Five things we learnt from the final weekend of World Cup warm

Damian Willemse, Simione Kuruvoli and Scott Barrett.

The Rugby World Cup is on the horizon, and following the final batch of warm-up matches, here is what we learned from the last weekend before kick-off in France.

Tonga were not in action this weekend as their Pacific Islander neighbours, Fiji and Samoa, sent shock waves around the rugby world.

Coming up against the far more fancied Tier One nations, Fiji and Samoa really impressed, with the former claiming an historic first-ever victory over England while the latter came narrowly close to beating the number one ranked side in the world, Ireland.

If anyone thought that the Pacific Islanders would be whipping boys in France this year, think again.

Not only have they been boosted by World Rugby’s eligibility law change, but in the case of Fiji and Samoa, they look well-coached and primed to claim an upset or two.

The Fijians have always been renowned for their attacking flair and athletic freaks that could do it all, and while that is still true of Simon Raiwalui’s side, they have added a few more arrows to their quiver.

Against England at Twickenham, they showed huge improvements in their scrums and mauls, something we had seen in the Pacific Nations Cup but had not seen yet against Tier One opposition. They were also resilient on defence for long periods of time, with one of England’s tries coming through sustained pressure and a fine finish from Joe Marchant, the other a bit of brilliance and fortune bounce of the ball for Marcus Smith, while the first was simply a lapse in defence.

With the excellent Caleb Muntz running the show at fly-half and a mean pack up front, the Fijians have the goods to get their backs flying, and with an open-looking Pool C, including Wales, Australia, Georgia, and Portugal, Fiji could well be making the knockouts.

🇫🇯 Fiji celebrate! What a special moment this was at full-time! #ENGvFIJ pic.twitter.com/Wb7OFPnVVN

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 26, 2023

As for the Samoans, they were an accurate lineout away from upsetting the top-ranked side in the world. Seilala Mapusua’s charges were simply brilliant in Bayonne against an Ireland team that still had plenty of stars packed in their side, particularly on the bench. Like the Fijians, Samoa fronted up brilliantly against Ireland and had Andy Farrell’s charges backtracking in the scrums and in open play. The conditions did help the Samoans, but they were full value on defence and put Ireland under the pump.

Fiji and South Africa proved this weekend for different reasons, and Georgia threatened another after an excellent first 40 minutes. Quite simply, there will be no gimmes at the World Cup.

In 2019, Japan and Uruguay produced the shock results during the pool stages of the tournament, and England stunned the All Blacks; we should not expect any different in France this year.

Every team will be going out to make a bit of history of their own, and there are certainly some hot contenders to do so.

Scotland’s pack has somewhat flown under the radar in recent months, but they produced a statement on Saturday when they turned the heat up on a robust Georgian eight, particularly in the scrums. This, while arguably their two best props, Pierre Schoeman and Zander Fagerson, did not feature. They will need a similar effort against the Springboks in their opener, who dominated the All Blacks the day before.

Italy pounced at key times to dispatch Japan and will need to do the same if they are to upset either New Zealand or hosts France in a brutal end to their pool stage.

Portugal put up a strong fight against Australia A with a 13-point flurry in the final 10 minutes, bloating the scoreline. Os Lobos will be better off from the result against a side that had several Wallabies players in their ranks. Similarly, Chile came close to knocking over an Argentina XV, with a 73rd minute deciding the result. These teams will have benefitted from these matches immensely as they stepped up their preparations and learnt where some of their softer spots were.

The All Blacks will have learnt this lesson better than most this weekend after their 35-7 humbling at Twickenham on Friday evening.

Ian Foster’s side were off the mark at the home of English rugby, and after a plethora of penalties, both Scott Barrett and Sam Cane were sent to the sin bin. The Springboks capitalised on the All Blacks’ ill-discipline.

🟥 The incident which resulted in Scott Barrett's second yellow card and the All Blacks being reduced to 14 men for the rest of the game.pic.twitter.com/JvzSRYjnHZ

— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 25, 2023

Barrett would be sent off soon after his return for a nasty ruck entry against the Boks, and were unable to force their way back into the game, being a man down against one of the top teams in the world.

It was much the same for Eddie Jones’ Wallabies side, who lost momentum when Suliasi Vunivalu was yellow carded, and France also capitalised, scoring 10 points during that period.

Staying with the Wallabies, they also found out how quickly a game can slip from your fingertips. Rookie fly-half Carter Gordon missed three kicks at goal in the first half, which would have seen the Wallabies trail 16-13 at half-time instead of 16-5. France also scored just three minutes after his first miss to compound their woes further.

The scoreboard pressure certainly got to the Wallabies, and Thomas Ramos’ accuracy kept France on top.

Similarly, Japan missed five shots at goal, 12 points, which would have seen them leading Italy in the latter stages of the game. Instead, they trailed by eight points before two late tries.

As is always the case in the World Cups, accuracy from the tee can and will decide matches.

The hosts charged and showed their ruthless edge as they ran in four tries to defeat the Wallabies. As mentioned above, Ramos’ goal-kicking was a thorn in the Wallabies side as Les Bleus were quite happy to take any points on offer.

This meant that they always maintained control of the match. Les Bleus had issues in the scrum and lineout, but again, it bothered them little as they barely seemed to get out of third gear en route to a 24-point victory.

Meanwhile, the Springboks laid down a marker with a comprehensive victory over the All Blacks. It was not just the margin of victory that was so impressive from South Africa but the manner in which they defeated their rivals.

The All Blacks cards undoubtedly played a role in the result, but the Boks were simply dominant and emphatically suffocated their Southern Hemisphere counterparts. The defending champions set up camp in the All Blacks 22 for most of the first half, and while their forwards were phenomenal the day, they paired that with stellar backline play.

The Boks looked a well-oiled machine ahead of the tournament, and after their demolition of Wales a week ago, they have shown just how much depth they have, too.

The clash at the Stade de France on Sunday evening gave us a glimpse of what we can expect at the World Cup.

While several French teams in the past have been lambasted and heavily criticised by the public, this team is different. They have the full backing of their supporters, which brings its own challenges at a home World Cup.

Not only will they have to live up to the high expectations of winning the tournament for the first time, but every single stadium will be jampacked with passionate Les Bleus fans.

We saw how Julien Marchand struggled to hear his own teammates, resulting in two botched lineouts against Australia, and they are bound to face similar difficulties during the tournament.

Les Bleus players will also need to keep their emotions in check and not get carried away by the spectacle, something we did not see on Sunday but could still witness, particularly in the tournament opener against New Zealand.

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