2y ago

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!

31 comments

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.
WTF Peacock cut the anthems
- To be fair. Nobody likes the a capella except Scotland
I really hope this is the WC where the Pasifika teams become genuine playoff contenders and not just teams that cause a few upsets and maybe sneak into the quarters
- 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.
Oh man I'm so excited for my bokke!! Here we go!
- Same should be a very exciting match. @Olap@lemmy.world how you think Scotland will do?
  
  Heh. Wearing my South Africa shirt today :)
  The world in union
Well. Fuck. Want to buy a hooker please
- Sorry bud, Marx and Bongi are not for sale
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.
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
Has any team over turned a half time deficit yet? G'wan Fiji!
Fiji vs Wales is a tight match so far
- Yup. Even after the try. I still fancy Fiji tonight though!
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
Match time! What a try by Chile to start

31 comments