The following four fixtures will be shown on the World Rugby site, and they will be available to watch afterwards, so even the most fevered rugby fans will not be found wanting for action.
Saturday, 20th November
Brazil v Kenya: (3rd/4th place play-off Stellenbosch Challenge, Men’s) Markotter Field, Stellenbosch – 10:00 GMT)
Zimbabwe v Namibia: (Final Stellenbosch Challenge, Men’s) Markotter Field, Stellenbosch – 12:00 GMT)
Russia v Chile: (Men’s) Yug Sports Stadium, Sochi – 12:00 GMT
Georgia v Fiji: (Men’s) Estadio El Deleite, Aranjuez – 14:30 GMT
Now on to the main attractions.
Italy vs Uruguay
Uruguay have qualified for RWC ’23 as Americas 1; however, they fell to Romania last week. Italy did better than most commentators thought they would against the might of the All Blacks but a loss against Argentina will mean they will be looking to make amends. Italy are currently ranked 14 against Uruguay’s 17. The visitors will not be overawed, but I expect the home team to win.
Scotland vs Japan
Scotland were overpowered last week by a very good Springbok side. It would have been understandable if many of those players were stood down, but Toonie has gone for a strong selection as he welcomes Scott Cummings back into the second row. There is rotation on the loosehead side with Schoeman and Bhatti swapping the starting jersey, and there will be new caps: the large shape of Scarlets’ Javan Sebastian, and Dylan Richardson from the Sharks (not the Sale ones) débuting in the back row.
Japan haven’t had the best results, losing heavily in Dublin and beating Portugal by 13, suggesting that this is not the Japan of the last RWC.
Scotland to win.
England v South Africa
South Africa will be after a full house from their three fixtures in November. They have selected a strong side: you know what’s coming, it’s dealing with it that is the problem.
Rodd, Blamire (Blay-mire), Sinckler, Dolly, Marler and Stuart will be under the microscope: it’s a well-known fact of life that you don’t out-Bok the Boks, so unless England can run South Africa around and keep away from set pieces, one would think this is only going to go one way, which is counter-intuitive when talking about England.
Elsewhere, Marcus Smith will be looking to sprinkle a bit of fairy dust on the Battle of the Orcs going on in front of him; he can turn his own Orc outside him in the formidable shape of Manu Tuilagi.
On the other hand, De Allende and Am are a very good midfield partnership; this is a tough game to call because Twickenham is a difficult place to go to play rugby.
I’m going to go for a very tight away win here, less than 7. Unless England’s pack end up as roadkill, like Scotland’s, then it will be a bigger margin: the Boks will be well up for this.
Wales vs Australia
Wales have had a mixed series. Putting out a B team against New Zealanders is never a good idea, but their hand was forced due to the international window agreements. They were five points short of South Africa and overcame the all-singing and -dancing (and big-hitting) Fijians.
Australia have had also had a mixed run of results. After downing the World Champions as a highlight of their year, they beat Argentina twice but lost to Scotland and were thumped by England.
Tupo being back will help their scrum, but they will be without skipper and talisman Michael Hooper, which kind of cancels out AWJ missing from the Welsh boilerhouse.
Wales at home is never a team to bet against, even with a relatively unfamiliar midfield.
Another tough call, but I’m going for a home win here.
France vs New Zealand
New Zealand don’t often lose two in a row. They did last year, but it’s only happened five times since 2000 in around 250 tests (I was surprised at how many they’d played, but then they do tend to play almost all the games possible at the world cup as well as the RC and tours).
Fabien Galthié has chosen partnerships for this match: Dupont and Ntamack at half-back, and Danty joining his erstwhile colleague Fickou in the midfield, which means Jalibert drops to the bench.
Elsewhere there are changes with Mauvaka coming in to the front row with Willemse joining Woki in the locking positions
Is this rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic?
I don’t think the current iteration of the All Blacks present as insurmountable a problem as before, but they are still the All Blacks.
The ABs side hasn’t been announced yet, so just for fun I’ll call this a draw.
Ireland v Argentina
Ireland were HUGE last week: a top-end performance full of fire, commitment, cool heads in the heat of the battle, and extraordinary focus. That is what it takes to beat the top teams, and Ireland had it all.
Can they back it up this week?
