And so the first weekend of battle dawns. Time to toss away the sparring, the jousting, the throwing down of the gauntlet and deferential soundbites. It’s here. It’s now. And it’s gonna be one helluva opening weekend! A massive match to open with and some potentially pool-defining Tests on the first weekend make this a crucial, nail-biting and brilliant opening to hopefully the best World Cup yet. And so to your humble scribe’s even humbler predictions:
FRIDAY, 8 SEPTEMBER, POOL A, Stade de France, Saint-Denis
FRANCE vs NEW ZEALAND: Pour a good glass of Bordeaux Blend for this one! A truly heavyweight clash to open the tournament with! Both sides among the overall favourites, although with mixed results in the run in, as well as injury concerns, especially for France. The home side will be swept along on a wave of passion, emotion and fervour, playing with that ‘extra man’ behind them – but keeping that emotion properly bottled and channelled will be key to seeing off a Kiwi side smarting from a thumping against eternal enemies, South Africa. Will it galvanise the Kiwis? Damned right it will. Do they have the personnel and plans to make it count? Damned nearly – still some question marks over the physicality of the pack, with a fairly callow front row and Sam Whitelock behind them past his (considerable) peak. Not a back row for the ages either. France, disrupted by injury, still have a formidable side from 1 to 15 and will be confident of taming the Kiwis.
Prediction? France by a handful. Don’t forget to put the bottle in the recycling bin.
SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER, POOL A, Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Étienne
ITALY vs NAMIBIA: Chianti or Windhoek Lager? Since the Bordeaux Blend is long gone, maybe both. From the highs of the opening clash, to a more mundane and routine match in the same pool. An Italy side that has shown great improvement in the last couple of years (Georgia in for Wales in the 6N etc etc!) won’t be troubled by the Southern Africans, coached by ex-Bok mentor Allister Coetzee. A few of the Namibians have Super Rugby and European experience, notably hooker Torsten van Jaarsveld, but they’re not a side bristling with top players. Expect Italy to keep their powder dry for bigger matches to follow, but still have far too much in the tank for the willing Welwitschias.
Prediction? Italy by 25 or more. 1 bottle of Chianti and a case of Windhoek equals 25. Just stick to that.
SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER, POOL B, Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
IRELAND vs ROMANIA: A lovely Guinness to wash away the wine and settle in for the afternoon. World number 1 Ireland, on a 13-match winning streak and with one of the more settled squads in the tournament (despite a couple of late withdrawals), won’t be expected to sweat too much against a willing but limited Romania. Romania were thumped in all three warm up matches, with both Italy and Georgia putting 50 on them, and even a weak USA beat them handily. Ireland can afford to put out a reserve side and still win with ease in the easiest of their pool matches. The biggest question is whether Sexton starts (or plays a cameo off the bench), or whether the Irish talisman is wrapped in cotton wool for the more testing fixtures to come.
Prediction? Ireland by as many as they want, really. Sounds like the drinking habits of your average Dubliner, too – join in!
SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER, POOL C, Stade de France, Saint-Denis
AUSTRALIA vs GEORGIA: Chacha is a Georgian pomace brandy, clear and strong (thanks Wiki), and way better than that 4X piss or Hardy’s slop. Have a double. Each half. The first banana skin match of the World Cup? Australia have had an abysmal season thus far, losing five on the bounce. Not a single try-scoring bonus point in the Rugby Championship for a side supposedly with attacking flair, and only one losing bonus point. They’ve been pretty rudderless under Eddie ‘Cat Bounce’ Jones, who has ditched a number of senior players for youth and good old Aussie derring-do. Nick White says Samu Kerevi is back to full fitness and knocked him about in training, something we’d all like to see a bit more of, but will Australia be able to pick up the pieces against a Georgian side that has lost only once since their epic win over Wales last November? True, Scotland put 33 points on them in the second half of their last match, but they led 6-0 at the break, showing great resilience in the first half, before blowing out.
Prediction? Australia to do the same as Scotland and pull away in the second half – but only by 15 or so. Parched throat? No problem – another match on the way.
SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER, POOL D, Stade de Marseille, Marseille
ENGLAND vs ARGENTINA: A warm tin of Carling or the delights of a Chacra Pinot Noir Patagonia Cincuenta y Cinco? Lob the Carling at the neighbours’ noisy dog and pull the cork! Another potential banana skin to follow the previous match? I doubt it. England don’t have the wherewithal to cause an upset. It’s been a mixed bag for Argentina this year, getting stuffed by the All Blacks and Boks in Argentina, but beating Australia away and losing by a single point to the Boks in SA. A rampant final warm up against Spain means little. However, Argentina have a better pack than England in almost every department and should boss the set piece and breakdown – which has been England’s Achilles’ heel for a while now. They’ve also got backs who on their day can rip just about any defence to pieces, and I reckon they’ve been targeting this match since they beat England at HQ in November. England’s travails in the lead up to the World Cup are well documented, from a stodgy pack and little guile behind it, to disciplinary issues for key players and seemingly little in the way of an evolving gameplan. With both sides having discipline issues, it may well come down to who finishes with the most players on the pitch.
Prediction? Argentina by up to 10. Don’t trip on the way to the kitchen for a refill!
SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER, POOL D, Stadium de Toulouse, Toulouse
JAPAN vs CHILE: Clear the slightly fuzzy head with the Yamazaki Single Malt, followed up with a Viña Casa Silva “Microterroir de Los Lingues” Carménère Colchagua Valley 2011. Great start to a Sunday! Japan ripped up the formbook and sailed into the hearts of the rugby world at the last World Cup on home soil, until they met the unsmiling orcs of the Boks. They played with verve, dash, courage and spirit, and no small amount of breathtaking skill. However, they’re not that side this year. A single win over Tonga in four warm up matches, with a narrow loss to Samoa followed by heavy defeats to Fiji and Italy speaks of side not coping with physical teams. However, they come up against a Chile making their World Cup debut – good on them – and who lost all three of their warm up matches, against Uruguay, Namibia and an Argentine Select side. All three losses were narrow, however, and they scored 26 points in each match – if they do that, it could be enough for a famous opening weekend win.
Prediction? Japan to win an entertaining, high-scoring match by a score or two in the end. Don’t have a whisky for each Japanese score, if you can remember.
SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER, POOL B Stade de Marseille, Marseille
SOUTH AFRICA vs SCOTLAND: Stellenbosch Red, Hermanus Chardonnay, or Paarl Shiraz? Probably brandy and coke to get through this one, followed by a couple of drams of Glenmorangie or Macallan Rare Cask. A huge match in the context of the Pool of Death, pitting the 2nd ranked Boks against the 5th ranked Scots, both of whom have to face the 1st ranked Irish later in the pool. The Boks got mugged in Auckland by the Kiwis, conceding 17 points in as many minutes and not being able to claw that back. They won the rest of the match 20-18, but that counts for nothing. Convincing, powerful wins over Australia, Wales, Argentina and THAT match at Twickers against the All Blacks have seen the Boks emerge as one of the favourites. However, they struggled to contain a fired-up Argentina at Ellis Park, winning by a point – luckily so in the view of many here – and Scotland will have taken note. The Boks have huge forward power, starting and off the bench (Duane Vermeulen benched for Jasper Wiese, to the shock of many), and also have some scintillating outside backs. But the coaches have gone for de Allende and Kriel in midfield, which is the least inspiring combination, although probably the most defensively solid. Scotland will have noted the two diminutive wingers up against McDuhan and McSteyn and will probably pepper them. In Finntastic Russell they have the best 10 at the World Cup, and if the Boks allow him to dictate, it could be a long afternoon for the big boys in green.
Prediction? Heart says Boks by 10 or more, head says anything is possible, fear is kicking in BIG TIME. Check the score on Monday after calling in sick.
SUNDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER, POOL C, Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
WALES vs FIJI: Penderyn Whiskey (no jokes about Welsh Brains here please) or Bounty Rum? Why, I’ll have a couple of each, thanks! A potentially fantastic match to round out the weekend with, as a Wales that are in as much strife as their neighbours across the Afon Hafren, come up against a Fiji side popping and bouncing after their win against England at Twickenham. They did get dusted by France the week before that, but have only that loss in a run of strong wins against Samoa, Japan and Tonga in the run in. Fiji have a strong squad, based on their Super Rugby outfit, but with some real aces from the European leagues too – Bill Mata, Semi Radradra, Waisea Nayacalevu, Temo Mayanavanua and Sam Matavesi to name a few. The loss of two front line 10s is a major blow, but such is the nature of Fijian rugby, you can put a 130kg prop at first receiver and still get a magical backline move! Wales shared the spoils in two lousy matches against England, before being demolished by the Boks in their last hit out before the World Cup. Fiji showed against England that their traditional weakness at set piece has improved, and this may well be a weekend that Welsh fans hide behind the sofa pining for the days of playing only the Western part of Samoa!
