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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 1 year ago)

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Saracen's Fez

Richie Arnold and it's 10-7 Australia

Can't see Portugal winning this but they might well give Australia a decent game!

Fun while it lasted ...

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by mqb2766

Fun while it lasted ...

...or maybe not :colondollar:

:colondollar:

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

It's been weird having a pool round with no England, Ireland, Wales or France playing, and Scotland only in action against Romania.

There have been some fairly good games but it's felt like more of a weekend for the diehard fans, at least in Europe. I worry the competition has lost the neutrals a bit in this part of the world.

Thank god for tmo

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Original post by mqb2766

Thank god for tmo

It looked like it deserved a bit more of a look than it initially got really!

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Spidercam law coming out as well! Feels a bit harsh that the scrum isn't taken where the kick was made though...

Jez, lets kick it then forget to count to 60.

Universities Forum Helper

Original post by user123456324

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

what is the population size of Samoa 🇼🇸
one point!

Original post by MedMama

what is the population size of Samoa 🇼🇸
one point!

Another scrappy win by England we will get rolled over after we leave our group to the knockout rounds

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Ireland are just so ridiculously efficient.

And Zombie is just the best... https://twitter.com/RuaidhriOC/status/1710761048431530254

Deserved fairytale for portugal. Fiji were fairly flat compared to their build up.

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

What an amazing result :party:

:party:

Portugal with their first ever win, Fiji in the quarter-finals and Eddie Jones on his way to the airport :woo:

:woo:

(edited 1 year ago)

England (against Fiji) have a reasonable chance of getting through to the semis. Though ireland v the all blacks and les bleu v the boks have to be ones to watch.

(edited 1 year ago)

10 minutes to go, 2 points in it. C'mon boyos.

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Only saw the last 10-15 mins of the first game but that felt like a bit of an upset on form before today!

Cracking game gromit

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

Ireland second-best at the breakdown and Wayne Barnes is taking no **** whatsoever from Porter and his angle in the scrum

Universities Forum Helper

Ultimately the team who made more true opportunities with their share of the ball won. Ireland had lots of great & dominant possession particularly from minutes 40-55 but failed to really fracture the NZ defense structure in that time period. NZ just more lethal on the stage when you have to be all in.

Bit of a gut punch for the Irish as I think it’s the best opportunity ive ever seen for them to get their hands on the webb ellis.

OP

Volunteer Section Leader

England looking their most coherent for a long time. Daly looked the best he has in a while; Itoje and Lawes were great; Ben Earl just did everything; Marcus Smith had some real bright sparks at fullback.

Don't see a place for Farrell, Smith and Ford in the 23 though and would rather have Steward or a winger on the bench. Likewise Ludlam over Vunipola for next week.

Universities Forum Helper

England (as always) holding the banner for the British isles nations. England in 2023 have looked disjointed & frankly the weakest they’ve been since probably pre Stuart Lancaster heading into the world cup.

Despite this managed to find a way and actually looked more organized today. Still will be a massive underdog next week. But at least for the first time in a while it feels like they could at least make another team beat them (rather then capitulate). Im not optimistic but still hopeful.

(edited 1 year ago)

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