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  RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 / world rugby Everything you need to know about Scotland v Tonga at Stade de Nice, on Sunday, 24 September. A fortnight after they were outmuscled and outpaced by defending champions South Africa in Marseille, Scotland will want to kickstart their Rugby World Cup challenge against Tonga, in Nice – a couple of hours further east along France’s Mediterranean coastline. Head coach Gregor Townsend has made four changes to his starting side. Prop Rory Sutherland – on his Rugby World Cup debut at the age of 31 – and second-row Scott Cummings come into the pack for Pierre Schoeman and Grant Gilchrist respectively, while centre Chris Harris and wing Kyle Steyn, like Sutherland making his first tournament appearance, start in the backline, with Huw Jones and Darcy Graham dropping to the bench. Ewan Ashman, Sam Skinner and George Horne also come into the match-day 23. They’ll want a big win over a Tonga side that lost 59-16 against a rampant Ireland in Nantes nearly a week

  RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 / WORLD RUGBY Everything you need to know about Wales v Australia at OL Stadium, Lyon, on Sunday, 24 September. label.share.via_facebook label.share.via_twitter label.share.via_copy URL Copie We’ve had France v New Zealand. We’ve had South Africa v Ireland. Test matches don’t come much bigger than either of those two. But Rugby World Cup games also don’t come with much more at stake than this one, between Wales and Australia in Lyon. Australia’s 22-15 loss to Fiji last weekend threw Pool C wide open. Defeat here could all-but end their hopes of qualifying for the knockout phase. That would be unwelcome news, after Rugby Australia’s CEO Phil Waugh said reaching the semi-finals would be ‘a pass.' Ben Donaldson switches from full-back to fly-half for the Wallabies, with Carter Gordon dropping to the bench and Andrew Kellaway starting at 15. Other changes see Tate McDermott return at scrum-half while Robert Leota starts at blindside flanker, with Tom Hooper switc

  REPORT / REACTION / WORLD RUGBY SAINT-DENIS - World number one Ireland edge out reigning world champions South Africa 13-8 in a tense Pool B match at Stade de France on Saturday, 23 September. Ireland cemented their status as the number one-ranked side in world rugby as they edged an enthralling tussle with defending champions South Africa at the Stade de France. Manie Libbok’s early penalty put South Africa ahead as Ireland’s lineout malfunctioned, losing four of their own throws, but Bundee Aki’s sensational break sparked them into life. After camping in the Springboks’ 22, the pressure told as James Lowe released Mack Hansen to dive over, Johnny Sexton’s conversion giving the Irish a 7-3 interval lead. South Africa hit back on the resumption when Libbok’s long pass put Cheslin Kolbe over for a try, only for Sexton’s penalty to edge Ireland back in front. Libbok and Faf de Klerk both missed further shots at goal before Jack Crowley’s late penalty sealed a momentous victory. Masterc

  RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 Everything you need to know about Georgia v Portugal at Stadium de Toulouse, on Saturday, 23 September “We have a lot of things to analyse,” Georgia coach Levan Maisashvili said after their 35-15 defeat to Australia on the first weekend of Rugby World Cup 2023. He wasn’t wrong. Georgia played noticeably better than the scoreline suggests, but wasted a number of chances at Stade de France two weeks ago.  Maisashvili has made four changes in the pack, with Mikheil Nariashvili and Beka Gigashvili coming into the front-row, Vladimer Chachanidze into the second-row, and Beka Saginadze into the back-row. Giorgi Kveseladze will earn his 50th cap, as will Nodar Cheishvili, if used off the bench. Saturday’s opponents Portugal made Wales work for their bonus-point win in Nice at the weekend. While they have every reason to be proud of their efforts then, they’ll want to build on that with an even stronger performance here.  Diogo Hasse Ferreira replaces Anthony Alves in th

  RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 Everything you need to know about England v Chile at Stade Pierre-Mauroy, Lille, on Saturday, 23 September. England and Chile arrive in Lille with very different aims for the rest of Rugby World Cup 2023.  Steve Borthwick’s side are looking to take a decisive third step in their aim to reach the knockout phase of the tournament. Chile’s overall ambitions may be more modest on their Rugby World Cup debut, but they’re no less important. They want to show they can compete with the very best in the world. The big news among the 12 changes to England’s starting line-up in Lille is the return of captain Owen Farrell, after suspension, at 10. George Ford, scorer of 67 percent of England’s points so far, is on the bench, while Marcus Smith starts at 15, and Jack Willis gets his first start of the tournament. A shock is unlikely, admittedly. But Chile made both Japan and Samoa work harder than they expected for their wins. They will be looking to cause England more than a

