Why are England not playing in the Rugby World Cup this weekend?

Steve Borthwick's side headed into the showpiece tournament in poor form but have won three consecutive games to top Pool D.

England haven't yet qualified for the quarter-final stages, so not playing this weekend will give their opponents a chance to close the gap.

Why are England not playing this weekend?

England won't be in action this weekend because it's their designated rest week.

As there are five teams in each pool, every weekend sees one side without a game.

This means that England will know exactly what they need from their final clash against Samoa to seal a place in the knockout stages.

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They might not even need to win if other results go their way, but a victory would guarantee their spot in the quarter-finals.

England's final pool-stage match will take place on Saturday, October 7.

England's players have been told to remain in France on their rest week, with their families expected to fly over.

This is because they are classed as still being 'in tournament', meaning they must fulfill media duties and be available for anti-doping tests.

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But members of the England coaching staff will be returning home.

Borthwick won't be and revealed that the players can leave England's training camp in Le Touquet but can't return to the UK.

He said: "The players are allowed to leave Le Touquet, they don't go back to England, they stay in France. But they're allowed to leave Le Touquet.

"There's no training for the next few days. I'll be using it in preparation for the Samoa game and ensuring that when training commences on Thursday, our preparation is spot on for everything we need to come back here to Lille to get the performance we want."