The All Blacks showed up a weakness at the coal face which showed England need to bring powerful new scrummagers through
Mark Mapletoft’s side demonstrated their ability to squeeze teams in that last four success, holding the Irish scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 after leading 22-20 at the interval.
The French, who are chasing a fourth successive world title in a row, swatted aside New Zealand 55-31 in their semi-final last Sunday.
The French, who are chasing a fourth successive world title in a row, swatted aside New Zealand 55-31 in their semi-final last Sunday.
The French qualified for the last four with a 29-11 bonus-point win over Wales last Tuesday in Athlone, a result that was perfect to secure them progress as the tournament’s best runner-up across the three groups.
The French qualified for the last four with a 29-11 bonus-point win over Wales last Tuesday in Athlone, a result that was perfect to secure them progress as the tournament’s best runner-up across the three groups.
Three matches are scheduled for Athlone: Ireland-Australia (2pm local time), France-Wales (4:30pm) and South Africa-England (7pm). Over in Stellenbosch, it’s Argentina-Fiji (2pm), Georgia-Italy (4:30pm) and New Zealand-Spain (7pm).
The arrival of Stade Toulousain back-row Mathis Castro-Ferreira has shaken up the 23-man Bleuets squad that will face New Zealand.
The Spanish have the honour of opening the pool the DHL Stadium this Saturday, taking on a French team that didn’t fire on all cylinders in a Six Nations campaign that only merited third place.
Les Bleus had won the 2018 and 2019 tournament finals in Beziers and Rosario but the pandemic forced the cancellation of the next three tournaments before it returned in 2023.