Italy vs Argentina
Two sides struggling to make an impact in recent times. Well, for Italy, pretty much forever despite one win over the Boks at our lowest ebb, for the pedants and pot stirrers who like to keep dredging that up. Argentina seemed to be on the up when they pasted the All Blacks last year (funny how competitive they were not having been beasted by the Boks beforehand), but have reverted to the mean (in a marshmallowy sort of way) this year. Can Italy use home ground advantage to eke out a win, or will the superior talent available to Argentina tell in the end? Tricky one this, but I’ll go for a Pumas win by about 9 as the Azzurri Fade to Grey.
Scotland vs South Africa
A fabulous match in store in this Currie Cup Clash, as Ticht called it. Much spoken about the four Saffas in the Scotland side, but in all honesty there’s plenty more for the Boks to worry about than a couple of down the pecking order forwards and backs who sought lucre over homeland. Scotland showed just how dangerous they can be ball in hand against the Aussies last weekend (one just past, keep up at the back), but couldn’t quite put it together as a complete package. The Scots forwards were excellent and showed some real grunt, which they’ll need on Saturday if they’re to get decent ball to Finn and Co. The Boks will surely try to batter them like a lonely Mars Bar on a Saturday night though and with a more settled back division, will probably squeak it in the end. The bench to do the job again, Boks by a score or thereabouts as they say it in Broken English.
Ireland vs New Zealand
The respective unsmiling sides of the two hemispheres go toe to toe, both having eased into the contest with little in the way of stern opposition: usually the Kiwis use this as an excuse for World Cup exits (along with Suzi, norovirus, referees, time zones, grass type and anything else rather than decent oppo), but both sides have had lopsided wins in the last week, with Ireland’s dismantling of Japan possibly slightly better than the Kiwis mangling of Italy with a reserve-ish side. Ireland will have a real go at the Kiwi pack at set pieces, where they were vulnerable against the Boks in both 4N matches this year and have been for a while now. The Kiwis will look to decimate Ireland out wide and in broken play and it should be a huge match. Kiwis are pretty confident at the moment, so I’m picking them (against the heart) to win by 4. Either way, it’ll be a Crowded House in Dublin, weather permitting.
Portugal vs Japan
Can Japan be as bad as they were against Ireland? I’ve no idea and writing this on the hoof not having seen the line-up for either side (not that that would make much difference, let’s be honest), it remains to be seen if they can bounce back. They’ve still got good players and should have too much nous for Portugal, despite the Iberians’ recent decent form at Tier Two level. Japan by 15. The House of the Rising Sun will once again shine. Tenuous link if ever!
England vs Australia
Keep feeling tempted to just write ‘looks weak’ and leave it at that. England have stormed out of the blocks with a hammering of hapless Tonga, which probably means little in reality, whilst the Wobblies duly wobbled after a five-match winning streak against stubborn Scotland last weekend. However, the result would probably have been very different but for the discipline issues they suffered from, that potentially cost them 14 points. They’re still a decent side, even without the J-League party-poopers and love nothing more than a crack at the Poms. But they’ll possibly be without Allan Alaalatoa and Taniela Tupou, leaving their improving front row in tatters. Dave Rennie will need to crack the discipline whip harder than a dominatrix at a Tory dinner party to keep them in the game. England, with a very good pack, Owen ‘Venus de Milo’ Farrell cleared of Covid and some good gas out wide should have too much for this now more disjointed Wallaby side. It’ll be tight and feisty, as always, but in the end, it’s England by 12. And as the man who sold the world, Eddie Jones will be smiling.
France vs Georgia
Doesn’t matter which France pitches up, Georgia are no match for them or as replacements for Italy in the 6N. That’s the Boks’ next target, ahem. A brutal mismatch that will put Georgia firmly back in their box. France may be distracted by the looming challenge of the All Blacks the following weekend, but even that shouldn’t see this being anything other than a training ground run for Les Bleus. Georgia’s last outing was a 40-9 thumping by a very rusty Bok side in July, although they’d be doing okay in the Tier 2 stuff before that. France by 35. You know I’m gonna say it, it’ll be a rainy night for Georgia, Randy Crawford to the fore.
Wales vs Fiji
Another mismatch in store, with Wales looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat against the Boks last weekend. Fiji, as everyone knows, have some superb individuals in their side, but haven’t been able to put it all together into a coherent package for a long while. Wales have had to re-jig their side a bit, with the Horse back on the wing and Adams moving into midfield, but you sense that won’t make much difference in the end. It’s Wales’ match to win by pretty much whatever score they’d like to, especially after Fiji struggled to subdue Spain last weekend. Fitness, structure, technique and a stronger bench will see Wales home comfortably in the end. Wales by 28. And as every Manic Street Preacher in Cardiff’ll tell you – if you tolerate this, your children will be next. You’ve been warned, Fiji.
