England national rugby union team

History

The expansion of rugby in the first half of the 19th century was driven by ex-pupils from many of England's Public Schools, especially Rugby, who, upon finishing school, took the game with them to universities, to London, and to the counties. England's first international match was against Scotland on Monday 27 March 1871. Not only was this match England's first, but it also proved to be the first ever rugby union international. Scotland won the match by a goal and a try to a try, in front of a crowd of 4,000 people at Raeburn Place, Edinburgh. A subsequent international took place at the Oval in London on 5 February 1872 which saw England defeat Scotland by a goal, a drop goal and two tries to one drop goal. In those early days there was no points system, it was only after 1890 that a format allowing the introduction of a points system was provided. Up until 1875 international rugby matches were decided by the number of goals scored (conversions and dropped goals), but from 1876 the number of tries scored could be used to decide a match if teams were level on goals.

In 1875, England played their first game against the Irish at the Oval, winning by one goal, one drop goal and one try to nil; the match was Ireland's first ever Test. England defeated Scotland in 1880 to become the first winners of the Calcutta Cup. Their first match against Wales was played on 19 February 1881 at Richardson's Field in Blackheath. England recorded their largest victory, defeating the Welsh by seven goals, six tries, and one drop goal to nil and scoring 13 tries in the process. The subsequent meeting the following year at St Helens in Swansea was a closer contest; with England winning by two goals and four tries to nil Two years later, the first Home Nations championship was held and England emerged as the inaugural winners. In 1889, England played their first match against a non-home nations team when they defeated the New Zealand Natives by one goal and four tries to nil at Rectory Field in Blackheath. In 1890 England shared the Home Nations trophy with Scotland.

England first played New Zealand (the All Blacks) in 1905. The All Blacks scored five tries, worth three points at this time, to win 15–0. The following year, they played France for the first time, and later that year they first faced South Africa (known as the Springboks); James Peters was withdrawn from the England squad after the South Africans objected to playing against a black player. The match was drawn 3–3. England first played France in 1905, and Australia (known as the Wallabies) in 1909 when they were defeated 9–3.

The year 1909 saw the opening of Twickenham as the RFU's new home, which heralded a golden era for English rugby union. England's first international at Twickenham brought them victory over Wales, and England went on to win the International Championship (then known as the Five Nations) for the first time since the great schism of 1895. Although England did not retain the title in 1911, they did share it in 1912. A Five Nations Grand Slam was then achieved in 1913 and 1914 as well as in 1921 following the First World War. England subsequently won the Grand Slam in 1924 and as well as in 1925. This was despite having started 1925 with a loss to the All Black Invincibles in front of 60,000 fans at Twickenham.

After winning another Grand Slam in 1928, England played the Springboks in front of 70,000 spectators at Twickenham in 1931. Following the ejection of France due to professionalism in 1930, which thus reverted The Five Nations back to the Home Nations tournament, England went on to win the 1934 and 1937 Home Nations with a Triple Crown, and in 1935 achieved their first victory over the All Blacks.

When the Five Nations resumed with the re-admission of France in 1947 after the Second World War, England shared the championship with Wales. The early Five Nations competitions of the 1950s were unsuccessful for England, winning one match in the 1950 and 1951 championships. England won the 1953 Five Nations, and followed this up with a Grand Slam in 1957, and win in 1958. England broke France's four-championship streak by winning the 1963 Championship. After this victory, England played three Tests in the Southern Hemisphere and lost all three: 21–11 and 9–6 against the All Blacks, and 18–9 against Australia. England did not win a single match in 1966, and managed only a draw with Ireland. They did not win another Championship that decade; a fact that prompted amateur historian F. W. P. Syms to declare this period 'the sorriest in English Rugby Union History'.

Don White was appointed as England's first-ever coach in 1969. According to former Northampton player Bob Taylor, "Don was chosen because he was the most forward-thinking coach in England". His first match in charge was an 11–8 victory over South Africa at Twickenham in 1969. Of the eleven games England played with White in charge they won three, and drew one and lost seven. He resigned as England coach in 1971.

