RWC 2023: 5 things to look out for on the opening weekend

SA to hit the ground running

South Africa open the defence of their World Cup crown against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday. Gregor Townsend’s Brave Hearts, ranked fifth, are a very good side with some very good individuals who will definitely have their moments at the Stade Vélodrome. Finn Russell aside, players like skipper Jamie Ritchie, Sione Tuipulotu and Darcy Graham are no joke and have the ability to cause problems.

That said, it’s difficult to see them preventing the three-time champions from claiming a relatively comfortable victory in spite of the latter’s slow starts at recent tournaments.

Opening game showstopper 

Hosts France take on New Zealand in a blockbuster of a tournament opener on Friday. Although the All Blacks head into this one off the back of their worst defeat in Test history (a 35-7 thumping by South Africa), a series of untimely injuries to key Frenchmen has levelled the playing field.

Whatever the result at the Stade de France, it’s bound to be an absolute humdinger.

Pumas to punish England?

England come into the event in all sorts of trouble, with poor results, a dour style of play and questions around the form of some experienced individuals marring their build up to the tournament. On the other hand, Michael Cheika’s Los Pumas are looking pretty good at the minute and will be aiming for a repeat of their superb win over the 2003 champions at Twickenham last year.

With the winner of this one likely to take top honours in Pool D, there’s plenty on the line early on.

Fiji to repeat 2007 heroics against Wales?

Fiji have risen to seventh in the world, an all-time high after earning some fantastic results of late – including a 30-22 defeat of England at Twickenham towards the end of last month. They face an out-of-sorts Wales side in Bordeaux on Sunday looking to replicate the performance their class of 2007 produced in knocking over the Dragons to earn a quarterfinal spot.

While it may be too early to mention knockout qualification, particularly with Australia also in Pool C, there’s no question the result of this one will have a big bearing on the final group standings.

Safety Police to have a big say?

With so much discourse surrounding the decision-making of rugby adjudicators of late, it’s going to be very interesting to see the way the games’ officials deal with proceedings on this opening weekend. As always, the referees and assistants will be under massive pressure to make fair, consistent calls across games to set the tone for the tournament.

Let’s just hope for no controversy.