Sunday October 15th
The knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup commence with an intriguing battle between Wales and Argentina early on Sunday morning.
Sure, Wales went through the Pool stage undefeated, but there is no doubt that there’s was the weakest Pool, and they were lucky to sneak past Fiji at their first appearance. To be fair, they have improved as the tournament has progressed, but this is their toughest task to date.
Argentina haven’t quite been up to their best so far, in my opinion, but they’ve obviously been good enough to make it this far, and they are a fighting chance yet again.
I don’t have as much between these two sides as the bookies seem to, so I think that the value lies in backing Argentina to win as outsiders.
There’s little doubt in my mind that the standout contest of the Quarterfinals is this clash between Ireland and New Zealand.
Plenty of hype surrounded Ireland’s chances at the 2023 Rugby World Cup prior to a match being played, and to their credit, that have been very good. Undefeated in the Group stage, they remain tournament favourites overall.
It’s fair to say that New Zealand aren’t at their brilliant best, but barring a first-up loss to France, they have won every other game they’ve played handsomely.
I think that New Zealand’s experience and skill in the latter stages of World Cups will shine through again this week, and they’re good for the upset.
Monday October 16th
England are offered a dream run through to the prelims in the form of Fiji, early on Monday morning.
England have been good at the Rugby World Cup, as expected, topping their group by proving too classy on every occasion so far.
Fiji were outstanding at the beginning of the World Cup, unlucky not to beat Wales before knocking off the Wallabies. They have progressively declined since then, however, and really did fall into this stage of the tournament after losing to Portugal.
One obvious result looms, in my opinion.
Another tight contest looks like materialising between host nation France and South Africa on Monday morning.
France took the big scalp of New Zealand in the World Cup opener last month, and they’ve remained undefeated since, albeit against weaker opposition.
South Africa have suffered just the one defeat at the Rugby World Cup; a tight affair with tournament favourites Ireland which could have fallen either way.
In my opinion, this one goes right down to the wire, with the slightly classier Springboks reigning supreme.