England had wins against Southern Hemisphere teams in the 1970s; with victories over South Africa in 1972, New Zealand in 1973 and Australia in 1973 and 1976. The 1972 Five Nations Championship was not completed due to the Troubles in Northern Ireland when Scotland and Wales refused to play their Five Nations away fixtures in Ireland. England played in Dublin in 1973 and were given a standing ovation lasting five minutes. After losing 18–9 at Lansdowne Road, the England captain, John Pullin famously stated, "We might not be very good but at least we turned up."

England started the following decade with a Grand Slam victory in the 1980 Five Nations – their first for 23 years. However in the 1983 Five Nations Championship, England failed to win a game and picked up the wooden spoon. In the first Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and Australia, England were grouped in pool A alongside Australia, Japan and the United States. England lost their first game 19–6 against Australia. They went on to defeat Japan and the United States, and met Wales in their quarter-final, losing the match 16–3.

In 1989, England won matches against Romania and Fiji, followed by victories in their first three Five Nations games of 1990. They lost to Scotland in their last game however, giving Scotland a Grand Slam. England recovered in the following year by winning their first Grand Slam since 1980. England hosted the 1991 World Cup and were in pool A, along with the All Blacks, Italy and the United States. Although they lost to the All Blacks in pool play, they qualified for a quarter-final going on to defeat France 19–10. England then defeated Scotland 9–6 to secure a place in the final against Australia which they lost 12–6.

The next year, England completed another Grand Slam and did not lose that year, including a victory over the Springboks. In the lead up to the 1995 World Cup in South Africa, England completed another Grand Slam – their third in five years. In the World Cup, England defeated Argentina, Italy and Samoa in pool play and then defeated Australia 25–22 in their quarter-final. England's semi-final was dominated by the All Blacks and featured four tries, now worth five points each, by Jonah Lomu; England lost 45–29. They then lost the third/fourth place play-off match against France.

In 1997, Clive Woodward became England's coach. That year, England drew with New Zealand at Twickenham after being heavily defeated in Manchester the week before. England toured Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 1998. Many of the England team made themselves unavailable for the tour nicknamed the "tour from hell" where England were beaten 76–0 by the Wallabies. In 1999 during the last ever Five Nations match, Scott Gibbs sliced through six English tackles to score in the last minute, and the last ever Five Nations title went to Scotland.

England commenced the new decade by winning the inaugural Six Nations title. In 2001, Ireland defeated England 20–14 in a postponed match at Lansdowne Road to deny them a Grand Slam. Although the 2002 Six Nations Championship title was won by France, England had the consolation of winning the Triple Crown. In 2002, England defeated Argentina in Buenos Aires, and then a second string All Blacks, Australia, and South Africa at Twickenham. In 2003, England won the Grand Slam for the first time since 1995, followed by wins over Australia and the All Blacks on their Summer tour in June.

Going into the 2003 World Cup, England were one of the tournament favourites. They reached the final on 22 November 2003 against host Australia and became world champions after a match-winning drop goal by star flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson deep into extra time that made the final score 20–17. Not only was it their first Rugby World Cup victory, but it was the country's first World Cup since winning the 1966 FIFA (football) World Cup as hosts. On 8 December, the English team greeted 750,000 supporters on their victory parade through London before meeting Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace.

In the 2004 Six Nations Championship, England lost to both France and Ireland and finished third. Sir Clive Woodward resigned on 2 September and Andy Robinson was appointed England head coach. Robinson's first Six Nations campaign in 2005 resulted in fourth place for England, and although they then defeated Australia 26–16, the year was completed with a 23–19 loss to the All Blacks.

Following their loss to South Africa in the 2006 end of year Tests, England had lost eight of their last nine Tests – their worst ever losing streak. Coach Andy Robinson resigned after this run, and attack coach Brian Ashton was appointed head coach in December 2006. England started the 2007 Six Nations Championship with a Calcutta Cup victory over Scotland. The championship also included a historic match at Croke Park against Ireland which England lost 43–13, their heaviest ever defeat to Ireland.

