The knockout round begins at the Rugby World Cup in France. The top favorites have to face each other in the quarterfinals.
Host France will face defending champions South Africa in the round of the last eight teams, and world number one Ireland will face three-time title holders New Zealand. Wales Meanwhile, they face Argentina and England play against Fiji.
Wales v Argentina (Saturday October 14, 5pm)
The Welsh qualified for the quarter-finals with four wins and only had problems at the start against Fiji (32:26). The clear 40:6 against the two-time title holders Australia was all the more impressive. The team is considered to have immense defensive and fighting strength. Wales has the most of all quarter-finalists Tackles to show (669).
Argentina only made it on the last day of the group with a win against Japan (39:27) in a close one match the quarter-finals were perfect. Mateo Carreras scored three attempts. The South Americans only had to admit defeat to England in the preliminary round. Who the game in Marseilles wins is completely open. Both teams are on equal terms.
Ireland v New Zealand (Saturday October 14, 9pm)
It’s a shame that both teams meet in the quarter-finals. The game could easily have been the final. New Zealand got off to a good start after their opening defeat against France (13:27). There were three wins against Namibia, Uruguay and Italy. That’s how they have it “All Blacks” to have the most points, attempts, raises and breakthroughs in the statistics.
What that’s worth against Ireland remains to be seen. The Irish played a very strong preliminary round and also defeated defending champions South Africa (13:8) in what was perhaps their best World Cup game to date. For the team from the “emerald island”, which will be accompanied by tens of thousands of fans in Paris, it would be the first semi-final appearance. The Irish have probably never been as close as they are now; they won it in the spring Six Nations-Tournament confidently. The star of the all-Ireland team is Johnny Sexton, perhaps the best connector at the World Cup.
England v Fiji (Sunday October 15, 5pm)
Fiji is the surprise in the quarter-finals. The team from the island in the South Pacific left behind two-time world champions Australia in the preliminary round, whose young team played a poor tournament. At the end, however, there was a surprising 23:24 defeat against outsiders Portugal. In the end, Fiji only came out on top because they won the direct comparison (22:17 against Australia). It was Fiji’s first win since 1954 against Australia.
The English celebrated four wins in the preliminary round, but were not always confident. In the end it was even really close at 18:17 against Samoa. With the win, captain Owen Farrell became the all-time top scorer with 1,186 points.Scorer of his country. However, the 2003 world champion in Marseille is the clear favorite against Fiji. The star of the team is Henry Arundell, who scored five tries against Chile. He is only the third player in World Cup history to achieve this.
France – South Africa (Sunday, October 15, 9 p.m.)
France has been riding a wave of euphoria since their opening win against New Zealand (27:13) and finished the preliminary round with four wins. Damian Penaud has the most attempts (six), Thomas Ramos has the most points (61). And now captain Antoine Dupont has returned to training a good two and a half weeks after his serious facial injury. The team is hoping for the 26-year-old to play against South Africa.
The “Springboks” After the defeat against Ireland, they left nothing to be desired. The three-time world champion (1995, 2007, 2019) rarely played spectacularly, but he was very strong defensively and has immense experience in the squad. The team’s stars are captain Siya Kolisi and Faf de Klerk, both of whom were part of the World Cup triumph four years ago.
Is the title going to Europe?
The European teams hope to break the dominance of the southern hemisphere. In nine World Cups, the title went to Europe only once – England won in 2003. At the current World Cup, at least all preliminary round groups were won by European teams.
Semifinals begin on October 20th
In the semi-finals (October 20th and 21st), the winner of the game between Wales and Argentina in Paris will face Ireland or New Zealand. The winner of the England – Fiji game will also face France or South Africa in Paris.