Rugby World Cup 2023 official discussion thread

Bienvenue to the official discussion thread for Rugby World Cup 2023!

The men's Rugby World Cup is kicking off on Friday 8th September in France, and coming to an end with the final in Paris on Sunday 28th October!

20 teams from around the world will be taking part in 4 pools of 5, followed by quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. The favourites include France themselves, South Africa, New Zealand and Ireland, but it is also expected to be one of the least predictable world cups ever!

All matches will be live and free-to-air on ITV1 or ITV4 in the UK, with radio commentary on the BBC. If you want to find out more about the 20 teams, the legendary Squidge Rugby on YouTube is putting together a playlist of previews for every team, with history, analysis, and things to watch out for if you're watching their games. The BBC's Rugby Union Weekly/Daily podcast is also a good place to keep up with what's going on – and if you want grassroots fan-made podcasts, check out Blood & Mud, Ruck 'n' Roll or Eggchasers on your preferred podcast provider!

Make sure you also sign up for the TSR sweepstake and the predictions competition – even if you've never watched rugby before, come and give it a go!

These are the four pools
Pool A: France, New Zealand, Italy, Uruguay, Namibia
Pool B: South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Tonga, Romania
Pool C: Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal
Pool D: England, Japan, Argentina, Samoa, Chile

Fixture list (UK time)
Pool stage:
Fri 8 Sep, 20:15: France 27-13 New Zealand, Paris
Sat 9 Sep, 12:00: Italy 52-8 Namibia, Saint-Étienne
Sat 9 Sep, 14:30: Ireland 82-8 Romania, Bordeaux
Sat 9 Sep, 17:00: Australia 35-15 Georgia, Paris
Sat 9 Sep, 20:00: England 27-10 Argentina, Marseille
Sun 10 Sep, 12:00: Japan 42-12 Chile, Toulouse
Sun 10 Sep, 16:45: South Africa 18-3 Scotland, Marseille
Sun 10 Sep, 20:00: Wales 32-26 Fiji, Bordeaux

Thu 14 Sep, 20:00: France 27-12 Uruguay, Lille
Fri 15 Sep, 20:00: New Zealand 71-3 Namibia, Toulouse
Sat 16 Sep, 14:00: Samoa 43-10 Chile, Bordeaux
Sat 16 Sep, 16:45: Wales 28-8 Portugal, Nice
Sat 16 Sep, 20:00: Ireland 59-16 Tonga, Nantes
Sun 17 Sep, 14:00: South Africa 76-0 Romania, Bordeaux
Sun 17 Sep, 16:45: Australia 15-22 Fiji, Saint-Étienne
Sun 17 Sep, 20:00: England 34-12 Japan, Nice

Wed 20 Sep, 16:45: Italy 38-17 Uruguay, Nice
Thu 21 Sep, 20:00: France 96-0 Namibia, Marseille
Fri 22 Sep, 20:00: Argentina 19-10 Samoa, Saint-Étienne
Sat 23 Sep, 13:00: Georgia 18-18 Portugal, Toulouse
Sat 23 Sep, 16:45: England 71-0 Chile, Lille
Sat 23 Sep, 20:00: South Africa 8-13 Ireland, Paris
Sun 24 Sep, 16:45: Scotland 45-17 Tonga, Nice
Sun 24 Sep, 20:00: Wales 40-6 Australia, Lyon

Wed 27 Sep, 16:45: Uruguay 36-26 Namibia, Lyon
Thu 28 Sep, 20:00: Japan 28-22 Samoa, Toulouse
Fri 29 Sep, 20:00: New Zealand 96-17 Italy, Lyon
Sat 30 Sep, 14:00: Argentina 59-5 Chile, Nantes
Sat 30 Sep, 16:45: Fiji 17-12 Georgia, Bordeaux
Sat 30 Sep, 20:00: Scotland 84-0 Romania, Lille
Sun 1 Oct, 16:45: Australia 34-14 Portugal, Saint-Étienne
Sun 1 Oct, 20:00: South Africa 49-18 Tonga, Marseille

