The possibility of England playing the USA Eagles during the 2025 mid-year tests is currently being talked about by the Rugby Football Union.
This alone is not newsworthy, given that England last took on the Eagles in 2021. However, the prospect of it being played in an American stadium is also being considered, which would mark the first time that England has taken on America on their own turf since 2001 – nearly 24 years ago!
Should this occur, it would definitely generate a lot of buzz, especially amongst sports bettors. According to many of the bookmakers featured by Betting Sites Limited, England often attract good odds – they were 10/1 for the World Cup last year and they’re already at 4/1 for next year’s Six Nations. So, chances of success could be high for a meeting against the USA. However, looking to the upcoming Olympics, Team USA have odds of 33/1 for the gold medal, while Team GB are at 50/1.
Although it would be an exciting game, England doesn’t have anything to prove in playing the USA, given that the Three Lions have beaten the USA during every previous encounter.
England has played the Eagles a total of seven times. Four of these games took place during the Rugby World Cup, with the rest of the games taking place during Summer Tours and June Internationals.
England first beat the USA in 1987 with a score of 34-6 during the Rugby World Cup held in Australia.
England’s biggest victory over the States came in 1999 when the two teams faced off at Twickenham Stadium in London during the USA’s Summer tour. Playing at home may have helped England during this game, with the team landing a 106-8 victory over the States.
The last – and only – time England played the USA in America occurred at the Mathew J. Boxer Stadium in San Francisco during England’s 2001 Summer tour. The Three Lions were victorious yet again with a score of 48-19.
The last time these two nations faced off was during the June internationals in 2021 in a game that took place at Twickenham Stadium in London. England won yet again with a score of 43-29.
The potential clash between the two teams next year would occur during the British and Irish Lions Tour of Australia, which would provide crypto sports bettors with plenty of games to bet on.
In keeping with tradition, the English rugby team have some South American test matches scheduled for next summer against Argentina’s Los Pumas around the same time as the next British and Lions tour. This also happened in 2013 and 2009. The difference this time is that there is a chance that the English could go north to take on the US Eagles, based on recent discussions.
However, the possibility of England taking on the US next year is entirely hinged on whether or not Steve Borthwick is recruited by the head British and Irish Lions coach, Andy Farrell, to serve as an assistant coach in the upcoming Australian tour. If this were to happen, England would definitely have to limit the number of test matches they partake in.
Not only will another victory against America be good for England’s international rankings, but even a loss could benefit the US in the long run. A visit from England could increase rugby engagement levels throughout the country.
America needs to grow national interest in the sport, given that they’re hosting the 2031 and 2033 Rugby World Cups, which they’re set to spend $500 million on.
While there are rugby fans in the US, the sport is overshadowed by American football, basketball, and baseball, amongst other American sports. However, a recent study forecasts that there will be a 10% growth in global followers of the sport by next year – a lot of which should come from the US, should the England game go ahead!