At the time of writing the teams have not been published, but everything points to a home win. For me, they have been the most impressive team over the series so far, and the only problem they may face is injuries, which will only serve to open the door for more Leinster players to make the step up to international level, the gits.
A comfortable home win.
Thanks to Tichtheid2 for the preview.
Onna telly this week
Friday 19th November
| London Irish v Saracens | 19:45 | BT Sport 2 |
Saturday 20th November
| Italy v Uruguay | 13:00 | Prime |
| Scotland v Japan | 13:00 | Prime |
| Ireland v Japan (women) | 15:00 | RTÉ2 |
| England v South Africa | 15:15 | Prime |
| Wales v Australia | 17:30 | Prime |
| France v New Zealand | 20:00 | Prime |
Sunday 21st November
| Ireland v Argentina | 14:15 | Channel 4 / RTÉ2 | ||
| England v USA (women) | 14:45 | BBC2 / iPlayer | ||
| Wales v Canada (women) | 17:00 | BBC2 Wales |
Ovally Balls 
Oh yeah, I meant to mention that Smith looks like the goods (bastard).
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“Marcus Smith will be the GOAT by the time he finishes”
The bar’s pretty high. Sounds like he might displace Dan Carter on Thaum’s list though.
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I dunno about that, CMW. Smith has a high-maintenance HAIRCUT that he has to keep brushing aside.
Carter had none of that nonsense.
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Nor did ROG or Wilko (who might have had the constipated problem, but that’s different), or indeed Stephen Jones, another steady hand at the tiller I forgot to mention earlier.
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If we’re going to talk about annoying things fly halves do during a kick then Biggar with his itchy arsed dance is the worst.
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Plus, it’s not a terrible haircut. Gavin Henson or Toby Flood had worse.
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Dancin’ Dan’s actually toned down the dancing before a kick. I’m more inclined to be annoyed with him about his constant whining to the ref (and anyone else in the vicinity).
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@Thaum – Yes, I think Stephen Jones belongs at the same table as ROG, Sexton, Neil Jenkins as well, but I wouldn’t be putting any of them up with the other two (Carter especially) though of course there’s always the caveat about playing for better teams. Larkham normally gets a mention in these things and would probably get a place at the top table. That said Carter is well ahead of the rest for me regardless.
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Don’t like BDB carrying on at the ref, but there was plenty in the recent games to suggest he’s anything but alone in it.
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He hasn’t been doing that for a while, craigs.
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Tomp – I have a long memory. It was especially annoying one evening…
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Toby Flood’s terrible haircut? I didn’t know he’d turned out for Exeter at some point.
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Sorry guys, I forgot about Andy Goode.
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Marcus Smith will be the GOAT by the time he finishes
Definitely has the potential. Carlos Spencer, flaky as he may have been at times, had the wood so comprehensively over the Boks that holes appeared everywhere else whilst we tried to deal with his mercurial threats. Funnily enough, Naas Botha was a dominant fly half beyond just his kicking. It’s often forgotten how many times he released Danie Gerber and company when he saw that it was on (Gerber scored 19 tries in 24 Tests, largely with Botha at 10) and also had an electric turn of pace, good hands and vision, but didn’t use it probably as often as he should have.
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Larkham was another great 10, forgot about him. I do get the point about playing behind dominant packs, as well as teams that play off 9, rather than 10, but I think Russell needs to do a lot more before he’s inducted into the Jizzy-10 Hall of Fame. To bring up arguments past, Quade ‘Silk’ Cooper may be up there (we’re still waiting for Larry’s match report for the definitive answer) in modern times (not GOAT material though).
Henry Honiball was a great SA flyhalf in the 90s, although a relatively short international career. Played 35 Tests in all, with a record of 22 wins and 3 losses as the starting 10, two of those to the B&I Lions in ’97. Six Tests in all against the ABs, winning four and losing two – one as a replacement and one at centre, but all four wins as starting 10. Was also starting 10 for the Boks on their record-equaling 17 wins on the trot in the late 90s.
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@thauma
The haircut trend is a real social menace. That floppy-on-top thing is now so ubiquitous that young lads playing cricket now wear caps INDOORS to keep it off their faces. And they are quite open that they are inspired by the Anglo-Irish hybrid that is Jack Grealish.
