According to former hooker Brian Moore, England needs more robust players at prop and a sharper, more clinical approach to compete with the best teams in the world.
Despite England’s impressive performances in New Zealand, the key to progress lies in converting those two narrow defeats into victories.
“England must find at least two props on both sides of the scrum,” wrote Moore.
“They desperately need a group of challengers to scrap to succeed Joe Marler and Dan Cole. When you compare England’s starting and bench combinations at prop, they are not the equal of any of the top four ranked teams in the world.
Given the distinct way that scrums influence games, no side can evidence weakness here and hope to survive.
“Apart from this, it would be unreasonable not to credit Steve Borthwick and England with making important improvements but – however they do it – they must find more big lumps.”
England set to play Wales at expanded 2027 Rugby World Cup
During the draw, the 24 participating teams will be divided into six pools, each consisting of four teams. Notably, this draw will transpire before the regional qualifiers have concluded, resulting in a dual-world approach.
On one side, we have the twelve automatic qualifiers from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, confirmed by their names. On the other side, the regional qualifiers will be represented as Africa 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, and so forth.
Rugby World Cup 2027 is set to be hosted in Australia, marking the eleventh edition of the Men’s Rugby World Cup and the third time it will take place in Australia. The country previously co-hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup with New Zealand in 1987 and served as the sole host in 2003.
With the current World Rankings in mind, let’s delve into how the 2027 Rugby World Cup will shape up…
2027 Rugby World Cup draw (Current rankings)
POOL A
- South Africa
- Argentina
- Samoa
- Spain
POOL B
- Ireland
- Australia
- Georgia
- Romania
