Pool C of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 21 September 2019. The pool included previous World Cup hosts

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, as well as the fourth-placed team from 2015,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. They were joined by regional qualifiers from the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

''(Americas 1)'', and

Oceania Oceania (, , ) is a region, geographical region that includes Australasia, Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Spanning the Eastern Hemisphere, Eastern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres, Oceania is estimated to have a land area of ...

Tonga Tonga (, ; ), officially the Kingdom of Tonga ( to, Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga), is a Polynesian country and archipelago. The country has 171 islands – of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in ...

''(Oceania 2)'', to become the first completed table ahead of the World Cup. England and France both went unbeaten in their first three matches to guarantee qualification for the knockout stage, but their final match against each other was cancelled due to the effects of

Typhoon Hagibis Typhoon Hagibis, known in Japan as Typhoon No.19 or , was a large and costly tropical cyclone that caused widespread destruction in Japan. The thirty-eighth depression, ninth typhoon, and third super typhoon of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, ...

. England had earned a bonus point in all three of their matches, while France had just one, so England went through to the quarter-finals as pool winners. With bonus point victories against Tonga and the United States, Argentina claimed third place and the final automatic qualification spot for the

2023 Rugby World Cup The 2023 Rugby World Cup is scheduled to be the tenth men's Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It is scheduled to take place in France from 8 September to 28 October 2023 in nine venues across the cou ...

, while Tonga's win over the United States in the final pool match saw them finish fourth.

Overview

Pool C's opening match saw

come back from a 17-point half-time deficit against

at Tokyo Stadium, only for France's

Camille Lopez Camille Lopez (born 3 April 1989) is a French rugby union player. He plays as a fly-half for Bayonne. Club career In 2009 it was announced that Lopez would leave SA Mauléon and join Bordeaux, he became an integral part of their team. It has b ...

to score a game-winning

drop goal A drop goal, field goal, or dropped goal is a method of scoring points in rugby union and rugby league and also, rarely, in American football and Canadian football. A drop goal is scored by drop kicking the ball (dropping the ball and then kicki ...

in the 70th minute. In

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, two tries from

Manu Tuilagi Etuale Manusamoa Tuilagi (born 18 May 1991), known as Manu Tuilagi, is a rugby union player for Sale Sharks. He has played internationally for and the British & Irish Lions. Born in Fogapoa, Samoa, Tuilagi has five elder brothers who played fo ...

helped

to a bonus-point victory over

. England followed that up with a 38-point victory over the

, with Joe Cokanasiga scoring two tries in the victory; however, the match was soured by the first red card of the tournament, shown to the United States'

John Quill John Quill (born March 10, 1990) is a retired Irish-born American rugby union player who played flanker for Rugby United New York (RUNY) in Major League Rugby (MLR) and the United States men's national team. Quill has previously played for ...

for a shoulder charge to the head of England's

Owen Farrell Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player, currently captain of Gallagher Premiership side Saracens. Farrell has played international rugby for England since 2012. Farrell is one of the top poi ...

. Argentina bounced back from their defeat by France with a 28–12 victory over Tonga in Higashiōsaka; all of Argentina's scoring happened in the first 28 minutes, including a hat-trick from

Julián Montoya Julián Montoya (born 29 October 1993) is an Argentine rugby union player currently playing for the Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby, the top domestic level of rugby union. He plays as a hooker. Montoya played for Club Newman dome ...

as they raced to a 28-point lead before Tonga brought the margin back to 16 with two tries of their own. After Typhoon Mitag almost cancelled the match, the French were inconsistent with errors keeping the United States in the match before three late tries in the second half would secure a 33–9 win in Fukuoka. In Chōfu, England qualified for the quarter-finals with a 39–10 victory over Argentina with Argentinean player

Tomás Lavanini Tomás Lavanini (born 22 January 1993) is an Argentine rugby union player who plays as a second row for ASM Clermont Auvergne in France's Top 14. He previously played for Leicester Tigers in England's Premiership Rugby and the Argentine Super Rug ...

being shown a red card, which forced Argentina down to 14 men as he was forced off due to a high tackle on Owen Farrell's head. France would later join them in qualifying for the knockout stage with a two-point victory over Tonga at Kumamoto Stadium. After conceding the first 17 points of the match, Tonga came back into the match with tries from

Sonatane Takulua Sonatane Takulua (born 11 January 1991) is a Tongan rugby union player. He plays in the Scrum-Half position for the French based Top 14 side, Toulon. Takulua also represents Tonga at international level. Early life Takalua was born in Lapaha, ...

and

Mali Hingano Malietoa Seuli Hingano also known as Malietoa Hingano (born 27 January 1992) is an Australian born Tongan rugby union player who generally plays as a centre represents Tonga internationally and currently plays for French club Aviron Bayonnais. H ...

to close the gap to only three points before

Romain Ntamack Romain Ntamack (born 1 May 1999) is a French rugby union fly-half who currently plays for Toulouse in the Top 14, and the France national rugby union team. International career In November 2017, Ntamack was selected for the French Barbarian te ...

gave the cushion that France needed with two penalties in eight minutes giving France the victory. Argentina would become the first team to finish their matches of the 2019 World Cup, with a 47–17 victory over the United States in Kumagaya.