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@TomP
Our experience with O’Neill’s is kit good (the 3-stripe saga is interesting – their stuff abroad has 2 stripes). First team kit has lasted 4 seasons (granted one curtailed and 1 didn’t start) but we’re proposing to pass on to U18s in fairly good condition. Might be partly due to the skin-tight nature – difficult to get a grip and rip the fabric.
Talking of Larkham – he’s leaving Munster and back off to Australia end of season. We’ve only seen dynamic backplay from Munster in dribs and drabs. He was offered an extension – but no dice.
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“We’ve only seen dynamic backplay from Munster in dribs and drabs”
Your wingers need to stop kicking ahead so often when they get the ball in space.
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The Greatest of All Time is undefinable but it’s a good parlour game.
Other South Africans for your consideration: Hansie Brewis, Benny Osler, Errol Tobias.
Other Welsh – Jiffy, Benny, Barry, Cliffy, Dai W.
From Ireland – Ollie Campbell (my lad’s club is basically a cult to this man), Tony Ward and Jackie Kyle.
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Bennie Osler, my apologies.
Danie Craven, who knew his onions, said they had to put 4 men on Kyle to contain him on the 1951/52 Springbok tour. Not to stop but to contain him.
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Deebs, I think the thing about Marcus Smith is not the pace, the acceleration, the passing, the step or even the vision to see what’s on, it’s his kicking and gethsemane on top of all that stuff.
I couldn’t believe the kid was 18 when he got run of games due to injuries at Quins and he took to it like the proverbial duck to water, I’ve been making an effort to watch his games ever since and I really think he will be in the mix for GOAT status
The thing about Carter, and this does not take one iota away from his qualities, is that his pack never got beaten to a pulp, he was playing behind the Frankses, Brad Thorn, St Kev, McCaw, Kaino, Read, that trio is up there with any that took to a rugby field, these guys formed the platform for the most successful sporting team of all time.
I’m not saying that I could have played fly half behind the those packs, but Carter’s job was made considerably easier because of it.
Having Weepu and Smith playing nine and then some of the best backs in the game outside didn’t hurt his confidence and therefore performances either.
With Smith, I think he has the potential to be very good because his pack will provide him with good front foot ball, if they can get a scrum half who won’t take an age to then ship him the ball he and England will be off to the races.
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Also when they decide that Smith should be the one receiving most of that ball from the scrum half which they probably won’t for the time being.
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I’m gong to take back my Dalglish and Russell comparison, Fin has produced the good whoever he plays for
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“Also when they decide that Smith should be the one receiving most of that ball from the scrum half which they probably won’t for the time being.”
Jones has been reluctant to pick him, plus he sticks with Youngs, in all of English rugby there must be a better option, Quirke looked good, but I can’t see Jones trusting him and Smith at the same time
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He might do if he has Farrell back in as well, but then Smith might not see that much ball. And they’ll probably still be good doing that to be fair.
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Remember the German teenager who went over to New Zealand to chase the dream of playing for the All Blacks?
He’s doing well by the way, he signed a three year contract with the Blues.
Anyway, there is another one, a Dutch teenager called Holland https://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/126885745/meet-fabian-holland-the-teenage-dutch-lock-chasing-his-all-blacks-dream
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Nothing like aiming high!
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Do you reckon it’s too late for me, CMW?
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The only thing that’s stopping me is that I could never run out against Scotland
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There are probably countries you could still move to and make the first team. Possibly not New Zealand is all.
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Ticht, I think he’s got a way to go to get to King Kenny status! Watched the video highlights and other than a deft chip, accurate cross field kick, good hands and a great step and some acceleration, he doesn’t have much. Cough.
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My confirmation bias is still determined to prove that the reason Smith isn’t always at first receiver is a Gleeson-inspired deliberate tactic borrowed from RL. In that code you tend to left and right half backs meaning one is nearer to the ruck than the other on a given play. I’d be interested to see if they have deliberately chosen to put Farrell/Slade as the one nearer the ruck to give Smith more room to do his magic.
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I guess you’d have hoped that young Dutch giants would have been inspired by Tim Visser to get themselves over to Edinburgh.
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Easy to get confused with Dunedin I guess.
