Ian JohnWeek One of the 2023 Rugby World Cup is in the bag. Eight games have been played in France 2023, 16 of the 20 teams have played their first game and for some, it could already prove to be decisive.
The next set of matches begins on Thursday 14th September with the hosts France in action once again, this time taking on Uruguay.
Another set of seven games will follow that over the course of the weekend, after which every team will have played at least one, if not two games in the tournament so far.
Bet on Rugby Better at Bet365!
As you would have come to expect, bet365 Sport is offering extensive betting on all Rugby World Cup 2023 matches, including extensive In Play betting options.
Remember also that you can also use the Bet Builder + feature to make up your own accumulator from multiple games from Rugby World Cup matches,
Let’s now take a look at how the eight games have gone in this first week of action.
Rugby World Cup – Week 1 Results
- France 27-13 New Zealand
France bounced back from conceding a try within the first two minutes of the game to record a resounding and important victory over the All Blacks in Paris. A close first half saw France kick three penalties to lead 9-8, before the All Blacks scored early again in the second half to go 9-13 in front.
However, France bounced back running in two tries, one converted, plus two more penalties to earn a hugely impressive 27-13 win to take control of Pool A.
- Italy 52-8 Namibia
Italy ran in seven tries, all converted, as well as a penalty to complete a comprehensive win over Namibia in Saint-Etienne. Seven different players scored tries for the Italians as they completed a bonus point win over their African opponents.
- Ireland 82-8 Romania
Ireland romped home with 11 tries, ten of which were converted. This against a Romania side that actually took the lead in this game. Johnny Sexton scored two tries and converted seven out of eight others in the rout. The margin of victory also saw Ireland claim a bonus point.
- Australia 35-15 Georgia
Georgia made things tough for Australia, rallying in the second half and scoring two tries to make the score more respectable. Even so, the Aussies were never really in any trouble after scoring two early tries through Petaia and Naqaqanitawase. Ben Donaldson added two tries and kicked three penalties and three conversions in a fine personal display.
- England 27-10 Argentina
Down to 14 men after Tom Curry’s early dismissal, England rallied to produce their best display in many months. The boot of George Ford ran hot as he scored 6 penalties and three drop goals to propel England to a fine victory. Curry’s red card and suspension means he will miss England’s next two Pool D games against Japan and Chile.
- Japan 42-12 Chile
Chile stunned the Japanese by taking the lead early on in this contest before Japan struck back. Six tries were converted giving Japan a bonus point, while the Chileans could only add an unconverted second try in the second half.
- South Africa 18-3 Scotland
A tight first half saw the teams go in level at half time. South Africa pushed home their dominance in the second half to score 15 unanswered points. Du Toit and Arendse scoring the key tries to give the current Champions a key win in the toughest of the four Pool Phase groups.
- Wales 32-26 Fiji
Wales hung on to record a much-needed win in a fantastic game of Rugby against Fiji. A pulsating first half saw little in it at the interval. But when Wales went out to a 32-14 lead in the second half, it looked like the game was over. Fiji though scored two late tries and almost added a third. Despite that, Wales hung on to record a vital and confidence-boosting win.
Current Group Standings
| Pool A | |||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Diff |
| 1 | Italy | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 8 | 5 | 44 |
| 2 | France | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 13 | 4 | 14 |
| 3 | Uruguay | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | New Zealand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 27 | 0 | -14 |
| 5 | Namibia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 52 | 0 | -44 |
Italy one bonus point
| Pool B | |||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Diff |
| 1 | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 82 | 8 | 5 | 74 |
| 2 | South Africa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| 3 | Tonga | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Scotland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 18 | 0 | -15 |
| 5 | Romania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 82 | 0 | -74 |
Ireland one bonus point
| Pool C | |||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Diff |
| 1 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 15 | 5 | 20 |
| 2 | Wales | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 26 | 5 | 6 |
| 3 | Fiji | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 32 | 2 | -6 |
| 4 | Portugal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 35 | 0 | 0 |
Australia & Wales one bonus point, Fiji two bonus points.
| Pool D | |||||||||
| Pos | Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Diff |
| 1 | Japan | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 12 | 5 | 30 |
| 2 | England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 10 | 4 | 17 |
| 3 | Samoa | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 27 | 0 | -17 |
| 5 | Chile | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 42 | 0 | -30 |
Japan 1 bonus point
Rugby World Cup 2023 – Week 2 Fixtures
Unfortunately for punters, many of the Week 2 fixtures are very one-sided games. Almost all have huge odds-on favourites to win many of the encounters. So there isn’t a large amount of value in the To Win markets for these second set of matches.
14th September
- France v Uruguay (Lille) – 8pm
Tip – Bonus Point win for France by a very comfortable margin.
15th September
- New Zealand v Namibia (Toulouse) – 8pm
Tip – Bonus Point win for the All Blacks who could run up a score close to 100 here.
16th September
- Samoa v Chile (Bordeaux) – 2pm
Tip – Samoa will be too strong for the lowest ranked team in this tournament. They should earn a comfortable win.
- Wales v Portugal (Nice) – 4.45pm
Tip – Fresh from the big win over Fiji, Wales should be confident of a high-scoring bonus point win. Especially over the relative novices from Portugal.
- Ireland v Tonga (Nantes) – 8pm
Tip – Tonga are no pushovers. But the top ranked team in the world, Ireland, should have no problems claiming the bonus point win here.
17th September
- South Africa v Romania (Bordeaux) – 2pm
Tip – South Africa will run up a large number of points against this Romania side. It will be interesting to see how many they score compared to the Irish.
- Australia v Fiji (Saint-Etienne) – 4.45pm
Tip – The most even contest of this second round of games. Fiji gave Wales a tough workout, but Australia should have enough quality to earn the win relatively comfortably.
- England v Japan (Nice) – 8pm
Tip – Japan caused a huge shock beating South Africa at the 2019 Rugby World Cup. They could make like tricky for England here but I’d still expect the English team to land the win,
Even an eightfold accumulator using the selections above only pays out at 0.42/1. So this is a round of games where I’d keep my money in my pocket!
Join me again next week when we review Week 2’s games. Also we will look ahead to the Week 3 action at the Rugby World Cup in France!
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