Argentina and Samoa kick off another massive weekend at the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Friday, as they meet for their crunch Pool D fixture.
Reigning champions South Africa and Ireland are on a collision course on Saturday, with England playing minnows Chile and Georgia facing tricky Portugal.
Sunday sees a decisive match between Wales and Australia, following hot on the heels of the meeting between Scotland and Tonga in Nice.
Argentina vs Samoa – Pool D
The heat is on Argentina as they go into their pivotal Pool D match with Samoa at the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Friday.
Defeat to 14-man England came as a cruel blow to Los Pumas on the opening weekend.
They had come into the Marseille contest with realistic hopes of pulling off a win over their illustrious opponents, but instead fell apart to lose 27-10 at the Stade Velodrome.
Pool D then continued to take shape without them as they took their bye last weekend.
And it was last Saturday where the Samoans made their entrance, seeing off newcomers Chile to the tune of a 43-10 victory.
It means a win for the Pacific Islanders over the South Americans would put them in pole position to push for knockout qualification alongside the English.
Easier said than done against Michael Cheika’s experienced side, though, for whom the Australian coach has made a trio of changes after their blank weekend.
Matias Moroni comes in at outside centre as a prime example of a wise old head.
Two alterations in the pack see Eduardo Bello picked at tighthead prop, with Guido Petti replacing Tomas Lavanini in the locks.
A hat-trick of changes are also the order of the day for Samoan coach Seilala Mapusua.
Paul Alo-Emile is the new face at prop, while Brian Alainu’u’ese earns a start at lock, mirroring the switch ups made by their opponents.
There’s also a berth for Ben Lam to feature on the wing.
Argentina Starting XV: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Emiliano Boffelli, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou,8 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Matias Alemanno, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Agustín Creevy, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Pedro Rubiolo, 20 Rodrigo Bruni, 21 Tomas Cubelli, 22 Nicolas Sanchez, 23 Lucio Cinti.
Samoa Starting XV: 15 Duncan Paia’aua, 14 Nigel Ah-Wong, 13 Ulupano Junior Seuteni, 12 Tumua Manu, 11 Ben Lam, 10 Christian Leali’ifano, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Fritz Lee, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Chris Vui (captain), 4 Brian Alainu’u’ese, 3 Paul Alo-Emile, 2 Seilala Lam, 1. James Lay.
Replacements: 16 Sama Malolo, 17 Charlie Faumuina, 18 Michael Alaalatoa, 19 Taleni Junior Agaese Seu, 20 Sa Jordan Taufua, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 Alai D’Angelo Leuila , 23 Danny Toala.
Kick Off Time: 17.45.
RWC 2023: Margin and winner predictions for 20 – 24 September
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds or RugbyVision’s data model. Score margins use the methodology developed by Rugby Vision and Rugby4Cast.
| Team 1 | Win % 1 | Win % 2 | Team 2 | Predicted margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 94.0% | 6.0% | Uruguay | 23 |
| France | 99.9% | 0.1% | Namibia | 58 |
| Argentina | 86.5% | 13.5% | Samoa | 15 |
| Georgia | 79.5% | 20.5% | Portugal | 11 |
| England | 99.1% | 0.9% | Chile | 39 |
| South Africa | 61.9% | 38.1% | Ireland | 4 |
| Scotland | 96.7% | 3.3% | Tonga | 28 |
| Wales | 38.8% | 61.2% | Australia | -4 |