Saturday October 21st
Right at the beginning of the tournament, I must admit that I was worried the Rugby Championships nations might have FINALLY been brought back to the field a little by those from Six Nations.
Thankfully, that isn’t the case at all, and Argentina will take on New Zealand in the first of two Rugby World Cup Semi-Finals.
Argentina have really made it count when it all has mattered, and they did enough to progress second from Pool D, before eliminating Pool C winners Wales with arguably their best performance at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Michael Cheika has his men absolutely firing, but they’ll need to go to another level to beat the All Blacks.
Remember when France defeated New Zealand in the World Cup opener, before ultimately topping Pool A? Retrospectively, that is the worse thing that could have happened, and the All Blacks have continued to improve week-on-week to find themselves starting favourites in another Rugby World Cup Semi-Final.
I have no doubt that Los Pumas will throw everything they have left at the All Blacks, but this is an enormous task, and I just wonder if they played their final last week.
Sunday October 22nd
Match betting is extremely skewed, but the better contest will likely materialise between England and South Africa early on Sunday morning.
I have not been a fan of English Rugby at any point throughout my life, and I haven’t made any secret of that. I’ve often found them to be negative, boring and kick for points, and that is nothing like the running rugby that developed my love of this game. That being said, they are the only Six Nations side that consistently has a crack, and that has certainly been the case again in France.
They finished atop standings in Pool D, recording four wins from as many matches, and that form was franked by Argentina, who came out and beat Wales. England also franked it by beating a spirited Fiji side.
South Africa were another nation that were best in the Pool stage by one other team (Ireland), but they made it count with a win over host nation France last week, and it ultimately is only about how you perform at the knockout stages, isn’t it?
I have these sides a lot closer than the bookies do, but with South Africa sneaking home again.