Seven World Cup games not to be missed
OPINION: The final spot for the World Cup in France went to Portugal and now the biggest rugby spectacle in the world is just around the corner.
While spectators will be entertained by 20 teams from all over the world for more than a month, from Friday, September 8 to Saturday, October 28, we pick the top seven most interesting games not to be missed by the rugby connoisseurs.
The opening match between France and New Zealand has all the ingredients to be a classic, but that is not the only match on offer that will an interesting watch.
Here are seven pool stage fixtures that could have a huge impact on how the tournament unfolds:
1 France v New Zealand, Pool A, September 8, Stade de France
World Cup 2023 will kick off in style with the hosts taking on the All Blacks in the opening match at the Stade de France. The two teams have a wealth of shared tournament experience having met seven times at World Cups to date.
The teams’ first meeting came in the RWC 1987 final at Eden Park, which New Zealand won 29-9, while the two countries returned to the famous stadium for the showpiece match of RWC 2011, with the All Blacks again emerging victorious, 8-7. But, arguably the most thrilling match between the teams came in the RWC 1999 semi-finals, when Les Bleus overturned a 24-10 deficit to win 43-31 at Twickenham.
The opening match in France will only be the second time the two teams have met during the pool stages. And, with games against Italy, Uruguay and Namibia to come, this fixture will have a huge bearing on who tops Pool A.
2 England v Japan, Pool D, September 17, Stade de Nice
England’s second Pool D match is against Japan in Nice. Under Eddie Jones the Brave Blossoms had three wins at RWC 2015, including the ‘Brighton Miracle’ against South Africa, and helped turn the team into a force on the international stage.
That progress has continued under his successor Jamie Joseph, and Japan will be confident they have enough quality to make it out of their pool for the second successive World Cup. Should England beat Argentina in their France 2023 opener, however, they will have an opportunity to all but seal their progress, with matches against Samoa and Chile to follow this one.
The nations have met only once at the World Cup, their encounter coming during the pool stage of the inaugural tournament in 1987, when England won 60-7 in Sydney. Their only encounters since then both came at Twickenham and the hosts were victorious again, winning 35-15 in 2018 and 52-13 earlier this month.
3 South Africa v Ireland, Pool B, September 23, Stade de France
Defending champions South Africa open their campaign against Scotland on the opening weekend, and whatever the result in Marseille, there will be a lot riding on the Springboks’ date with Ireland 13 days later. All three teams will have ambitions extending beyond the pool stage, placing extra importance on the matches between them.
This match at Stade de France will be something of a step into the unknown for both teams as Ireland have never faced South Africa at the World Cup. The Springboks hold the upper hand in the fixture, having won 18 of the 27 tests contested by the sides, although Ireland have won the previous two.
Victory on the outskirts of Paris could give the winners the upper hand in the battle to top Pool B. Ireland, though, will know that their World Cup destiny should still be in their hands regardless of the result against South Africa, given they are due to play Scotland on the final weekend of the pool stage.
4 Wales v Australia, Pool C, September 24, Parc OL
Lyon will play host to what has become one of the most common World Cup fixtures in recent times on the third Sunday of the tournament. Wales and Australia have been drawn in the same pool at four of the last five World Cups, including France 2023, and faced each other in the bronze final of New Zealand 2011 too.
Australia beat Wales in Cardiff in 2007 and at Twickenham in 2015 on their way to winning the pool, while the Wallabies were also victorious in the 2011 bronze final. Wales ended that run of tournament defeats in Japan, beating Australia at Tokyo Stadium to top Pool D at RWC 2019.
Whoever wins this latest installment of the rivalry in Lyon will seize the initiative in Pool C, but neither can afford to discount the threat posed by Fiji, Georgia or Portugal. The Fijians have been drawn in the same pool as Australia and Wales in 2007, 2015, 2019 and now 2023 too, and edged Wales to a place in the quarter-finals 15 years ago.
5 Argentina v Chile, Pool D, September 30, Stade de la Beaujoire
When Chile secured their historic qualification for World Cup 2023, and with it their place in Pool D, the attention of the squad and their fans would have been caught by their assignment in Nantes. Los Cóndores will play their first ever World Cup match, against Japan, in Toulouse on September 10. Before they arrive at Stade de la Beaujoire at the end of the month, Chile will also have met England and Samoa.
However, it is the meeting with their South American neighbours that will have set pulses racing. Chile have met Argentina on 39 occasions dating back to 1936 and have never tasted victory against Los Pumas. The closest Los Cóndores have come to a win in the fixture was in November 2000, when they were beaten 18-16 in Montevideo.
Will that change on the men’s game’s biggest stage? Having defeated the odds to make it to their maiden World Cup, Chile will hope they can shatter more records when they get to France. Argentina, meanwhile, will know that victory in Nantes is imperative if they are to advance to the quarter-finals.
6 Wales v Georgia, Pool C, October 7, Stade de la Beaujoire
In five tournament appearances, Georgia are yet to qualify for the quarter-finals. The Lelos have won only five of their 20 Rugby World Cup matches but continue to improve and their hopes of prolonging their campaign beyond the pool stage in France were given a boost by their historic victory against Wales in Cardiff last weekend.
Georgia had lost each of their three previous matches against Wales prior to the encounter at Principality Stadium. That run included a 43-14 defeat at RWC 2019, the teams’ only tournament meeting to date. A late Luka Matkava penalty in Cardiff changed all of that, handing the Lelos a deserved 13-12 victory and giving the team belief they could achieve something special in France.
The teams are next scheduled to meet in their final Pool C match in Nantes, and both will hope that they arrive at Stade de la Beaujoire in contention for a place in the quarter-finals. Although Wales would remain favourites to win the match, events in Cardiff will be fresh in the minds of those players involved.
7 Japan v Argentina, Pool D, October 8, Stade de la Beaujoire
As Japan became the first Asian side to reach the World Cup quarter-finals in 2019, Argentina watched on as England and France progressed from Pool C. Hosts Japan booked their place in the last eight with an impressive win over Scotland in their final Pool A match, but neither the Brave Blossoms nor Los Pumas will want to leave it that late in France.
However, with England, Samoa and Chile also in Pool D, it seems logical that qualification will still be on the line for at least one of the teams when they meet in Nantes on the final day of pool play.
Argentina and Japan have only met once at the World Cup to date. Former Los Pumas coach Mario Ladesma lined up at hooker as tries from Augustin Pichot and Diego Albanese helped give the Argentines a 33-12 win in Cardiff during RWC 1999. Victory helped Los Pumas qualify for the quarter-final play-offs, in which they beat Ireland 28-24 in Lens.
Source @WorldRugby