In the 2007 World Cup England played in Pool A with Samoa, Tonga, South Africa and the United States. They qualified for the quarter finals after losing embarrassingly to South Africa 36–0 where they defeated Australia 12–10, and then faced hosts France in their semi final. England won 14–9 to qualify for the final against South Africa, which they lost 15–6. England followed up the World Cup with two consecutive 2nd place finishes in the Six Nations, behind Wales and Ireland respectively. The 2009 Six Nations also saw former England Captain Martin Johnson take up the job of head coach. However, Johnson could not replicate his on-field success to management, and resigned in November 2011 following a miserable 2011 Rugby World Cup which ended in quarter-final defeat by France and featured a series of on and off-field controversies.

On 29 March 2012, Stuart Lancaster, the former Elite Rugby Director at Leeds Carnegie was appointed England head coach by the Rugby Football Union. Previously Lancaster was appointed as the head coach on a short term basis assisted by existing forwards coach Graham Rowntree and Andy Farrell.

Lancaster was considered a success in his first campaign as England coach - during the 2012 Six Nations Championship, defending Champions England finished in second place after losing 19–12 to Wales at Twickenham Stadium, but successfully defended the Calcutta Cup beating Scotland 13–6 at Murrayfield. England finished the year on a high, after outplaying World Cup holders New Zealand in November, in which England dominated to win 38–21. The All Blacks had been unbeaten in 20 matches but were completely outplayed by England.

During the 2013 Six Nations Championship again England finished in second place behind Wales after losing the opportunity of being Grand Slam winners for the first time since 2003, by losing to Wales in Cardiff 30–3. It was also the first time every team managed to win at least 3 competition points (the equivalent of a win and a draw or three draws) since 1974. However, England did again defeat Scotland for the Calcutta Cup 38–18 at Twickenham.

During the 2013 summer tour to South America in which Lancaster took an experimental side, England beat a South American select XV before a 2–0 series victory over Argentina, a first away series win against The Pumas for 32 years. England hosted the 2015 Rugby World Cup but were eliminated in the Pool stage, the first hosts in a Rugby World Cup to have failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

However, despite the 2015 World Cup setback following the appointment of new head coach Eddie Jones, England won the Grand Slam in the 2016 Six Nations Championship, went the whole of 2016 unbeaten, including winning a series whitewash over Australia in Sydney, and secured a new record of 17 consecutive wins with a 36-15 victory over Italy in their third match of the 2017 edition.

Twickenham

Up until 1910, the English rugby team used various stadia in a number of venues around England before settling at Twickenham Stadium. It is the largest rugby-dedicated stadium in the world. After sell-out matches at Crystal Palace in 1905 and 1906 against New Zealand and South Africa respectively, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) decided to invest in their own ground. In 1906, the RFU arranged for William Williams to find a home ground for English Rugby. The land for the ground was purchased the following year for £5,572 12s and 6d, and construction began the following year.

The first England match was held on 9 October 1910 between England and Wales. England ran out winners, 11–6, beating Wales for the first time since 1898. The stadium was expanded in 1927 and again in 1932. Further upgrades did not happen until the 1990s when new North, East and West stands were built. A new South stand was built in 2005 and 2006 to make the stadium into a complete bowl. The first match to be played at the redeveloped Twickenham was on Sunday 5 November 2006 against the All Blacks. England lost the match 41-20 in front of a record crowd of 82,076.

Although England have played home matches almost exclusively at Twickenham since 1910, they have played at Huddersfield's Galpharm Stadium twice in 1998, at Old Trafford against New Zealand in 1997 and at Wembley Stadium against Canada in 1992. They also played the first of a two-test series against Argentina at Old Trafford in June 2009, a match originally scheduled to be held in Argentina but moved by the country's national federation for financial reasons.

The pitch at Twickenham was replaced by a hybrid 'Desso' type, in June 2012, which uses artificial fibres entwined with real grass. This makes it a lot harder wearing in wet conditions.

Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" is very commonly sung at England fixtures – especially at Twickenham. The song arrived in the rugby canon through the Welsh male voice choirs who sang many spirituals. It was a popular rugby song at clubs during the 1950s and 1960s and was sung every year at Twickenham during the end-of-season all-day Middlesex Sevens tournament accompanied by risqué hand gestures that played on the double entendres of some of the words. During the 1970s the Twickenham crowd also sang it during England matches then coming into the last match of the 1988 season, against the Irish, England had lost 15 of their previous 23 matches in the Five Nations Championship. The Twickenham crowd had only seen one solitary England try in the previous two years and at half time against Ireland they were 3–0 down. During the second half a remarkable transformation took place and England started playing an expansive game many had doubted they were capable of producing. A 3–0 deficit was turned into a 35–3 win, with England scoring six tries.

In the 35–3 win, three of England's tries were scored by Chris Oti, a player who had made a reputation for himself that season as a speedster on the left wing. A group of boys from the Benedictine school Douai following a tradition at their school games sang the song on his final try, and other spectators around the ground joined in. Since then "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" became a song to sing at England home games, in the same way that "The Fields of Athenry" is sung in Dublin and "Cwm Rhondda" is sung at Cardiff. It has since become the anthem of the team as in 1991 the result of a plan of the then RFU marketing director Mike Coley for the team to launch a song leading up to that year's Rugby World Cup. He had wanted to use Jerusalem but it was used in the Rugby League cup final that year so the song was changed at short notice to "Swing Low". There were a number of versions recorded including a 'rap' version with Jerry Guscott doing a solo. Needless to say that was never released but the version released did reach the top 40 in the UK singles chart during the competition and was then adopted as the England rugby song.

Strip

England have typically worn all-white shirts, white shorts with navy and white socks. The emblem on the shirts is a red rose, rather than the Plantagenet Three Lions displayed on the shirts of the England football and cricket teams. The strip is manufactured by Canterbury and O₂ is the shirt sponsor. The change strip is normally red, although prior to the introduction of the red strip, navy blue was used and was reintroduced for the 2016-17 season. Purple was used as the change strip as of the 2009 autumn internationals, reflecting the traditional colour of the original England track-suits from the 1960s, 70s and 80s. For the 2011 Rugby World Cup the change kit was black.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) had created the national side's emblem prior to an English team being sent to Edinburgh to play a Scottish side. A red rose was chosen to be the side's emblem. The white kit worn by the national team was taken from the kit used at Rugby School. Alfred Wright, an employee of the Rugby Football Union, is credited with the standardisation and new design of the rose, which up until 1920 had undergone many variations in its depiction. The Wright design is thought to have been used without minor alteration until the late 1990s. It was not until 1997 that the rose was modernised when Nike became the official strip supplier.

In 2003 England first used a skin-tight strip. This was intended to make it more difficult for the opposition to grasp the shirt when tackling. The home and away strips for 2007 were unveiled on 15 May that year. The materials used are superior, offering improved performance to the 2003 kit. However, a sweeping red mark on the base-white front which forms St George's Cross on the top left, and a changed away-strip (dark blue to red), have received criticism because it is felt that emphasis has been placed on St George's Cross at the expense of the traditional red rose. The new strip was introduced in England's home game against Wales on 4 August, while the alternative strip was first used against France on 18 August.

The former England home strip was white with a strip of red around the neck, and the away strip was black (causing much controversy due to the famous All-Black kit of New Zealand), both kits had a ground breaking new technology in the form of a gripper print. A special strip was worn during the match versus Wales in the 2010 Six Nations Championship which replicated that worn in 1910 to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Twickenham. The current, 2016-17, England strip is made by Canterbury. It features plain white shorts and a plain white shirt featuring an embossed St. George's Cross pattern on the chest and upper back. The crest is 3D injection moulded on a raised pouch, and a new redesigned deconstructed neckline. The current alternative kit is dark sapphire and features the same embossed St. George's Cross but in red, Shorts are also dark sapphire. Home socks are midnight blue with a white top and this is reversed for the alternative socks. In 2013-14, the strip featured plain white shorts and a plain white shirt, but with an added black stripe on each sleeve. The alternative kit had a red and white striped shirt, with blue shorts.In 2014/15, the home shirt was white, with a "V-Neck" around the collar. The kit also had little Victoria Crosses on the main chest. It also had the O2 sponsorship marking on the chest. The shorts were plain white with the sponsorship marking on them. The socks were dark blue and had a white stripe at the top. The alternate shirt was exactly the same but was red instead of white. The shorts were navy blue and the socks were red with a white stripe on top. The 2015/16 strip was similar but didn't have the small crosses on the shirt. The Canterbury logo was straight and not diagonal it had white lines going horizontally across the chest. For the 2015 Rugby World Cup, the kit remained the same just with the Rugby World Cup logo on the right and no O2 logo in the centre. For the home strip, the shorts and socks remained the same. The away 2015/16 strip and World Cup strip was red, with dark red and maroon sleeves. The shorts were maroon and the socks were red with a maroon stripe on top.

