England’s opening game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan will be against Tonga. The Pool C encounter will take place in Sapporo on 22 September.

They will then face a four-day turnaround between their opening two games with their next fixture against USA on 26 September.

England will also need to take a two-hour plane journey between Sapporo and Kobe for the fixtures, but will have an extended preparation time ahead of their third and fourth games in Pool C. They face Argentina in Tokyo on 5 October before their final opening-round fixture against France in Yokahama on 12 October.

The Sapporo Dome, venue for England’s first match, opened ahead of the 2002 Fifa World Cup and has a capacity of just over 40,000.

England head coach Eddie Jones says his team can have no excuses if they fail to mount a meaningful World Cup challenge.

“If you were doing the ideal world and wanted to set it up, that’s how you’d want it. So we have no excuses,” Jones said. “Whatever the draw, you have to win four games and the great thing for us is that we have got really good locations.

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“I think we have been blessed with the locations and have the advantage of being a big team so they want us to play in big grounds at the end of the pool. So we have Argentina at Tokyo Stadium, which is a great stadium. I used to live two train stations away from it and know it well.

“Then we have the final pool game against France at the Yokohama Stadium which gives us a chance to experience what potentially is a ground we will be playing at later in the tournament.”

All major nations at the World Cup face short turnarounds of some description and Jones has no issue with England’s having experienced a similar scenario when head coach of Japan two years ago.

“It’s brilliant. I love it. I’m a specialist at it and have done it before,” Jones said. “It’s part of the tournament and you have to adjust to it and make sure you have the depth of your squad and that is something we pride ourselves on.

“It’s a great opportunity and great for the support staff as we have to be efficient, spot on in everything - travel, rehydration, nutrition, training loads. I love it.”

The opening round of pool fixtures also features a heavyweight clash between reigning world champions New Zealand and their Rugby Championship rivals South Africa.

Wales’ potentially pivotal Pool D encounter against Australia - they face the Wallabies in an autumn Test series opener next week - is in Tokyo on 29 September. Wales, World Cup semi-finalists six years ago, then meet Fiji in Oita on 9 October, followed by the Americas 2 qualifier (possibly Canada) at Kumamoto Stadium four days later.

Reflecting on the match schedule, Wales head coach Warren Gatland said: “It is good to have the full details announced as the excitement for the tournament continues to grow.

“We have spoken recently about our aims and belief for 2019 and how our focus over the next two years is to provide a platform for us to peak in Japan. With this announcement we can continue our planning and preparation for the tournament in finer detail.

“We kick off the tournament against Georgia before facing Australia, both of whom we play this November in Cardiff. We then have a good block of time before facing Fiji in Oita, before the short turnaround before our final pool encounter versus Americas 2. We have four cities to visit so it is important we buy into the culture of Japan and the tournament.”

After tackling Ireland, Scotland meet the yet to be decided play-off winners in Kobe on 30 September, then go to Shizuoka to tackle the Europe 1 qualifiers (possibly Romania) before facing Japan, who play in the tournament’s opening game against Europe 1 on 20 September, on 13 October.

Ireland’s appointment with Japan is in Shizuoka on 28 September, then they take on Europe 1 in Kobe five days later, followed by the play-off winner at Fukuoka Stadium on 12 October.

The tournament’s 48 games will be spread across 12 host cities, with each venue hosting a minimum of two matches. Yokohama’s International Stadium stages four pool matches, in addition to both semi-finals, and then the final on 2 November.

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World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont said: “Today the tournament comes to life for the players and fans. The announcement of the match schedule and ticketing programme will generate excitement as we all look ahead to a tournament that will break new ground as the first in Asia.



“We know that this will be a special, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Japan to welcome the world to the whole of this great nation, and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for rugby fans from around the world to experience all Japan has to offer.”

Games will kick off no later than 7.45pm, local time, while no tier two team will play against a tier one-ranked nation following a short rest period.

World rugby chief executive Brett Gosper added: “The development of the match schedule is an important milestone for what will be a very special Rugby World Cup. Throughout this rigorous process, we have had participating team experience for teams and fans at heart.

“We have worked hard to deliver a match schedule that improves on the Rugby World Cup 2015 model, delivering a more balanced spread of matches across the four weeks of pool matches and greater rest periods for the emerging rugby nations ahead of matches against the top-ranked teams. These are the foundations that will assist the world’s top players to perform to their best in Japan.”

