Opening Sunday of the Rugby World Cup: Matches thread
After the highs of Friday, was yesterday ever going to live up to that match? Well today we have an off the boil Japan, an upstart Scotland, and a Wales team that most want to forget already in the valleys. Hopefully we see some more great tries (looking at you England), a few less handling errors (back at you Argentina), and some flair (not just mullets Australia)
| Home | Time (UTC+1) | Away |
|---|---|---|
| Japan | 1200 | Chile |
| South Africa | 1645 | Scotland |
| Wales | 2000 | Fiji |
Weather today is hot. Expect more sweat, more drenched towels in water breaks, and do we need to bring back handling gloves?
Have a great Sunday, mines begins today with Rugby Tots for the 2 year old. Please, anyone out in France: post a picture!
30 replies
My grandmother and I are betting on today's games. I let her pick which teams are hers since it would be unfair if I picked. She's picked Chile, Scotland, and Wales. I like my chances for at least 2 out of 3, but I have my fingers crossed for a sweep. She correctly picked France for the opener and we didn't bet on yesterday's games.
Well shit.
SHIT.
I blame God. God clearly interfered and caused that knock-on so that I, specifically wouldn't get the trifecta over my grandmother.
What a finish! What a game! Happy world cup a'body, what a fantastic weekend. Reaction thread up in the morning
That last 15 minutes was hard watching for me. Some shocking decisions made it very difficult for Wales to close the game out.
Fiji are good but, as a Wales fan, I think Caleb Muntz being injured might have been the difference here.
Japan - Chile will be interesting, but I feel like at the end we will still be none the wiser about the pecking order in the group.
Doubt Scotland will turn over the saffas, though would really put the cat amongst the pigeons in that group if they did.
No idea how to read Wales’ form over the summer, but hoping Fiji take this one.
Oh man I'm so excited for my bokke!! Here we go!
Same should be a very exciting match. @[email protected] how you think Scotland will do?
Heh. Wearing my South Africa shirt today :)
The world in union
I think with refereeing like Fiji experienced in their match against Wales it will be difficult. Its difficult to know what to put that down to really.
Some of it, like an insta yellow for a maul falling over is probably due to the refereeing dictates which put all the responsibility on a maul staying up on the defending team - despite there be sometimes upwards of 14 players pushing and shoving and pulling and struggling. Its just one of the reasons the maul is such a big try scorer and its far too OP this cycle.
But when you couple the recent judiciary decisions against the Pacific Islands it does start to make you wonder if Rugby collectively has some form of unconscious bias. Whether that's NH - SH, or Tier 1 - Tier 2, or Coloniser - Colonised, or whatever I think there really does need to be some kind of reckoning as to how Wales got away with infringing on their line for so long before the referee belatedly did something about it.
For some reason, WR's referee appointments process has mythologised the qualities of English referees - such that somehow at this World Cup they represent 1/3 of all the match day referees. There is simply no representation for any 2nd tier country other than Romania. I mean christ, just cast your eye over the faces of the entirety of the match day official line up and its just not good enough: https://www.rugbyworldcup.com/2023/match-officials
I get that people want some form of measuring stick to ensure the best referees are at the cup, but the truth is that the laws give so many choices as to who did something bad at any play, which means so much of rugby comes down to interpretation on the day and there can be wild differences from referee to referee anyway that you may as well just pick them randomly & hope the teams can adapt.
Very hot ambiance in Toulouse with the Chilean crowd.
How busy is the stadium? Any issues with getting in etc?
No particular issues, I think the stadium is full, but it was easy enough to get in.
WTF Peacock cut the anthems
To be fair. Nobody likes the a capella except Scotland
Good match from Chile, they had there opportunities but got overwhelmed by the Japan but overall a good first ever RWC match for Chile.
They did themselves proud. But Australia are going to rip them to shreds
Match time! What a try by Chile to start
Has any team over turned a half time deficit yet? G'wan Fiji!
Well. Fuck. Want to buy a hooker please
Sorry bud, Marx and Bongi are not for sale
Not many nails not left here already. Happy to still be in it at half time
Oh man it's been such a physical contest. Can go either way
And we are matching currently. Bench the difference I fear. But this is it for Scotland now. It's go big here or go home
Fiji vs Wales is a tight match so far
Yup. Even after the try. I still fancy Fiji tonight though!
I wonder if the heat is the reason there are so many dropped balls
Yeah, sweat must be getting to everyone. Gloves were all the rage 20 years ago. They might make a come back!
Gloves and drop goals. Partying like it’s 2003.
Never!
Sincerely an Aussie fan...