"England in the Semi-Final" - 5 Bold Predictions for the 2023 Rugby World Cup

The tenth Rugby World Cup has arguably more potential winners than ever before, with host nation France a real contender for their first Web Ellis trophy. South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand are also viable candidates to be crowned World Champions, yet an uneven draw has stacked these titans of world rugby on the same side of the competition's bracket.

Along with Scotland, these five teams represent the five top rated sides, in today's World Rugby rankings. England, Argentina, Australia, Fiji or Wales are the top contenders to reach the final on the opposing side of the tournament, making this year's pinnacle competition more difficult to predict than ever before.

So, with just 16 days to go until Les Bleus and the All Blacks ignite the competition in a blockbuster opener, here is our predictions for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. This is how we think the tournament will unfold, and who we believe will be standing tall with the Web Ellis trophy held aloft.

Rugby fans across the world are excitedly counting down the days until Friday 8th September, as Fabien Galthie's Blues welcome the All Blacks to the Stade de France. This seismic clash is set to be a close encounter between two of the world's best teams, yet we believe that the All Blacks will just edge out Les Blues, for a victory that will stun the host nation fans in attendance.

A decisive factor in this New Zealand triumph, is the recent absence of France's regular starting fly half Romain Ntamack. The Toulouse halfback is an integral part of the French back-line, yet an unfortunately timed anterior cruciate ligament injury has curtailed his competition before it ever began. Ntamack's boot got caught in the Murrayfield turf, as he attempted a tackle on his opposite man Finn Russell, a fortnight ago, in France's win over Scotland.

France's back-up fly half is the superbly talented Matthieu Jalibert, however having played second-string to Ntamack in Galthie's World Cup plans, the Bordeaux man could struggle to lead the way against the titanic All Blacks. New Zealand look as good as ever, and coming off the back of an undefeated 2023 Rugby Championship campaign, Ian Foster's men want to repeat the history of the 1987 and 2011 Rugby World Cup Finals, with a victory over France.

Imposing victories over the Springboks, Australia and Argentina have set the All Blacks' recent tone heading into the competition. Tomorrow night's clash with South Africa at Twickenham Stadium will be a decisive tell, as to what All Blacks side is set to show up at the Rugby World Cup. Several All Blacks legends look set to hang up the black jersey after the trip to France, including Sam Whitelock, who wants to become the first ever player to win three Rugby World Cup titles.

With so much on the line for an iconic All Blacks generation, the likes of Aaron Smith, Beauden Barrett, Whitelock and co, will want nothing more than to stamp their authority on the competition with an early win over the hosts. We believe that they can do just that, in what will be an unforgettable opening contest for the 2023 Rugby World Cup. We predict a 24-19 All Blacks victory to kick-start the competition.

A second bold prediction is that two home nations sides won't get any further than the pool stages of the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Despite being the fifth ranked side in the world, Scotland have been drafted into an unmistakable 'Pool of Death', with Ireland and the Springboks expected favourites to progress out of Pool B. Gregor Townsend's side have become a casualty of the competition's early draw, which took place in December 2020, over 13 months before the tournament kicks off.

Since then, Ireland have surpassed the Springboks and progressed into becoming the number one ranked team in the world. And Scotland, who finished the 2020 Six Nations a lowly fourth, have gone on to retain their Calcutta Cup crown over that year's Triple Crown Champions, England. There is no denying that the Pool Stage draw should have taken place closer to the start of the tournament, with Scotland forming the collateral damage of the organiser's planning.

Scotland will also be without their iconic fullback Stuart Hogg, who shocked rugby fans north of the border with his unexpected retirement ahead of the Rugby World Cup. Wales find themselves in a similar state, as numerous veteran leaders have either stepped away from the Rugby World Cup squad, or can't compete due to unfortunate injuries. Warren Gatland's ranks have dwindled in the absence of legendary stalwart's Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb, who voluntarily withdrew from the wider Rugby World Cup training squad.

Wales' 2023 Six Nations captain Ken Owens misses out on the competition due to an unfortunate back injury, with Gatland's options thinning out in the number two jersey, as Ryan Elias and Dewi Lake are also currently injured. This transitional Wales squad has been drawn into Pool C, with Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, with all but the Portuguese presenting viable threats to Gatland's squad.

