NICE, France, Sept 15 (Reuters) - England face Japan in the Rugby World Cup in Nice on Sunday hoping to avoid any sort of repeat of one of the country's lowest sporting moments when the national soccer team were humbled in the city by Iceland at the 2016 Euros. The footballing disaster was the final act for manager Roy Hodgson, paving the way for Gareth Southgate to start the rebuilding job that took England to a World Cup semi-final and a penalty shoot-out final defeat in the last Euros. England's rugby team had gone through a similar process eight months earlier as their pool-stage exit from their own World Cup in 2015 after Twickenham defeats to Wales and Australia spelled the end for Stuart Lancaster. It was a brilliant performance and, coming on the back of a Six Nations title earlier in the year, there was huge confidence surging through the England set-up. They have struggled though to reproduce anything like that form since though and the chances of another shock look slim - even in Nice.

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Persons: Roy Hodgson, Gareth Southgate, Stuart Lancaster, Wayne Rooney's, Eddie Jones's, Jones, Mitch Phillips, Christian Radnedge Organizations: Rugby, soccer, Stade de Nice, England, rugby, Twickenham, England's rugby, Nations, New Zealand, South, Argentina, Australia, Springboks, Ireland, Thomson Locations: France, England, Japan, Nice, Iceland, Stade, Wales, Australia, South Africa, Fiji, Scotland