Prediction? Fiji, just, against a Welsh side that spoils for an arm-wrestle. Go to bed, if you can make it, or just sleep on the floor and hope the missus/mister is understanding. You’ve got four days before the next lot.
Refreshment recommendations by Deebee7
Onna telly this week
Friday 8th September
| France 27 – 13 New Zealand | 20:15 | ITV1 / S4C / iPlayer / STV / RTÉ2 |
Saturday 9th September
| Italy 52 – 8 Namibia | 12:00 | ITV1 / STV |
| Ireland 82 – 8 Romania | 14:30 | ITV1 / STV |
| Australia 35 – 15 Georgia | 17:00 | ITV1 / STV / RTÉ2 |
| England v Argentina | 20:00 | ITV1 / STV / RTÉ2 |
Sunday 10th September
| Japan v Chile | 12:00 | ITV1 / STV |
| South Africa v Scotland | 16:45 | ITV1 / STV |
| Wales v Fiji | 20:00 | ITV1 / STV / iPlayer / S4C |
Thursday 14th September
| France v Uruguay | 20:00 | ITV1 / STV |
Ovally Balls 
The main commentator on itv actually doesn’t know the rules. Basics he’s got wrong. He gets the score wrong repeatedly. Awful!
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Dab, I think it’s Mullins isn’t it?
He’s been dreadful
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Refit
Remember when Arg beat NZ, this time last year?
It seems unbelievable after watching this. CGI fakery?
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Arg get a scrum penalty, then cock up the lineout and conceded a free-kick.
Ford has been hooked for Smith…? Maybe not.
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I feel like the ref has really favoured England, especially in the second half.
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A little bit of kick tennis ends with Care(!) putting in a tackle and winning a penalty, on the Arg 22.
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Starting to think England might actually win this.
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Saint George dog help us
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Dab – nah, Arg have just been completely flummoxed that England haven’t just rolled over and have lost their heads.
Another penalty 27-3. 5mins to play.
Ford off, Smith on.
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Ticht – I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.
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Honestly, it’s like someone has paid Argentina to fuck everything up that they could possibly fuck up. Presumably the red card wasn’t in the plan, so they had to go even more extreme.
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Holy fuck, a try! An Argentine one.
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13 handling errors and the same number of penalties
26 times Argentina have handed over possession
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I imagine he exploded sometime in the first half.
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This has been England at their big-hearted best is what made me boak. England who never even looked close to scoring a try, and earned a third red card in three matches.
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Thanks Nick, but I’ll think I’ll pass on SCW and Dayglo’s thoughts on the match.
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Yep, we’ve turned it off.
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I missed chance to go to a restaurant I’d been looking forward to for ages for that.
I’ve been unwell this week
That hasn’t helped
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Ticht – that was a bad choice.
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Big applause for Ford, Lawes, Genge and Cole. Didn’t see a whole lot of Daly and May
Mitchell made a bid difference and secured ‘go-forward’.
Ideal circumstances for a ‘backs to the wall’ English effort.
I would keep Ford in cotton wool now – he completely bossed the game and rewarded his forwards.
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From a former alumni
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Jesus Wilko, bless his sainted heart, is a terrible pundit.
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Well, that must have been a dreadful game for a neutral, cos it was bad enough for me. Well played Lawes, Earl, Ford, Merchant particularly, but pretty decent defence in the second half from all of them. Butchered a walk in try in the first half, Daly passing into touch after three man overlap had been wasted, that was the second of two passes to the right wing. The other one was May passing to Merchant on the wing.
Feel for Mitchell, did his best to do something, but ended up just holding the ball at the base of the ruck for a while as there was noone anywhere sensible to pass to. Fordys first drop goal was funny, just no other options at all.
Anyways, well done England.
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Actually, Slade should be there instead of Daly
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Slade – agree totally. Daly’s two things are ‘run fast & kick long’ and he did neither well tonight.
