The 2023 Rugby World Cup is a little over a month away and with coaches set to name their final 33-man squads for the tournament in France shortly, this weekend offers some players their final chance to stake a claim for a spot on the plane.
Saturday offers rugby fans a feast of international action to enjoy, starting in the early hours with the second part of the Bledisoe Cup series between Australia and New Zealand and wrapping up nearly 17 hours later when Argentina take on South Africa.
- Over 59 points in New Zealand v Australia
- Scotland to beat France
- England to win at Wales by one to 12 points
- Caelan Doris anytime tryscorer v Italy
- South Africa -5 v Argentina
New Zealand vs Australia
New Zealand wrapped up their ninth Rugby Championship title in fine style in Sydney last weekend when going through the gears to record a 38-7 win over Australia, confirming the Wallabies as Wooden Spoon recipients in the process.
That was the All Blacks’ sixth successive victory against the Aussies and extended their ongoing unbeaten run to ten matches. Ian Foster’s men are building nicely towards the World Cup and are fancied to depart New Zealand for the northern hemisphere on the back of another big win.
New Zealand’s team shows 13 changes from last week, but it’s still a line-up packed full of pointscorers with the enigmatic Damian McKenzie in at fly-half.
An inexperienced Australia side failed to trouble the scoreboard too much last week but their backline still carries a sizeable threat in Samu Kerevi and Marika Koroibete among others.
The potential is there for the Wallabies to contribute to a fixture that tends to be free-scoring - three of the last five meetings have featured 59 or more points.
New Zealand vs Australia Teams
New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14 Shaun Stevenson, 13 Braydon Ennor, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (c), 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Nepo Laulala, 2 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 1 Tamaiti Williams
Replacements: 16 Dane Coles, 17 Ofa Tu’ungafasi, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Tupou Vaa’i, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 Aaron Smith, 22 Richie Mo’unga, 23 Dallas McLeod
Australia: 15 Andrew Kellaway, 14 Mark Nawaqanitawase, 13 Jordan Petaia, 12 Samu Kerevi, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Carter Gordon, 9 Tate McDermott (c), 8 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Richie Arnold, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Pone Fa’amausili, 2 David Porecki, 1 Angus Bell
Replacements: 16 Jordan Uelese, 17 James Slipper, 18 Zane Nonggorr, 19 Will Skelton, 20 Rob Leota, 21 Nic White, 22 Quade Cooper, 23 Izaia Perese
Scotland vs France
Scotland ran World Cup favourites France very close when the sides met in Paris during the Six Nations and with Les Bleus naming an experimental side for this clash in Edinburgh, Gregor Townsend’s men have a chance to claim a notable scalp.
Townsend tinkered with his line-up for last week’s win over Italy but has recalled the big guns for this one with Finn Russell captaining an experienced line-up in the absence of Jamie Ritchie.
In contrast, France have left Antoine Dupont and Romain Ntamack at home and have handed debuts to three players, two of them aged 20.
Les Bleus coach Fabien Galthie is keen to get a look at his fringe players before naming his World Cup squad and this presents Scotland with an opportunity to record a fifth win in the last seven meetings between the sides at Murrayfield.
Scotland vs France Teams
France: 15 Brice Dulin, 14 Louis Bielle-Biarrey, 13 Emilien Gailleton, 12 Yoram Moefana, 11 Ethan Dumortier, 10 Matthieu Jalibert, 9 Batiste Couilloud, 8 Yoan Tanga, 7 Sekou Macalou, 6 Paul Boudehent, 5 Bastien Chalureau, 4 Cameron Woki, 3 Demba Bamba, 2 Pierre Bourgarit, 1 Jean-Baptiste Gros
Replacements: 16 Peato Mauvaka, 17 Reda Wardi, 18 Sipili Falatea, 19 Paul Willemse, 20 Dylan Cretin, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Antoine Hastoy, 23 Arthur Vincent
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell (c), 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Hamish Watson, 6 Matt Fagerson, 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 Ewan Ashman, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Rory Darge, 21 George Horne, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Ollie Smith
Russell takes over the captaincy reigns from Hogg
Wales vs England
Warren Gatland is having to work hard to put together a competitive Wales squad in time for the World Cup after a poor Six Nations and the retirement of a handful of key players before the tournament.
His new-look side, featuring three debutants, Sam Costelow at fly-half and skippered by Jac Morgan, take on England in Cardiff having lost to their old rivals at home in this year’s Six Nations.
