World Cup 2023: Day 17 Preview
The vast majority of Superbru players enjoyed 3/3 in our Predictor yesterday with Argentina, Fiji and Scotland picking up expected wins, though Fiji's was very hard-earned in what proved to be quite a battle against Georgia.
Today, we have two matches to bring Round 4 to a close, with Australia under pressure to avoid another disappointing defeat and the Springboks in need of a bonus point win in their final pool stage game.
β Result predicted by >99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 0.7% of Superbru players
Chile's World Cup campaign ended with another heavy defeat, as Argentina picked up the result they were expected to which sets up what should be quite a clash against Japan next week for a place in the knockouts.
π«π― Fiji 17-12 Georgia π¬πͺ
β Result predicted by 99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 1.1% of Superbru players
Georgia made this a real battle for Fiji, who eventually came back to win after falling 9 points behind in the first half. Having got the result in the end, this will no doubt prove to be another valuable experience for the Fijians ahead of the place in the quarter-finals that they are now very close to sealing. Waisea Nayacalevu and Vinaya Habosi eventually scored the tries that they were made to work so hard for.
π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ Scotland 84-0 Romania π·π΄
β Result predicted by >99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 0.1% of Superbru players
Another very difficult outing for Romania who now have a points difference of -234 in 3 games. Scotland got the big win they were looking for while resting many key players ahead of next week's big showdown with Ireland.
β° Kick-off at 17:45 local time
π Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
After another defeat last time out against Wales, Australia are all but out of this World Cup, yet they're playing for far more than pride here with real concerns about the state of the Wallabies ahead of what is supposed to be a big few years for Australian rugby. Australia will host a Lions tour in 2025 and the next World Cup in 2027, so a win here to show at least some promise (or perhaps just to avoid even further disappointment and scrutiny) ahead of that cycle is vital.
Will the Wallabies perform better now that the tournament pressure to make the quarter-finals is removed? Or will Portugal be able to capitalise on a team so short of confidence having impressed so far in this pool stage?
πΏπ¦ South Africa vs. Tonga πΉπ΄
β° Kick-off at 21:00 local time
π Stade Velodrome, Marseille
There are so many potential permutations in Pool B ahead of next week's match between Ireland and Scotland that we're not going to bother trying to outline them all here, partly because of how long it would take but also because we're fairly sure we'd get at least a couple of things wrong!
As you can see from the standings below, South Africa are currently second in Pool B, ahead of Scotland on head-to-head which it the initial tie-breaker in this tournament ahead of points difference. Today is the Springboks' final pool stage game, and for them things are actually quite simple as the goal is an obvious one: win with a bonus point and by as many points as possible to make their position as secure as they possibly can.
Handre Pollard is set to make his first appearance for the Springboks since August 2022 in what should be a typically physical encounter against Tonga, but considering Toutai Kefu's team have lost by 43 and 28 to Ireland and Scotland respectively, a fairly comfortable SA win is expected.
We hope you enjoy today's action!
Today, we have two matches to bring Round 4 to a close, with Australia under pressure to avoid another disappointing defeat and the Springboks in need of a bonus point win in their final pool stage game.
Rugby World Cup Day 16 results:
π¦π· Argentina 59-5 Chile π¨π±β Result predicted by >99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 0.7% of Superbru players
Chile's World Cup campaign ended with another heavy defeat, as Argentina picked up the result they were expected to which sets up what should be quite a clash against Japan next week for a place in the knockouts.
π«π― Fiji 17-12 Georgia π¬πͺ
β Result predicted by 99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 1.1% of Superbru players
Georgia made this a real battle for Fiji, who eventually came back to win after falling 9 points behind in the first half. Having got the result in the end, this will no doubt prove to be another valuable experience for the Fijians ahead of the place in the quarter-finals that they are now very close to sealing. Waisea Nayacalevu and Vinaya Habosi eventually scored the tries that they were made to work so hard for.
π΄σ §σ ’σ ³σ £σ ΄σ Ώ Scotland 84-0 Romania π·π΄
β Result predicted by >99% of Superbru players
π― Exact margin predicted by 0.1% of Superbru players
Another very difficult outing for Romania who now have a points difference of -234 in 3 games. Scotland got the big win they were looking for while resting many key players ahead of next week's big showdown with Ireland.
Rugby World Cup Day 17 schedule
π¦πΊ Australia vs. Portugal π΅πΉβ° Kick-off at 17:45 local time
π Stade Geoffroy Guichard, Saint-Etienne
After another defeat last time out against Wales, Australia are all but out of this World Cup, yet they're playing for far more than pride here with real concerns about the state of the Wallabies ahead of what is supposed to be a big few years for Australian rugby. Australia will host a Lions tour in 2025 and the next World Cup in 2027, so a win here to show at least some promise (or perhaps just to avoid even further disappointment and scrutiny) ahead of that cycle is vital.
Will the Wallabies perform better now that the tournament pressure to make the quarter-finals is removed? Or will Portugal be able to capitalise on a team so short of confidence having impressed so far in this pool stage?
πΏπ¦ South Africa vs. Tonga πΉπ΄
β° Kick-off at 21:00 local time
π Stade Velodrome, Marseille
There are so many potential permutations in Pool B ahead of next week's match between Ireland and Scotland that we're not going to bother trying to outline them all here, partly because of how long it would take but also because we're fairly sure we'd get at least a couple of things wrong!
As you can see from the standings below, South Africa are currently second in Pool B, ahead of Scotland on head-to-head which it the initial tie-breaker in this tournament ahead of points difference. Today is the Springboks' final pool stage game, and for them things are actually quite simple as the goal is an obvious one: win with a bonus point and by as many points as possible to make their position as secure as they possibly can.
Handre Pollard is set to make his first appearance for the Springboks since August 2022 in what should be a typically physical encounter against Tonga, but considering Toutai Kefu's team have lost by 43 and 28 to Ireland and Scotland respectively, a fairly comfortable SA win is expected.
We hope you enjoy today's action!
Superbru on X
I\'m really hoping that the Bokke can put 10 - 15 tries past them π€