Preview by the incomparable Deebee7
Onna telly this week
Friday 12th November
| Gloucester v Bath | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 13th November
| Wales v South Africa (women) | 12:15 | BBC2 Wales |
| Italy v Argentina | 13:00 | Prime |
| Scotland v South Africa | 13:00 | Prime |
| Ireland v New Zealand | 15:15 | Channel 4 / RTÉ2 |
| England v Australia | 17:30 | Prime |
Sunday 14th November
| England v Canada (women) | 14:30 | BBC2 / iPlayer | ||
| Wales v Fiji | 15:15 | Prime | ||
| Scotland v Japan (women) | 16:10 | BBC Alba / iPlayer |
Ovally Balls 
Horse in full gallop!
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Good by LRZ. Not sure if he was in at the beginning but neat..
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Refit, in which game? SH refs tend to be more “indulgent” with knocks to the head. I prefer the NH option, protecting the players at all cost.
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Well, he wasn’t and neither was the ball.
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A shame. It was an athletic bit of play.
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Flair, in the Eng/Aus match yesterday. Peyper and the TMO talked themselves down from it. From 2:35 –
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Discussed on the blog starting here.
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Interesting watching players at the ruck in this game repeatedly having their hands on the floor. Yesterday Itoje was penalised for that. Crazy game.
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Wasn’t expecting Fiji to be in the game after 50 minutes, especially with the cards.
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Looked like a punch in the face there.
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Must have imagined it.
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Lovely by Fiji!
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Fantastic try by Fiji.
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Well that was nice!
What the hell are Wales playing at?
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Fabulous Fiji! That’s top drawer awareness! And the extras!
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Closely followed by Flibbertigibbet Fiji.
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This is a more evenly matched game than I expected. If only Fiji could remain 14 or 15 on the pitch!
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Wales claw one back, but they’re making heavy weather of thus. Fiji have been a player down for about half the match.
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Horse!!!
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Great finish by Cuthbert.
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Good hands, simple score by Wales!
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Niko’s on! Not sure about the hair though.
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Wonder try from LRZ!!
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That’s quick!
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That lad is class.
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Deebee, Fiji have been not one but two players down for half the game.
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Wales have done well to win this. Great resilience.
Entertaining game.
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Much more entertaining match than I expected. Fiji could have won it if their discipline were better.
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Absolutely. They are just so good ball in hand.
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The game between these two at the next WC should be tasty.
I’ll see if I can get tickets. 2007 déjà vu all over again?
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Just checked. Fiji will play Wales in Bordeaux on the 10th of September. Same stadium as France/ Georgia today. Seats about 42000 people. Unfortunately far from the centre of Bordeaux.
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The two quarter-finals in Paris-St Denis might be worth watching. France/New Zealand v Ireland/Scotland/South Africa.
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Fiji did well today, as they did in the summer against NZ but then the game ran away from them.
I don’t think Wales would pick a pack without any big ball carriers as they did today so we wouldn’t get into the same mess we did in 2007.
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Story about Damien Willemse. Good on him.
https://www.newframe.com/the-central-strand-in-the-story-of-damian-willemse/
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People always harp on about Fiji’s handling. But what kept them in the game today was their crushing tackles (I still shudder!), their confidence when one on one and their amazing work at the breakdown. They’re so quick ! How many turnovers did they win ?!
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Flair, you’re spot on about the tackling even if it’s something of a double edged sword: they tend to ship a lot of penalties and cards from their tackling style. Also noticed yesterday that a couple of times a tight forward played nine at the breakdown and distributed excellently.
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Yup, and why not? Should be pretty easy for most players on the pitch nowadays to do that if necessary. One ridiculously annoying thing about England is they don’t seem to do this, it’s as tho they have been told they will be dropped if they touch the ball when it should be Youngs’ job to walk up late and box kick, god forbid they ever get quick ball out to Faz to box kick again. There was one delightful ruck on Saturday which was a prime example. After a break ( Dombrandt, I think ) Itoje came in as third man to breakdown, and stood over the ball like he was trying to crap on it, for what seemed like five minutes. Ref called ball out, he squeezed for another ten or so whilst idly scanning the racing pages of the Telegraph, and one of the Aussies casually sauntered round the side of the ruck and made off with the pill. I was in danger of smashing mums telly. Even Phil Galloway or Colin Smart could pick a ball up without dropping it on occasion 40 years ago.
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Oops, Meant Phil Blakeway.
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I’ve just seen the highlights of the Wales Fiji game, shame Fiji couldn’t keep a full team on the pitch, they conceded two scores when down to 13 and then another couple when back up to 14, by that time they looked knackered and easily stretched in defence.
LRZ’s try was a comedy of errors, he showed terrific pace as we’ve come to expect of him, but Volavola must have been out on his feet by that time because under normal circumstances he would have been first there with loads to spare.