That is one of eight defeats Wales have suffered in the last ten games and England can inflict more hurt on their neighbours, despite Steve Borthwick tinkering with his line-up.
Marcus Smith is back at fly-half, his first start since France hammered England 53-10, but importantly is paired with Harlequins team mate Danny Care in the half-backs. The duo have worked well together at club level and Care may help bring the best out of free spirit Smith.
With Borthwick set to name his World Cup squad next week, this is a vital game for the Care and Smith, and they should grasp their chance with both hands to secure a win for England in a fixture where the margin of victory is rarely large.
Wales vs England Teams
Wales: 15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Max Llewellyn, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Gareth Davies, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Jac Morgan (c), 6 Christ Tshiunza, 5 Will Rowlands, 4 Dafydd Jenkins, 3 Keiron Assiratti, 2 Ryan Elias, 1 Corey Domachowski
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Taine Plumtree, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Dan Biggar, 23 Mason Grady
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Max Malins, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Guy Porter, 11 Joe Cokanasiga, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Lewis Ludlam, 5 George Martin, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Will Stuart, 2 Jamie Blamire, 1 Ellis Genge (c)
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Bevan Rodd, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Jonny Hill, 20 Tom Willis, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 George Ford, 23 Henry Slade
Halfpenny hits 100 caps
Ireland vs Italy
Ireland have won their last 14 matches at home and aren’t anticipated to have much trouble seeing off Italy, who are 24-point underdogs on a ground where they tend to lose convincingly.
Ireland have scored seven or more tries in five of the last six meetings in Dublin between the nations, meaning there could be some value to be found in the tryscorer market.
The usual suspects are all odds-on, including a returning Jacob Stockdale on his first appearance for Ireland in two years. But there might be more value to be found among the back-row, who contributed their fair share of tries during Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam.
Caelan Doris scored once during the Six Nations, taking his recent tally for club and country to four tries in 13 matches, and the flanker is worth chancing to crash over the Italian line.
Ireland vs Italy Teams
Ireland: 15 Jimmy O’Brien, 14 Keith Earls, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Stuart McCloskey, 11 Jacob Stockdale, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Craig Casey, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Caelan Doris, 6 Ryan Baird, 5 Joe McCarthy, 4 Iain Henderson (c), 3 Tom O’Toole, 2 Rob Herring, 1 David Kilcoyne
Replacements: 16 Tom Stewart, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Tadhg Beirne, 20 Cian Prendergast, 21 Caolin Blade, 22 Ciaran Frawley, 23 Calvin Nash
Italy: 15 Tommaso Allan, 14 Paolo Odogwu, 13 Juan Ignacio Brex, 12 Tommaso Menoncello, 11 Monty Ioane, 10 Paolo Garbisi, 9 Stephen Varney, 8 Toa Halafihi, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Sebastian Negri, 5 Federico Ruzza (c), 4 Dino Lamb, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Giacomo Nicotera, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Luca Bigi, 17 Paolo Buonfiglio, 18 Simone Ferrari, 19 Niccolo Cannone, 20 Michele Lamaro, 21 Lorenzo Cannone, 22 Alessandro Fusco, 23 Lorenzo Pani
Crowley gets the nod at 10
Argentina vs South Africa
Argentina were left feeling hard done to by their one-point defeat to South Africa in last weekend’s Rugby Championship clash in Johannesburg and get a shot at redemption when hosting the world champions on Saturday.
A much-changed Springboks side head to Buenos Aires, showing 14 alterations from last week, but it’s hardly an understrength line-up with Damian Willemse, Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am among the backs and Jasper Wiese and Bongi Mbonambi helping provide the grunt up front.
Argentina can take positives from their Rugby Championship campaign, which featured a win in Australia and that narrow loss to South Africa.
Michael Cheika has made the Pumas a side not to underestimate, but they still ship too many points - 146 in the last four games - and they may not keep this game as close as last week’s encounter.
Argentina vs South Africa Teams
Argentina: 15 Martin Bogado, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Santiago Cordero, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Juan Martín González, 7 Santiago Grondona, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Pedro Rubiolo, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (c), 1 Thomas Gallo
Replacements: 16 Agustin Creevy, 17 Joel Sclavi, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Lautaro Bazán Vélez, 22 Tomás Albornoz, 23 Matías Moroni
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi (c), 1 Trevor Nyakane
Replacements: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Jean-Luc du Preez, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Jesse Kriel, 23 Kurt-Lee Arendse
