For this weekend’s Rugby World Cup fixtures and points table after last weekend’s games, visit the Express Calendar link: https://m24locals.co.za/Express/Express_Rugby_World_Cup_2023_Fixtures.pdf
Rugby fans are in for a much quieter week at the Rugby World Cup after a sensational start to the tournament in France over the weekend.
It is very unlikely that we will see some upsets in this week’s fixtures, or that the results will have a huge impact on placings in the four pools.
France should be too strong for Uruguay on Thursday and South Africa’s neighbour Namibia will find it tough going against New Zealand on Friday.
There are three matches on Saturday and it should go according to the script. Samoa should get the better of Chile, Wales looks too strong for Portugal and Ireland won’t have any problems beating Tonga.
The Springboks are playing in the first of Sunday’s three matches. It should be a walk in the park against Romania and a chance for the Boks to give their key players a breather.
The pick of this week’s matches is Australia taking on Fiji. If Fiji wins, things in Pool C will get very interesting with Australia, Wales and Fiji fighting it out for two places in the Quarter finals.
Wales just managed to hold on and beat Fiji 32-26 this past Sunday in the most exciting match of the first round.
The last match this week is England against Japan and England should follow up after a good opening win against Argentina.
Ireland, France and South Africa all looked good in their respective opening matches.
France showed exceptional discipline to beat New Zealand 27-13 and although it was against minnows Romania, Ireland looked very classy in the 82-8 victory.
The Springboks were not at their very best but will be delighted to have started their campaign on a winning note by beating Scotland 18-3.
The referees will be under the spotlight this week after some huge inconsistencies in the awarding of yellow and (one) red cards in the first weekend. Tom Curry (England) saw red in the match against Argentina.
For the 2023 Rugby World Cup fixtures, visit the Express Calendar link: https://m24locals.co.za/Express/Express_Rugby_World_Cup_2023_Fixtures.pdf