Joaquín Tuculet Joaquín Tuculet (born 8 August 1989 in La Plata, Argentina) is an Argentine rugby union player who currently plays for the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby (MLR). He also played for the national Argentina team ''The Pumas'' and the country' ...

and

Juan Cruz Mallia ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

each scored two tries in the meeting, their first since 2003. After the England–France game was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis, Tonga ended their World Cup campaign with a 31–19 victory over the United States. This was due to the Tongan's using their opportunities with them converting into tries and despite the United States being within striking range with three minutes to go,

Telusa Veainu Koloti Telusa Pelaki Veainu (born 26 December 1990) is a rugby union player. He plays at fullback or on the wing for Stade Français. He was born and raised in New Zealand, but he represents internationally. He is known for his speed, elusive ...

converted the match-winning try and a bonus-point victory for Tonga. At the end of the pool stage, it was England winning the group with France finishing in second place.

Standings

''All times are local

Japan Standard Time , or , is the standard time zone in Japan, 9 hours ahead of UTC ( UTC+09:00). Japan does not observe daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated on several occasions. During World War II, the time zone was often referred to a ...

(

UTC+09 UTC+09:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +09:00. During the Japanese occupations of British Borneo, Burma, Hong Kong, Dutch East Indies, Malaya, Philippines, Singapore, and French Indochina, it was used as a common time wit ...

)''

France vs Argentina

Notes: *

Guido Petti Guido Petti Pagadizábal (born 17 November 1994) is an Argentine rugby union footballer who plays as a lock or Flank for Bordeaux Begles and the Argentina national rugby union team. Career Guido played with San Isidro Club in the Torneo de ...

(Argentina) earned his 50th test cap.

England vs Tonga

England vs United States

Argentina vs Tonga

Notes: *

Agustín Creevy Agustín Creevy (born 15 March 1985 in La Plata) is an Argentine rugby union player. He currently plays for the national Argentina team '' The Pumas'' and for London Irish in the Gallagher Premiership. Creevy is the most-capped Argentine rugby ...

levelled Argentina's most capped player record, set by

Felipe Contepomi Felipe Contepomi (born 20 August 1977) is an Argentine rugby coach who is currently the backs coach at Leinster Rugby. He was a rugby union footballer who played fly-half or centre; his last club was Club Newman, in the first division of the U ...

with 87 caps.

France vs United States

Notes: *

Gaël Fickou Gaël Fickou (born 26 March 1994) is a French rugby union player who plays for French club Racing 92. His usual position is in the Centre or Wing. Club career Fickou made his Heineken Cup debut on 14 October 2012, scoring the only try of the ...

(France) earned his 50th test cap.

England vs Argentina

Notes: *

became the most capped player for Argentina with 88 caps, surpassing

's record of 87. *

's red card was a record fifth for a World Cup, surpassing the four given out in

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

and 1999. *With this loss for Argentina and France's win on the 6 October, Argentina fail to advance through to the knock-out stage of the World Cup for the first time since

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

. * Angus Gardner was due to be part of the officiating team for this game, but swapped with Ben O'Keeffe's appointment between Japan and Samoa.

France vs Tonga

Notes: * Pierre-Louis Barassi (France) made his international debut.

Argentina vs United States

Notes: *

Cam Dolan Cameron Dolan (born March 7, 1990) is an American rugby union player who normally plays at the Number 8 position. He currently plays professionally for the NOLA Gold, since 2018, in the Major League Rugby (MLR). Dolan previously played rugby outs ...

(United States) earned his 50th test cap.

England vs France

Notes: *As a result of inclement weather caused by

this match was cancelled and awarded as a 0–0 draw.

United States vs Tonga

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:World Cup

Pool B Pool may refer to: Water pool * Swimming pool, usually an artificial structure containing a large body of water intended for swimming * Reflecting pool, a shallow pool designed to reflect a structure and its surroundings * Tide pool, a rocky pool ...

2019–20 in English rugby union 2019–20 in French rugby union 2019 in Argentine rugby union 2019 in American rugby union 2019 in Tongan rugby union