argentina and France.