  RUGBY WORLD CUP 2023 Everything you need to know about South Africa v Ireland at Stade de France, on Saturday, 23 September Rugby World Cup 2023 kicked off on 8 September with a fixture that could easily have made a final. Three Saturdays later, the sporting festival continues with a match that could easily be the final, as the defending champions and second-ranked team in the world meet the one side above them in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini. And we’re still in the pool stage. Eleven players who started Ireland’s 19-16 win over South Africa last time out in Dublin in November 2022 start at Stade de France, including Peter O’Mahony, who will bring up a century of test caps following his 98 caps for Ireland and one for the British and Irish Lions, and Bundee Aki, who will win his 50th cap. Meanwhile, Springboks’ head coach Jacques Nienaber has made 13 changes of personnel and one positional switch from the team that beat Romania 76-0 on Sunday. Hooker Mbongeni M

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  REPORT / REACTION SAINT-ÉTIENNE - Emiliano Boffelli leads Los Pumas to their first win of the tournament with a 19-10 Pool D victory over Samoa at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard. Winger Emiliano Boffelli scored all but three of his team's points as Argentina outplayed Samoa to grab their first win at Rugby World Cup 2023 and leave Pool D finely balanced.  In a rain-sodden first half, Los Pumas gradually asserted an authority they never relinquished. Samoa did produce a number of trademark hits in defence but with fly-half Christian Leali'ifano missing two kickable penalties in the first 40 minutes, Argentina were able to convert their superiority in territory and possession into a comfortable 13-3 half-time lead.  After finishing off a fine first-half team move, Boffelli kicked his third penalty of the night in the 54th minute. At that stage, with the skies having cleared and their banks of blue and white supporters in fine voice, it looked like Argentina might pull away. But so

 

 

 

world rugby - REPORT / REACTION South Africa beat Scotland 18-3 in Pool B at Stade de Marseille on Sunday, 10 September Defending champions South Africa got their Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign off to a winning start by beating Scotland 18-3 at Stade de Marseille on Sunday. The teams went into the break with the Springboks only 6-3 ahead after two Manie Libbok penalties and one from Scotland fly-half Finn Russell. However, in the second half the pace and power of South Africa’s game told as first Pieter-Steph du Toit muscled his way over from close range, before Kurt-Lee Arendse got on the end of Libbok’s pinpoint cross-field kick to dot down in the corner. "Obviously I saw the space out wide and knew what I wanted to do, and managed to get it there," Libbok, the Mastercard Player of the Match, said. "I practise that stuff a lot so it was good that it came off. "I am just stoked the first game went like it did." Head coach Jacques Nienaber said the game was clos

  world rugby - REPORT / REACTION Wales resist a thrilling Fiji fightback to launch their Pool C campaign with a bonus-point win in a pulsating contest at Stade de Bordeaux. BORDEAUX - Wales opened their Rugby World Cup 2023 campaign with a nail-biting 32-26 win over Pool C opponents Fiji in front of 41,274 mostly Welsh supporters at Stade de Bordeaux. Josh Adams  scored an early try for Wales but Fiji hit back with scores from captain  Waisea Nayacalevu  and flanker Lekima Tagitagivalu before George North's try helped Wales into an 18-14 half-time lead. Louis Rees-Zammit  collected Jac Morgan's cross-kick to extend Wales's lead and after  Levani Botia  knocked on over the line, Elliott Dee's converted try with 13 minutes left - after a yellow card for Fiji's Lekima Tagitagivalu - put Wales 32-14 clear and seemingly out of sight. But Fiji refused to lie down and Josua Tuisova's score sparked a late onslaught, Peni Ravai having a score ruled out for a double move

  RWC 2023 Round one analysis by world rugby Miserly France, impatient New Zealand and a new Rugby World Cup record for Wales - analysis of some of the trends from the opening round of pool matches. It was a noisy start to Rugby World Cup 2023 as tournament hosts  France beat New Zealand 27-13   in front of a raucous crowd at Stade de France on Friday. Perhaps key to France’s success was the fact that they conceded the fewest penalties in the opening round of the tournament with just five, while the All Blacks gave away 13 penalties on attack alone. New Zealand were ranked fourth overall for defenders beaten with 32 - winger  Mark Talea  topped the individual rankings with 11 defenders beaten - and fifth for metres made with 629m, but they were unable to translate those numbers on the scoreboard.   "We looked dangerous when we had the ball but we let ourselves down, and [were] not being patient and clinical with our skillset," said stand-in New Zealand captain  Ardie Savea  a