Match schedule

September

20: Pool A - Japan v Europe 1, Tokyo Stadium, 1145 (All kick-offs GMT) .

21: Pool D - Australia v Fiji, Sapporo Dome, 0545.

21: Pool C - France v Argentina, Tokyo Stadium, 0815.

21: Pool B - New Zealand v South Africa, Yokohama International Stadium, 1045. 22: Pool B - Italy v Africa 1, Hanazono Stadium, Osaka, 0615.

22: Pool A - Ireland v Scotland, Yokohama International Stadium, 0845.

22: Pool C - England v Tonga, Sapporo Dome, 1115.

23: Pool D - Wales v Georgia, City of Toyota Stadium, 1115.

24: Pool A - Europe 1 v Play-off winner, Kumagaya Rugby Grounds, 1115.

25: Pool D - Fiji v Americas 2, Kamaishi Memorial Stadium, 0615.

26: Pool B - Italy v Repechage winner, Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka, 0845.

26: Pool C - England v USA, Kobe Misaki Stadium, 1145.

28: Pool C - Argentina v Tonga, Hanazono Stadium, Osaka, 0545.

28: Pool A - Japan v Ireland, Shizuoka Stadium, 0815.

28: Pool B - South Africa v Africa 1, City of Toyota Stadium, 1045.

29: Pool D - Georgia v Americas 2, Kumagaya Rugby Grounds, 0615.

29: Pool D - Australia v Wales, Tokyo Stadium, 0845.

30: Pool A - Scotland v Play-off winner, Kobe Misaki Stadium, 1115.

October

2: Pool C - France v USA, Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka, 0845.

2: Pool B - New Zealand v Repechage winner, Oita Stadium, 1115.

3: Pool D - Georgia v Fiji, Hanazono Stadium, Osaka, 0615.

3: Pool A - Ireland v Europe 1, Kobe Misaki Stadium, 1115.

4: Pool B - South Africa v Italy, Shizuoka Stadium, 1045.

5: Pool D - Australia v Americas 2, Oita Stadium, 0615.

5: Pool C - England v Argentina, Tokyo Stadium, 0900.

5: Pool A - Japan v Play-off winner, City of Toyota Stadium, 1130.

6: Pool B - New Zealand v Africa 1, Tokyo Stadium, 0545.

6: Pool C - France v Tonga, Kumamoto Stadium, 0845.

8: Pool B - South Africa v Repechage winner, Kobe Misaki Stadium, 1115.

9: Pool C - Argentina v USA, Kumagaya Rugby Grounds, 0545.

9: Pool A - Scotland v Europe 1, Shizuoka Stadium, 0815.

9: Pool D - Wales v Fiji, Oita Stadium, 1045.

11: Pool D - Australia v Georgia, Shizuoka Stadium, 1115.

12: Pool B - New Zealand v Italy, City of Toyota Stadium, 0545.

12: Pool C - England v France, Yokohama International Stadium, 0915.

12: Pool A - Ireland v Play-off winner, Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka, 1145.

13: Pool B - Africa 1 v Repechage winner, Kamaishi Memorial Stadium, 0415.

13: Pool C - USA v Tonga, Hanazono Stadium, Osaka, 0645.

13: Pool D - Wales v Americas 2, Kumamoto Stadium, 0915.

13: Pool A - Japan v Scotland, Yokohama International Stadium, 1145.

19: Quarter-final (winner Pool C v runner-up Pool D), Oita Stadium, 0815.

19: Quarter-final (winner Pool B v runner-up Pool A), Tokyo Stadium, 1115.

20: Quarter-final (winner Pool D v runner-up Pool C), Oita Stadium, 0815.

20: Quarter-final (winner Pool A v runner-up Pool B), Tokyo Stadium, 1115.

26: Semi-final (winner quarter-final 1 v winner quarter-final 2), Yokohama International Stadium, 0900.

27 - Semi-final (winner quarter-final 3 v winner quarter-final 4), Yokohama International Stadium, 0900.

November

1: Bronze final, Tokyo Stadium, 0900.

2: Final, Yokohama International Stadium, 0900.