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Well, Slade isn’t going to be on the wing , but you could go to Marchant on the wing with Slade in the 13 shirt I suppose. Obviously you get fined for using the wings anyway, as Earl made clear when he decided it was better for back row player to try a grubber kick than pass it to the quick bloke on the wing who hasn’t had a touch yet, and has loads of space.
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that must have been a dreadful game for a neutral, cos it was bad enough for me
Ford was smart early on to start taking 3s
England were fast off the line but Argentina were as we’d say “cat” …. you’d be searching through the thesaurus for synonyms for bad /appalling – but “cat” will do.
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The AB’s are underpowered in the forwards, even though
they still have backs that will take opportunities
Yeah, they’ve a “puncher’s chance” with their ability to run from deep but good forward oriented teams (basically France, SA, probably Ireland) will “overpower” them
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but this NZ team isnt very good, is it?
By their standards – no. Some dynamic backs – Jordan, but weak in the forwards – literally no ball carriers.
I told my wife at 5-0 that France would ultimately overpower them – kick deep and trap them behind the 10…. took a while but its how it turned out.
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Somehow Curry got a 2/10 rating on the Graun – presumably because the Argentina player didn’t actually die from the tackle?
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I only saw the first 20 minutes, and then bits of it with the TV on inside and good company outside on the terrace.
Dreadful game? Technically yes, and yet compelling. Could England survive the early RC? Would Argentina keep on playing stupidly?
FWIW, I found Curry’s RC harsh. Clumsy yes, but no malice. I know intention does not matter and the rules were applied, but I found his transgression less appaling than Farrell’s .
If both these teams make it to the QF, they better hope for a weak opponent.
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So, in the cold light of day, it’s 2-0 to the NH between top tier sides. Can Scotland make it 3-0? Some of this parish no doubt hope so, some may believe so, I for one am expecting the Boks to be clinical. That is all.
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Flair, with you all the way on Curry’s red. I thought the yellow was more than enough, but red? Over the top for me.
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With both sides having discipline issues, it may well come down to who finishes with the most players on the pitch.
Got that partly correct, just didn’t see the side with the red inside five minutes winning it!
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Butch James on Supersport sympathising with Curry. No surprise there!
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For me it was 100% a red card for Curry.
There were two English players tacking the Argentinian full back, Daly was the other one and he didn’t headbutt the opposing player because he was dipped well below shoulder height.
They have to stop this, that’s three red cards for high tackles in what, five games from England? Farrell also got another one in January for the same thing in a club game.
No one should be complaining about red cards – it’s not like players haven’t been warned, if you stand upright and instigate a clash of heads you are going to get sent off.
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Our sport faces an existential crisis on this issue, it’s not the same game we all played however many decades ago, players are huge and hugely fit now, they re also tackling far higher then we used to – I remember when Samoa, it may even have been Western Samoa at the time, came in with crunching tackles aimed at the upper chest area, that was very unusual, now it’s what all players are coached to do.
There has been a directive across the community game to lower tackle heights and the very early signs (the season has only just started) are that it’s leading to far fewer injuries and players are offloading out of the tackle, leading to a far more open, running game.
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100% with Ticht on this. It’s not like its a revolution in how to play the game – small children can literally tackle better than some of these professional players.
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Vaya Chile!
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Try Chile!
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Ticht, I don’t disagree with most of your posts about the dangers and the need to be lower in the tackle. I just felt that it was a rugby accident that happens from time to time.
Anyway, Chile and Japan giving us a great spectacle so far!
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These cards are killing Chile. They need to watch their discipline.
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Seems to me that Japan have been upgraded to full Tier One status on the Exprometer of 50-50 calls. Only had a lazy eye on much of the 1st half, so it could be that as well.
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Now it’s Japan’s turn to have a man in the bin. Come on Chile!
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Yes! TRY Chile!
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And Japan score again! This is a great match.
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Chile look like they have the makings of a decent side if they keep developing and growing the sport. Would be great to have another strong South American side knocking about.
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So …. Farrell, Daly, Youngs and Vunipola join the dirt-trackers – who’d have thought?
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Deebee – there’s been a S American league formed with teams from Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, I think.
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Deebs – Curry undoubtedly at fault. Tackler must be lower (except Marler, who can’t bend) and defenders must counter the lay-offs. Curry to dirt-trackers also.
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