The grounding looked suspect.
I didn’t see that coming to be honest, I thought Wales would coast past Fiji
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“Also noticed yesterday that a couple of times a tight forward played nine at the breakdown and distributed excellently.”
I laughed when Liam Williams played nine at the breakdown and still didn’t pass.
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@Ticht – Assuming Volavola was the player coming across I can only think he didn’t realise the danger until too late. Think the grounding was OK though a close run thing.
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CMW, the time is at 4:08 if this doesn’t load at that.
I didn’t hear what question the ref asked, if his onfield decision was “try”, then it’s probably not clear and obvious for it to be a knock on, the reverse is also true if the ref called it a “no try”.
I’m not sure LRZ had contact with the ball with his left arm when it touches the ground, he only has to be in constant contact
LRZ kicks just on the half way, by the time Volavola comes into shot he’s probably about 24m out from the touch line and struggling, I think he can see LRZ, but he travels half the distance for the same time as the big winger
Anyhoo, a good talking point for a Monday
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goal line, not the touch line
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@Ticht – The onfield decision was ‘try’. Agree it may have gone the other way if that call had been the other way as it’s hard to be certain, but I do think he probably remains in contact with the ball so seems fair enough.
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Volavola sort of does get there in time, but is then hesitant about dropping on the ball, perhaps his feet are just momentarily wrong for how it bounces or whatever.
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Hi all – time for your live match report from the Aviva. Ireland were great – easily the best of the three wins vs NZ. In 2016, we were hanging on a bit until Henshaw’s try. In 2018, well – that was a slugfest and O’Mahony’s intervention probably saved the day – but on Sat Ireland were the better team.
I’m a “very important person in Munster rugby” (ha – I’m ended up as a committee chair as it was my county’s turn the provide the chair – so I ended up on another bunch of committees and the ticket option came with it) I was allowed to buy up to 6 tickets – I took 5 so we all went.
We drove up on Saturday morning – original plan had been to stay on Sat night with relatives in Wicklow – but Covid put paid to that. So, a day trip it became…
Arrived early just as NZ bus arrived – couldn’t see anything through darkened windows. Found our spots – I had a mix of tickets, so two of us high up – got a bird eye view of the Barrett and Doris tries. My wife and the 2 youngest were in the same corner.
Atmosphere was terrific – the noise…. Ireland were very controlled – I read OT’s comment about England playing RL style and I wondered the same…. and it seemed to be more important to get the ball away from the ruck than waiting for the 9 – obviously, moving away from box kicks – though Conway was a menace on any “contestable”.
Delighted for Lowe to score – neat finish but great cover from Barrett to make it difficult. Disappointing to have the Furlong try chalked off – but clear double movement from Kelleher. And then NZ score when everyone went to sleep momentarily… and then failing to score just before ht and you’re thinking “is it going to be one of those days…?”
Needed to score early in 2nd half and did….. loved Doris’s try – super step back as defence drifted to his left….. I guess with the heavy ball carriers in the front row – you’re using 6, 7, and 8 in wider channels against – you hope – a slightly less set defence.
Got out of jail on the forward pass from Ioane… and really surprised NZ took 3 rather than trying to go for it. And fair play to Carbery – pretty nerveless on the pens. The long one – Lowe’s wrap tackle was super prior to the jackal. Where we were sitting could see – as soon as Carbery hit it – it was going to be very close – but it didn’t die. After that we forced NZ to chance their arm a bit … and smart substitutions with Beirne and O’Mahony coming on to make rucks difficult.
I’d bet 95% of the crowd stayed after the whistle… my middle son had tears in his eyes….. (he’ll deny that to his dying day…but the photos don’t lie)
Watched it all again yesterday – certainly, it where we want the team to be. They may mix it up a bit vs Argentina (which is traditionally edgy) in terms of selections – but you’d want to see that level again….
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@Trisk – There used to be some competition, but these days we can safely say you’re the Most important person in Munster rugby.
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I miss all of the old guard’s presence, but in this instance I’m thankful not to have to try to weigh up the various merits of ‘being on some committee or other’ against ‘chopped John Lacey’s family’s carrots’ or ‘has a frightening stare’.
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trisk, I spoke to a few people who’d been at the game and they all said the same thing – We were brilliant but New Zealand can score from anywhere and the atmosphere in the ground was something else.
I casually dropped in that it need Munster lads to come on and seal the win and was reminded that two of them are Leinster men anyway.
On a more mundane note, my missus went shopping on Saturday afternoon and said if she gets the timing right it’s the best time of all to go as the supermarket was virtually empty. Benefit of having the game on terrestrial TV.
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Trisk, the intensity Ireland brought to that game was amazing, top end test level from the start, and they never really let up, accuracy, speed of thought and good execution were the basis of that win, but the way then team were at the breakdown was just top notch.
It was a super performance all round.
Well Done Ireland.
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