Thu 5 Oct, 20:00: New Zealand 73-0 Uruguay, Lyon
Fri 6 Oct, 20:00: France 60-7 Italy, Lyon
Sat 7 Oct, 14:00: Wales 43-19 Georgia, Nantes
Sat 7 Oct, 16:45: England 18-17 Samoa, Lille
Sat 7 Oct, 20:00: Ireland 36-14 Scotland, Paris
Sun 8 Oct: 12:00: Japan 27-39 Argentina, Nantes
Sun 9 Oct, 16:45: Tonga 45-24 Romania, Lille
Sun 9 Oct, 20:00: Fiji 23-24 Portugal, Toulouse

Quarter-finals:
Sat 14 Oct, 16:00: Wales 17-29 Argentina, Marseille
Sat 14 Oct, 20:00: Ireland 24-28 New Zealand, Paris
Sun 15 Oct, 16:00: England 30-24 Fiji, Marseille
Sun 15 Oct, 20:00: France 28-29 South Africa, Paris

Semi-finals:
Fri 20 Oct, 20:00: Argentina 6-44 New Zealand, Paris
Sat 21 Oct, 20:00: England 15-16 South Africa, Paris

Third-place playoff:
Fri 27 Oct, 20:00: Argentina 23-26 England, Paris

Final:
Sat 28 Oct, 20:00: New Zealand v South Africa, Paris

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 20

04MR17

Volunteer Team, Clearing and Applications Advisor

22

Heard lots of things from England supporters about how Owen Farrell being out actually helped the team here, and that maybe England games shouldn't be the Owen Farrell show, to make way for Ford.

Reply 21

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Chile's discipline is killing them here :mad:

Reply 22

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Fiji don't look like the same team that beat England – I'm pretty certain Wales see this out from here!

Reply 23

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

I need a lie down after that :rofl:

(And somewhere to rage at the ref :angry:

)

Reply 24

mqb2766

21

Original post

by Saracen's Fez

I need a lie down after that :rofl:

(And somewhere to rage at the ref :angry:

)

Real shame that Fiji didnt have the consistency they had in the warm up matches. Win for Wales but, a bit like England, unconvincing and you have the feeling theyll be taken apart by the top teams.

Reply 25

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

A superb performance from Uruguay tonight, running France far closer than anyone expected! (And ultimately only losing to France by one point more than the All Blacks lost by last week!)

Reply 26

mqb2766

21

Go Portugal. Got Wales in the sweepstake, but partner is Welsh so ...

Reply 27

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by mqb2766

Go Portugal. Got Wales in the sweepstake, but partner is Welsh so ...

Portugal have been pretty good so far – unlucky really to end up conceding again before half time and not getting a score for themselves!

I was a bit disappointed with Chile earlier as I thought they'd make more of a game of Samoa.

Reply 28

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Portugal have definitely given a good account of themselves here tonight.

Wales still without a bonus point after 70 minutes...

Reply 29

mqb2766

21

Original post

by Saracen's Fez

Portugal have definitely given a good account of themselves here tonight.

Wales still without a bonus point after 70 minutes...

Bonus point? Nah .... hehehe ...

Reply 30

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by mqb2766

Bonus point? Nah .... hehehe ...

TMOs putting themselves in the limelight so far today!

Reply 31

mqb2766

21

Think the springboks may win this one.

Reply 32

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by mqb2766

Think the springboks may win this one.

Romania waited for them to score a bonus point before they even started playing :rolleyes:

Reply 33

mqb2766

21

C'mon Fiji ...

Reply 34

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

I hate being in the position where I can start to believe... :redface:

Reply 35

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

GO FIJI!!!!

I know the Wallabies are my sweepstake team but suddenly I'd like nothing more than a Wales win next Sunday to put Eddie Jones on the plane :lol:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 36

mqb2766

21

England/Japan match is shaping up to be an entertaining one.

Reply 37

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

England made it hard for themselves for quite a while there.

It was a decent enough win and bonus point in the end, but they sure didn't make it feel that way!

Reply 38

user123456324

14

Scrappy win by England today Japan were rubbish if we play a good team we will get rolled over

Reply 39

Saracen's Fez

OP

Volunteer Section Leader, Clearing and Applications Advisor

20

Original post

by user123456324

Scrappy win by England today Japan were rubbish if we play a good team we will get rolled over

England haven't become world-beaters but they did the job last night – I feel like the criticism of them is a bit overdone this morning. Ultimately that gameplan did work!

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