England and Tonga will begin their bids to come out of pool C when the two sides meet on the 22nd of September, 2019 at the Sapporo Dome as from 19:15 local time. England, who made it to the quarter finals in 2015, will be strong favorites against a Tonga side that has failed to come out of the group stages in 7 attempts when the two go head to head in Toyohira-ku.

England vs Tonga Rugby World Cup 2019 Game Kickoff Time, Dates, Venue, What Channel Live Online is the Game

• What: England vs Tonga Rugby 2019 Live
• When: Sunday, 22th September
• Where: Sapporo
• Kickoff: 19:15 local, 10:15 GMT
• Television Match Official (TMO): TBC
• TV: BBC Sport, S4C, NBC Sports, DMAX

Head to Head

England and Tonga have only met twice and both games were in the group stages of the Rugby World Cup. They first met in 1999 where England won by 101-10 and in the 2007 RWC group stage where England still won by 36-20.

Key Players

With a host of big names being left out by Eddie Jones, the selected squad will need to turn and prove the coach right in Japan. Dan Coles will be taking part in a third consecutive intercontinental showdown and his experience will be of ultimate importance. Another player who’ll be keen to impress will be the uncapped Ruaridh McConnochie who got a call up after an impressive premiership campaign.

On the other hand, Tonga will be heavily reliant on their number 9 Sonatane Takulua as they look to cause a major upset in the opening round of the 2019 RWC. Similarly, they will be looking to Telusa Veainu to add a creative spark to their offense when they face England on the 22nd.

Game Prediction

Successfully navigating the group will be a big ask for Tonga, so will be beating England when they clash at the Sapporo. 3rd ranked England will know that these are points that they will have to collect but 15th ranked Tonga will be optimistic of having the job done having finished 2nd in the Pacific Tri-Nation ahead of the RWC.

England has a 70% win rate in RWC matches having won 31 and lost 13 games while scoring an average of 31.34 points per game. Meanwhile, Tonga has a 28% win rate in the global stage having lost 18 games and won just 7 in 25 different appearances while scoring an average of 16.2 points per game.

Prediction: England to Win

England 40-18 Tonga

Previous Game Result

England beat Tonga 36-20 enroute to the quarter finals when these two sides met in the 2007 Rugby World Cup group stages. Tonga scored two tries via Hufanga and Pole but they were not enough to stop an English side that scored 4 tries for the day. Sackey crossed the whitewash twice while Tait and Farell grabbed a try each to put the game out of Tonga’s reach.