RWC19: Lamositele to face England

Titi Lamositele has been named in USA’s starting XV for their opening Rugby World Cup match against England.

The Saracens prop will earn his 29^th cap and is likely to come up against some of his club teammates at the Kobe Misaki Stadium.

The match will be Lamositele's fourth World Cup appearance.

Despite being just 24-years-old, Lamositele is one of the more experienced players in the Eagles’ squad having appeared at the last tournament four years ago.

USA and England met at the 2007 World Cup in France where the latter walked away with a 28-10 victory.

England enter the match on a short week, having beaten Tonga on Sunday. Gary Gold’s USA have spent the past week in Okinawa focused on preparation away from the hustle and bustle of the main match cities.

“We’ve had a very good week in Okinawa where the facilities and hospitality have been exactly what we needed to focus on ourselves before this first game,” the head coach said.

“We have massive respect for England as they are a very well-coached and talented rugby team. These are exactly the kind of competitive test matches we want to play to continuously test ourselves and grow as a rugby nation.

“Our guys have worked tirelessly over the past several months. We are really excited to get out on the field and show what we can do, not only for the incredibly supportive rugby fans in Japan but also for our community back home in the USA.”