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Rare matchups and famous rivalries: August's full slate of World Cup warm up games
By Ned Lester
On Friday the eighth of September, France host the All Blacks at Stade de France to kick off the 2023 Rugby World Cup. With the rugby world in a raw state of unpredictability, the race is on for all nations to tighten any loose screws before the knock-out matches come rolling in on the biggest stage that rugby has on offer.
Therefore, the August schedule has evolved to offer a mouth-watering slate of warm-up matches to complement what will be a hotly-contested men's World Cup tournament.
While the Tests may be utilised by some teams as an opportunity for final experimentations, whether it be with personnel or strategies, the anticipation and excitement is sure to be immense and the chance to carry winning momentum into the World Cup will ensure the contests are hard-fought.
As can be expected, the August slate does not feature any matchups that will be seen in the pool stages of the World Cup.
July 29:
- Scotland v Italy, Murrayfield
August 5:
- Wales v England, Principality Stadium
- Scotland v France, BT Murrayfield
- Ireland v Italy, Aviva Stadium
- Argentina v South Africa, Velez Sarsfield
- New Zealand v Australia, Forsyth Barr
August 12:
- England v Wales, Twickenham
- Scotland v France, TBC
- Italy v Japan, Treviso
August 19:
- Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium
- France v Fiji, Nantes
- Wales v South Africa, Principality Stadium
August 25:
- South Africa v New Zealand, Twickenham
August 26:
- England v Fiji, Twickenham
- France v Australia, TBC
- Scotland v Georgia, BT Murrayfield
- Spain v Argentina, Madrid
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Semi-professional. A mixture of amateurs and paid players. It's basically NPC for the lower-tier unions.
Go to commentsSA has consistently been protected by WR/IRB officials for the past 3 decades. This same protection and bias was also clearly evident in SR when they competed there and SA were never the top SA rugby nation. They went 9 years without winning it before fleeing.
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