RWC 2023: score predictions, kick off times and teams for Thursday 5 October
The final round of group phase fixtures kick off at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France on Thursday, as New Zealand go up against Uruguay before the host nation meet neighbours Italy on Friday to decide the final Pool A shake up.
A knockout showdown between Six Nations rivals Ireland and Scotland is the Saturday highlight, while England play Samoa and Wales do battle with Georgia.
Fiji can send Australia packing when they play Portugal on Sunday, as Argentina face Japan and Tonga meet Romania.
New Zealand vs Uruguay – Pool A
New Zealand have the quarter-finals in sight at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France on Thursday, as they look to see off Uruguay in their final Pool A fixture.
The All Blacks have built impressive momentum since their opening night defeat to the host nation in Paris a month ago.
A first massive score against largely semi-professional Namibia came as expected.
But their 96-17 destruction of fellow tier one nation Italy certainly wasn’t on the cards, as Ian Foster’s rejuvenated team laid down a real marker of their intent for the tournament’s latter stages.
Any sort of win for the heavy favourites will leave the Italians needing to beat the French on Friday, with the head-to-head and points difference stats heavily favoring the men from the Southern Hemisphere.
Uruguay look set to miss out on a third-placed finish that would have guaranteed them qualification to the next World Cup.
And they will rue missing out on victory over the Italians as their key target, instead pocketing only a hard-fought win over Namibia.
The prospects of the South Americans had looked so much brighter when they gave France an almighty scare in Lille, before eventually going down 27-12.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane makes his first start of the competition after recovering from a back injury.
Veteran lock Sam Whitelock, meanwhile, will break the all-time World Cup appearance record when he strides out for the 23rd time, eclipsing countryman Richie McCaw and England’s 2003 World Cup-winning captain, Jason Leonard.
They make nine changes in all with the knockout phase looming, as Cam Roigard comes in at scrum-half and Damian McKenzie grins his way back into the full-back jersey.
Seven Uruguayan changes include Lucas Bianchi and Manuel Diana joining Manuel Ardao in the back row.
Gastón Mieres replaces Bautista Basso on the right wing, while they also make a full-back change with the addition of Rodrigo Silva to the starting line up.
New Zealand Starting XV: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Richie Mo’unga, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Luke Jacobson, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Shannon Frizell, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ofa Tu’ungafasi.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Scott Barrett, 20 Ethan Blackadder, 21 Finlay Christie, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Caleb Clarke.
Uruguay Starting XV: 15 Rodrigo Silva, 14 Gaston Mieres, 13 Tomas Inciarte, 12 Andres Vilaseca (captain), 11 Nicolas Freitas, 10 Felipe Etcheverry, 9 Santiago Arata, 8 Manuel Diana, 7 Lucas Bianchi, 6 Manuel Ardao, 5 Manuel Leindekar, 4 Ignacio Dotti, 3 Diego Arbelo, 2 German Kessler, 1 Mateo Sanguinetti.
Replacements: 16 Guillermo Pujadas, 17 Matias Benitez, 18 Ignacio Peculo, 19 Juan Manuel Rodríguez, 20 Santiago Civetta, 21 Agustin Ormaechea, 22 Felipe Berchesi, 23 Juan Manuel Alonso.
Kick Off Time: 21.00.
RWC 2023: Predictions Round Five
| Team 1 | Win % 1 | Win % 2 | Team 2 | Predicted margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Zealand | 99.8% | 0.2% | Uruguay | 53 |
| France | 97.0% | 3.0% | Italy | 29 |
| Wales | 86.2% | 13.8% | Georgia | 15 |
| England | 91.0% | 9.0% | Samoa | 19 |
| Ireland | 75.0% | 25.0% | Scotland | 9 |
| Japan | 14.2% | 85.8% | Argentina | -15 |
| Tonga | 87.5% | 12.5% | Romania | 16 |
| Fiji | 91.2% | 8.8% | Portugal | 19 |
