Pool D of the 2023 Rugby World Cup began on 9 September 2023 and concluded on 8 October 2023. The pool included 2003 champions and 2019 runner-ups England, previous hosts Japan, and Argentina. They are joined by Samoa, the winner of the Oceania 1 qualifier, and tournament debutants Chile (Americas 2).[1] England topped the group and Argentina placed second, thus allowing both teams to progress.
Overview
In the opening match of Pool D, England defeated Argentina by 27–10. Despite losing Tom Curry to a red card for a dangerous head-to-head with Juan Cruz Mallía, England went over the line courtesy of a player-of-the-match performance from George Ford who scored three drop goals and six penalties, with Argentina's Rodrigo Bruni scoring the only try of the match.[4] Japan faced debutants Chile the following day, in which Japan came out winners in a score of 42–12 despite the best efforts of Chile in their first World Cup appearance.[5] After a six day rest, Samoa played their first match of the pool against Chile in which they came out with a 43–10 bonus-point victory in Bordeaux.[6] The next day, England secured a bonus point victory over Japan in a 34–12 win.[7]
On 22 September, Argentina defeated Samoa with a scoreline of 19–10, with Emiliano Boffelli securing a converted try and 3 penalties, earning him player of the match. The result left the group finely poised and lifted hopes of progression to the knockout stage for Argentina.[8] The next day, England moved on to the brink of qualifying for the knockout stage, after defeating Chile with a scoreline of 71–0 with Henry Arundell earning player of the match having scored five tries in the match. Chile were officially eliminated from the tournament following the result.[9] As Pool D began to near its conclusion, Japan faced Samoa on 28 September in a match of high stakes for both sides. Tries from Lappies Labuschagné, Michael Leitch and Kazuki Himeno secured Japan a 28–22 victory over the Samoans to boost their hopes of progression to the knockout stage, while officially securing England's place who were thus confirmed to top the pool. Samoa, who lost Ben Lam to a red card for an upright tackle, were left requiring a victory in their final match against England to have a chance at progression.[10] Two days later, on 30 September, Chile played their last match of their first ever Rugby World Cup against Argentina in Nantes in what was the first ever meeting between two South American sides in a World Cup. The Argentinians raced to a 59–5 victory over the Chileans, scoring eight tries along with strong kicking from Nicolás Sánchez and Santiago Carreras to set up a showdown with Japan on the final matchday to decide who would join England in the quarter-finals.
On 7 October, England played their final match of the pool against Samoa in Villeneuve-d'Ascq. Despite a valiant effort from the Samoans, who scored two tries through Nigel Ah Wong, England edged the match in an 18–17 victory from a Danny Care try in the 73rd minute to give the English a full house of wins from Pool D as they headed into the quarter-finals while eliminating any hope of Samoa progressing themselves, which place Argentina and Japan in the 2027 Rugby World Cup before the match between two nations.[11] All that remained in the pool was the final match the following day between Japan and Argentina to decide who would finish second and join England in the knockout stage. The high stakes match took place in Nantes, where Mateo Carreras scored a hat-trick as Argentina came out 39–27 victors in a 66-point thriller to finish second in the pool and send themselves through to the quarter-finals with England who topped Pool D and left Japan eliminated from the tournament as they finished in third place.[12]
England
Japan
Argentina
Samoa
Chile