Six Nations

England competes annually in the Six Nations Championship, which is played against five other European nations: France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland, and Wales. The Six Nations started out as the Home Nations Championship in 1883 which England won with a Triple Crown. England have won the title outright 27 times (a record for the tournament) and shared victory ten times. Their longest wait between championships was 18 years (1892–1910). During the Six Nations, England also contests the Calcutta Cup with Scotland (which England first won in 1880) and the Millennium Trophy with Ireland (which England first won in 1988). The matches between England and France are traditionally known as "Le Crunch".

World Cup

England have contested every Rugby World Cup since it began in 1987, reaching the final three times and winning in 2003.

In the inaugural tournament they finished second in their pool before losing to Wales in the quarter-finals. They again finished pool runners-up in 1991 but recovered to beat France in their quarter-final, and then Scotland in their semi-final, en route to a 12–6 final defeat to Australia.

In 1995, England topped their pool and defeated Australia 25–22 at the quarter-final stage before being beaten by the All Blacks in the semi-final. Their third-fourth place play-off match against France was lost 19–9.

The 1999 competition saw England again finish second in the pool stage. Though they proceeded to win a play-off game against Fiji, they went out of the tournament in the quarter-finals, losing 44–21 to South Africa.

In the 2003 tournament, England came top of their pool. They progressed to the final beating Wales and France in the quarter and semi finals. England won the final with a drop goal in the last minute of extra time.

The 2007 defence of the cup in France got off to a very poor start, with a below par victory over the United States and a heavy 36–0 defeat to South Africa leaving the holders on the brink of elimination at the group stage. Improved performances against Samoa and Tonga saw England again reach the knockout stages as pool runners-up, before a surprise 12–10 defeat of Australia in Marseille and a narrow 14–9 victory over the host nation France carried England to a second successive final appearance. The final was played in Paris on 20 October against South Africa, who won by 15 points to 6.

In 2011, England reached the quarter final stage, losing 19–12 to France.

In 2015, England became the first sole host nation to fail to qualify for the knockout stage, exiting the pool stage after losses to Wales and Australia.

England's Jonny Wilkinson is the highest points scorer in the rugby world cup, having scored 277 points between 1999 and 2011. England have the fourth most points and fourth most tries scored in the World Cup.

Overall

When the World Rankings were introduced in October 2003, England was ranked 1st. They briefly fell to 2nd in September that year before regaining 1st place. They fell to 2nd, and then to 3rd in June 2004. After the 2005 Six Nations they fell to 6th where they remained until they moved into 5th in December that year. In 2006, their ranking again fell and they finished the year ranked 7th. 2007 saw them bounce back to 3rd after their good run in that year's World Cup, where they finished Runners Up. In 2008, their rankings slipped so that during the 2009 Six Nations Championship they dropped to their lowest ranking of 8th. They again were 8th during the autumn internationals of the same year. After a resurgence which saw them rise to a ranking of 4th in the world, the team again slipped, following a poor showing at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and was ranked 6th in February 2012. England entered the 2015 Rugby World Cup ranked 4th. However, after failing to exit the pool stage, England were ranked 8th in the world as of 1 November 2015.

