Rugby World Cup draw: England drawn in 'Pool of Death' against France and Argentina at Japan 2019

England will face both France and Argentina in the 2019 Rugby World Cup pool stage

England have once again been handed a very challenging draw (Getty)

England have landed themselves in another ’Pool of Death’ situation after being drawn with France and Argentina for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Four years after being eliminated in the pool stage of their home World Cup, England will face another stiff challenge just to make it through to the quarter-finals in Japan, having been drawn against the strongest side available in Band three in the form of the Pumas.

They’re joined by the team ranked eighth in the world in the form of France, but while recent results suggest England should be able to negotiate the challenge of Les Bleus, a rapidly improving side under Guy Noves pushed England incredibly close at Twickenham during the recent Six nations championship and are expected to continue their improvement in the coming years.

England head coach Eddie Jones attended the draw at the Kyoto State Guest House alongside the rest of the international coaches, and he wasn’t giving too much away with his immediate reaction to the draw.

“It’s all very exciting isn’t it?” Jones said. “We’ve got two tests against Argentina in June so well get a chance to practice. France have really improved over the last two years so they’ll be a tough team.”

He added: "I’m excited by the draw. We want to win the World Cup in 2019, and to win it, we need to be ready to play and beat anyone. Our pool will be highly competitive and full of intensity, as a World Cup group should be – history shows that you need to win seven games to win the tournament and we will greatly respect every team we play.

"We will be ready – our detailed planning for the group, and the tournament, starts now. Everything we do, every game we play and every day we train is aimed at continuously improving and is focussed on our ultimate goal of winning the World Cup.

"I have no doubt that Japan will stage a unique and wonderful tournament in 2019.”

The trio wil be joined by the top qualifier from the Americas section and the second-placed side in the Oceania qualification group, which is likely to be either the United States or Canada, and Samoa.

England will tour Argentina next month without 16 of their first-team players due to the British and Irish Lions tour, but will likely be at full strength when the Pumas come to Twickenham in the autumn internationals later this year.

Both Ireland and Scotland are drawn in Pool A along with tournament hosts Japan in another pool that will prove tough to emerge from, given the Brave Blossoms’ brilliant underdog victory over South Africa at the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

Reigning champions New Zealand will have Southern Hemisphere rivals South Africa for company in Pool B along with Six Nations whipping boys Italy, who it must be said could not have faced a more difficult draw given the calibre of the All Blacks and the Springboks at the World Cup.

The final pool sees Australia and Wales paired together again after playing each other in the 2015 pool stage, though rather than being joined by England this time around, they have Georgia for company in what is a much more straight-forward pool even though the Georgians have proven they can cause a few issues for any sides guilty of complacency.

Full draw:

Pool A: Ireland, Scotland, Japan, Europe 1, Play-off winner

Pool B: New Zealand, South Africa, Italy, Africa 1, Repechage winner

Pool C: England, France, Argentina, Americas 1, Oceania 2

Pool D: Australia, Wales, Georgia, Oceania 1, Americas 2