A World Cup that will rank as one of the most unpredictable and exciting has come to an end after eight weeks of high drama and brilliant rugby.
South Africa retained the trophy after beating New Zealand in the final as England picked up third-place with victory over Argentina in the play-off, bookending their tournament with two wins against the Pumas.
As we finally take a breath after two months of entertainment, Online Editor Nick Powell picks the three teams he believes have left France the happiest after the Rugby World Cup 2023.
South Africa
It’s easy to start with the winner, but South Africa deserve huge credit for emerging as the best of the four pre-tournament favourites – especially as they had to play each of others along the way.
Not only did they have to face the now second to fourth teams in the world, but also took on Scotland in their opening game and England in their semi-final, ranked sixth and fifth in the World Rugby rankings respectively.
The rotation of their squad carried out since 2022 was integral to every single member of the group contributing to finding a way to win in the knockout stages, as they beat hosts France, 2019 finalists England, and fierce rivals New Zealand by one point in all three games. That rotation also left their squad feeling fresh enough to put together a winning run in such a competitive tournament.
It may not have been the most serene runs to the trophy – nor beautiful to watch – but it will rank as one of the most impressive triumphs in years to come, and leaves them now as the most successful team in the competition’s history.
You can hear former Springbok and 1995 World Cup winner Brendan Venter’s take on their fourth win in this week’s The Rugby Paper Podcast below.
England
Some England fans may feel they could only be considered a “winner” had they not been cruelly denied victory over South Africa in the dying minutes of their semi-final clash, but there wasn’t a single team vying for the title that didn’t suffer an agonising, close run loss at some point in the competition.
The fact England’s only defeat came in that semi-final means they can reflect on what was ultimately a successful tournament. Though revisionism and a quick glance at their pool meant an early exit would now have seemed unlikely, their insipid, ill-disciplined and at times chaotic performances in the lead up to the World Cup left huge questions hanging over the squad coming into the competition.
An opening match win against Argentina effectively booked a spot in the quarter-finals, and whilst close encounters with Pacific Island nations Samoa and Fiji threatened to de-rail their charge to the semi-finals, they found a solid and consistent platform which coach Steve Borthwick will feel he can build on after a rollercoaster four years.
In the end England ended up with about the best World Cup they could have hoped for, and although many will expect more from Borthwick’s attack in the Six Nations three months from now, a relatively gentle start to the schedule with games getting progressively more difficult will do no harm to the English cause.
Portugal
2023 was a mixed tournament for tier two sides. At the lower end, you had the dreadful World Cups of both Romania and Nambia, who as our columnist Chris Hewett worked out in a recent column suffered average losing margins of 72-8 and 64-9 respectively.
But at the top end, nations like Portugal came into their own in the competition. From having not played in even the second tier of European international rugby for three years when the last World Cup came around, Os Lobos are now the nation that advocates of promotion and relegation from the Six Nations are attaching their colours to. Indeed, it is manifestly true that Portugal outperformed perennial Six Nations losers Italy at this World Cup.
It could be reasonably argued that Italy’s pool games against tier one nations were a lot harder, against the two pre-tournament favourites France and New Zealand, compared with Portugal’s against Wales and Australia. Italy also won both their games against tier two sides, something Portugal failed to do.
However, the Italians’ pathetic -132 points difference in huge defeats against Les Bleus and the All Blacks, compared with Portugal’s -40 against Wales and the Wallabies, leaves Os Lobos having clearly performed the better against tier one sides.
And though Portugal only managed a draw and win against Georgia and Fiji respectively compared to two Azzurri wins against Namibia and Uruguay, it’s hard to argue that those two Portugal games weren’t vastly more difficult, and even harder to see how a ragged Italian team could beat the Flying Fijians at the moment.
Of all the nations still stuck in the second rung of World Rugby’s ridiculous tier structure, Portugal outperformed pre-tournament expectations to the most impressive degree and played an excellent brand of rugby which made each of their games hugely entertaining. As well as their victory against Fiji, they also won the adoration of millions of rugby fans worldwide.
Keep an eye out for the three biggest losers at the Rugby World Cup 2023, which will be out tomorrow, Friday 3rd November.
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