England has won 388 of their 708 Test matches, a winning record of 54.80%. Below is a summary table of capped England matches up until 26 February 2017. Only fixtures recognised as test matches by the RFU are included.

Current squad

On 20 January, head coach Eddie Jones named a 35-man squad for the 2017 Six Nations Championship.

On 20 February, Mako Vunipola returned to the squad following injury while Henry Slade was an addition to the team ahead of Italy.

On 28 February, Paul Hill was an addition to the training squad during the week off between Rounds 3 and 4.

On 7 March, Billy Vunipola returned to the squad following injury.

Note:The number of caps was updated 27 February 2017

Notable players

Four former England representatives have been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame: Bill Beaumont, Martin Johnson, Jason Leonard and Wavell Wakefield.

Seven former England internationals are also members of the IRB Hall of Fame. Four of them—Johnson, Alan Rotherham, Harry Vassall and Robert Seddon—were inducted for their accomplishments as players. Two other former England players, John Kendall-Carpenter and Clive Woodward, were inducted into the IRB Hall for non-playing accomplishments in the sport. Another former England player, Alfred St. George Hamersley, was inducted for achievements as both a player and a rugby administrator.

Wavell Wakefield represented England in 31 Tests between 1920 and 1927, including 13 Tests as captain. He was involved in three Five Nations Grand Slams in 1921, 1923 and 1924. Playing as flanker, Wakefield introduced new elements to back row tactics which beforehand concentrated on the set piece. He became a Member of Parliament in 1935, and was knighted in 1944. He became the RFU President in 1950 and following his retirement from politics was awarded the title the first Baron Wakefield of Kendal.

Between 1975 and 1982, Bill Beaumont represented England in 34 Tests. Playing at lock, he was captain between 1978 and 1982 in 21 Tests including the 1980 Grand Slam – England's first since 1957. Later that year, he captained the British Lions to South Africa – the first time an Englishman had captained the Lions since 1930. Furthermore, Beaumont represented the Barbarians FC on fifteen occasions.

The youngest ever England captain at 22, Will Carling represented England in 72 Tests, and as captain 59 times between 1988 and 1996. He was best known as a superlative leader, motivating England to a remarkable three Grand Slams in five years, including back to back slams in 1991 and 1992. He also led England to the final of the 1991 World Cup, and captained the Barbarians FC. His playing talents were not as flamboyant as some of his colleagues, but his effectiveness cemented him as a first choice at centre. It is possible he would already be in the Hall of Fame were it not for outspoken tendencies with respect to the English RFU committee ("Old Farts"), who may as a result be reluctant to acknowledge his achievements. He was made an OBE in 1991.

Described as arguably "the greatest forward" to play for England, Martin Johnson played 84 Tests for England, and 8 Tests for the British and Irish Lions. He first represented England in 1993, and later that year the Lions. He captained the Lions to South Africa in 1997, and in 1999 was appointed captain of England. He became England's most successful ever captain. He became the first player to captain two Lions tours when he captained them in Australia in 2001. He retired from Test rugby after he led England to a Six Nations Grand Slam and World Cup victory in 2003 and has since become the team Manager. At the 2011 IRB Awards ceremony in Auckland on 24 October 2011, the night after the World Cup Final, Johnson was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame alongside all other World Cup-winning captains from 1987 through 2007 (minus the previously inducted Australian John Eales).

Jason Leonard, also known as "The Fun Bus", appeared 114 times for England at prop, which was the world record for international appearances for a national team until 2005, when it was surpassed by Australia's scrum-half George Gregan. He was on the England team that finished runners up to Australia in the 1991 Rugby World Cup final, but avenged this twelve years later, coming on as a substitute for Phil Vickery in England's victorious 2003 Rugby World Cup final appearance. He also went on three British and Irish Lions tours where he was capped five times.

Alan Rotherham and Harry Vassall, both 19th-century greats for Oxford and England, were inducted into the IRB Hall in April 2011. The IRB recognised them for "their unique contribution to the way that Rugby was played", specifically stating that they "are credited with pioneering the passing game and the three-man backline, which became widespread during the 1880s."