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Aside from his brother coming over and playing in Scotland, Visser’s brace against the All Blacks didn’t have the pull that actually playing for the All Blacks has, for some reason.
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Possibly not New Zealand is all.
Think Ticht is far too good a scrummager to be considered for the Kiwis. They prefer ‘mobile’ props who can’t scrum for shit.
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It’ll be the Dutch arrogance that the football commentators go on about.
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@Deebee – We can’t be sure what they want just now, we only just discovered that they want enormous Dutch children.
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There were a couple of Dutch lads who played schools rugby in South Africa – Jordy Hop at SACS in Cape Town and the fabulously named Mink Sharink at Paul Roos in Stellenbosch. Hop’s back in the Netherlands playing for the national team and Sharink went to Sarries.
South Africa only caps citizens whereas New Zealand has fewer scruples. There’re a fair number of very good young lads who are citizens of other African countries – Congo in particular – who wouldn’t be allowed to play for the Boks at present but are in the system.
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Not seen much of Harlequins in the English league but Smith is helped out a lot by having Care at 9 and Esterhuizen at 12 for them I think.
He’s a very good player, of course, and seems like he’s got his mind on what he wants to do, which is something you might not always have said about Carlos Spencer or Quade, for instance.
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“Congo in particular”
Christ.
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TomP – there is a small, but burgeoning rugby community in the DR-Congo, largely in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi. The Kin scene is driven by French and Belgian expats, whilst in the south, there are large numbers of Saffers, as well as Aussies working in the mines, who drive it.
One of my most memorable experiences (probably told it here before) was in Lubumbashi in 2004, when the civil war wasn’t quite over yet and I was staying in the Nicole Kidman suite at Planet Hollybum (supposedly Planet Hollywood in Lubumbashi). The ‘hotel’ was actually a converted Belgian army barracks with garish painting and creepy little statuettes of Tintin all over the place. On the Saturday afternoon, whilst watching French Top 14 (if it was called that in those days?) and eating a very good pizza, all hell broke loose, with screaming and wailing and a cacophony of noise. I thought the war had arrived, peaked out of my door to find a deserted hotel and feared the worst. It subsided after a bit and I started trying to find the phone number for the SA Consulate in town (it turns out it’s miles away and I wouldn’t have got there if I had left in a conflict). Hell broke loose for a second time and I ran to the restaurant to find the barman snoozing at the door. When I woke him up and asked what was going on he looked bored and irritated and told me there was a charismatic church that backs onto the hotel and they do the whole snake thing.
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Congratulations on that second paragraph Deebee, it was impossible to guess how any given sentence might end or what was going to follow.
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CMW – if countries like Cameroon and Nigeria took rugby seriously they would kick Expro’s USA taking rugby seriously into 10 kinds of shit. People in those countries are seriously large and athletic, quite naturally. All the bouncers in Kinshasa come from Cameroon as well.
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@Deebee – I’ll settle for our Congolese-Welshman turning out to be the real deal. Early days obviously.
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From time to time, I try to disentangle the impact on rugby (down here, anyway) of our dominant code Gaelic football.
Good
– catching skills under high ball
Bad
– tendency to tackle high , going for the ball rather than taking the man/lower body;
– when uncertain about what to do – kick the ball instead of taking a tackle and presenting;
– running sideways into space instead of running straight
– tendency to lead with shoulder into tackle w/o wrapping
– cutting back inside towards posts
Struggling to find more positives….
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I suppose I should add – because seasons overlap – they come to us fairly fit… so we don’t waste training sessions at the start of the season on trying to raise fitness levels……
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Deebee, it was more lads like Tambwe and the Tshituka brothers who are already playing pro rugby and Ebenezer Tshimanga and Ngia Selengbe. I think they’re all Congolese diaspora players.
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Yip, all diaspora players. There have been a few more over the years, previously mainly obviously from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia in our ranks, but the odd Mauritian, and now the Congolese. Interesting that of those you mentioned, only two went to ‘recognisesd’ rugby schools as well – Tshimanga to Wynberg and Selengbe to KES. Tambwe was at Parktown, which is a mid-ranking English speaking school, whilst the Tshituka lads were at Northcliff High (which is where I was supposed to go but for the grace of dog) which has never achieved much at all.
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