England add USA Test to summer tour

England will face the United States in Washington on 19 July on the final stop of their summer tour.

The fixture will take place at 20,000-capacity Audi Field with Steve Borthwick's side currently ranked nine places higher in the world than the hosts.

England are already booked in for a two-Test series against Argentina, playing matches in La Plata on 5 July and San Juan on 12 July.

They have won all nine previous meetings with the United States, most recently prevailing 43-29 in 2021.

As in that year, England will be without their strongest players, who will be selected for the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia.

The match is likely to be a key chance for Borthwick to build depth in his squad and give game time to young prospects.

The United States failed to qualify for the last Rugby World Cup in France, but claimed wins over Tonga and Portugal in the autumn.

The country will stage the 2031 Rugby World Cup and 2033 Women's Rugby World Cup.

Bringing top-tier sides to the country is part of the organisers' strategy to grow the game ahead of those events.

The match will be played as double-header with the United States women's team, England's opening-game opponents at the 2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, taking on Fiji in the second match.

New Zealand and Ireland will meet in Chicago on 1 November in a repeat of a famous 2018 encounter at Soldier Field.

Scotland won 42-7 against the United States at the same venue in Washington last summer.

"This test series reflects our ambition to build a sustainable competition calendar that enhances performance, attracts new audiences, and fuels rugby's growth," said World Rugby chair Brett Robinson, of a summer fixture list that also includes meetings with the Netherlands and Spain for United States.