Two other England internationals, John Kendall-Carpenter and Clive Woodward, were inducted into the IRB Hall alongside Johnson at the 2011 IRB Awards. Although both had notable careers for England, they were recognised for accomplishments in other roles in the sport. Kendall-Carpenter was cited as one of four key figures in the creation of the Rugby World Cup, whilst Woodward was inducted as coach of the 2003 World Cup winners, alongside all other World Cup-winning coaches from 1987 to 2007.

England's most recent inductees into the IRB Hall are 19th-century internationals Alfred St. George Hamersley and Robert Seddon, both inducted in 2013. Hamersley played for England in the first-ever rugby union international against Scotland in 1871, and captained England in the last of his four appearances in 1874. He went on to play significant roles in the early development of the sport in both New Zealand and Canada. Seddon, capped three times for England in 1887, was most notable as the captain of the unofficial British side that toured Australia and New Zealand in 1888; he died in a boating accident during the tour. This venture proved to be the genesis of the modern British and Irish Lions. The touring team was also inducted alongside Seddon.

Individual records

Jonny Wilkinson holds the record for most points for England: 1,151. The record for tries is held by Rory Underwood with 49 tries. The most capped England player is former prop Jason Leonard who made 114 appearances over his 14-year career. England's youngest ever Test player was Colin Laird who was 18 years and 134 days old when he played against Wales in 1927.

Training

Pennyhill Park Hotel in Bagshot, Surrey, is the chosen training base for the team in the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Loughborough University, Bisham Abbey and the University of Bath grounds served as training bases prior to this agreement. Martin Johnson noted the hotel's facilities and its proximity to Twickenham and Heathrow as deciding factors in this decision. The team had their own pitchside gym and fitness rooms constructed on the hotel premises at the start of the long-term arrangement. Since its completion in 2010 the team also regularly use Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey in nearby Guildford for much of their training.

Club versus country

Although the England team is governed by the Rugby Football Union (RFU), players have been contracted to their clubs since the advent of professionalism in late 1995. Since then, players have often been caught in a "power struggle" between their clubs and the RFU; this is commonly referred to as a "club versus country" conflict. The first major dispute between England's top clubs (who play in the English Premiership) and the RFU occurred in 1998, when some of the clubs refused to release players to tour Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The tour became known as the "Tour from hell" after an England squad of second-string players were defeated in all four Tests, including a 76–0 defeat by Australia. The clubs also withdrew from the 1998/99 European Cup.

In 2001, the top clubs and the RFU formed "England Rugby" to help govern the club and international game. The parties agreed to restrict the number of matches at club and international level that elite players (a group of 50 or 60 players selected by the RFU) could play in order to reduce player burnout and injuries. In return for releasing players from club commitments, the clubs were to receive compensation from the RFU. This agreement was considered central to the England victory in the 2003 World Cup. Clive Woodward, England coach from November 1997, resigned in 2004 because he was unable to get the access to the players that he wanted; "I wanted more from the union – more training days with the players, more influence over the way they were treated – and ended up with less." Andy Robinson, Woodward's successor, blamed the lack of control over players for his team's unsuccessful record. Brian Ashton, who took over from Robinson, intentionally named his playing squad for Six Nations matches in 2007 early in the hope that their clubs would not play them in the weekend prior to a Test. The RFU and the Premiership clubs are negotiating a similar deal to the one in 2001 that will enable international players to be released into the England squad prior to international matches.

Coaches

The following is a list of all England coaches. The first appointed coach was Don White in 1969. The most recent coach is Eddie Jones. He took over from Stuart Lancaster a week after Lancaster's resignation. Jones became the first foreigner to coach the English side.

Updated 26 February 2017

As of 26 February 2017 England have won 17 tests in a row, 16 of which have been under Eddie Jones.

Media coverage

England's mid-year tests and end of year tests are televised live by Sky Sports while end of year matches are highlighted by BBC Three on that game day and repeated on BBC Two the next day. England's 2014 end of year international against Samoa was not highlighted on BBC Three. All Six Nations games are shown for free on the BBC and ITV from 2016.