Fiji are currently sat at ninth in the world, which is a spot above Wales in the World Rugby rankings. Gatland will no doubt have his eyes glued to the Pacific Islanders this Saturday, as they take on England. Wales drew a two match series one-win-apiece with Steve Borthwick's side earlier this Summer, they ran out victors in Cardiff, yet could not get the job done at Twickenham, with England at one stage going down to just 12 men.

Fiji look dangerous at the moment, coming in hot off the back of a clean sweep against Samoa, Tonga and Japan for the 2023 Pacific Nations Cup. Australia enter the competition a rung above at eighth in the world, and Eddie Jones' men are seeking retribution for a winless Rugby Championship campaign.

Georgia also present a genuine claim to progress out of the pool, having recorded a victory over Wales as recently as the 2022 Autumn Nations Series. With four contenders to progress out of Pool C, we believe that Wales will just miss out on the knock-out stages, with the Wallabies and Flying Fijians progressing through to the next round.

3. Argentina are the Dark Horses and Can Beat England

There is no denying the upward trajectory that Argentina find themselves on. After recording historic victories over the All Blacks in the 2022 Rugby Championship, Los Pumas Head Coach Michael Cheika became just the second coach (after Eddie Jones) to beat New Zealand, as the Head Coach of two nations.

Cheika toppled the All Blacks when at the helm of the Wallabies, and struck lightning twice, now in charge of Argentina. The former dual code rugby footballer, Cheika has instilled a resounding fight into Argentina, who now are undoubted contenders in the SANZAAR brand, and do more than just make up the numbers against the All Blacks, Australia, and South Africa.

Argentina will be chomping at the bit to start off their Rugby World Cup campaign, as they face a weakened England side on Saturday 9th of September in Marseille. Following two high tackle offences throughout the Summer Nations Series, which saw the bunker review system at full force, England will be without their captain Owen Farrell, and sole specialist number eight Billy Vunipola for the opening clash with Los Pumas.

Argentina will view this as the ultimate opportunity to stun Steve Borthwick's men, and follow up on the 30-29 upset victory they recorded at Twickenham Stadium last November. Argentina are a team in fine form, with numerous Premiership Rugby talents decorating the roster list. Los Pumas recorded a thrilling 34-31 victory over Eddie Jones' frustrated Wallabies in their latest Rugby Championship campaign, and even took the match against full-strength Springboks to the wire, as they lost by just a single point in Johannesburg (22-21).

It would take a cataclysmic error of direction to stop Argentina from progressing out of Pool D. From there, Los Pumas will take on either the winner or runner-up of Pool C, with the aforementioned quartet of Australia, Fiji, Georgia and Wales pushing for those places. Argentina could then push on to the semi-finals, for either a run-in with one of those four sides, or possibly even England or Japan. Beatable competition stands in between Los Pumas and the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final, in what would be Argentina's maiden voyage to international rugby's grandest stage.

We believe that the overall winner of the Rugby World Cup will come from either Pool A or Pool B, (more on that later), yet there is no understating how important to Argentine Rugby a very possible extended run in the competition would be. Argentina's best effort at the Rugby World Cup came in 2007, as they took Bronze medals away from the third place final against France. This year could well see Los Pumas go one further, with a shot at the Web Ellis Trophy more than in their reach.

Thanks to a more than favourable World Cup draw, England find themselves presented with a golden opportunity to right their recent wrongs for an extended run in the competition. England's key opponents in Pool D are the aforementioned Argentines, as well as the Brave Blossoms of Japan. If there is one thing that fans have learnt about Japanese rugby in the last decade, it's that you can not count out Japan to pull of a Rugby World Cup upset.

The 'Brighton Miracle' of 2015 saw Japan stun the world, with a last-ditch victory over South Africa. This was followed up my the home soil triumph over Ireland, as Shizuoka came unglued at the sight of the 19-12 victory. There is no writing off Japan from progressing out of Pool D, and repeating their fine form that saw them finish on top of Pool A at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

So how well do we think England will perform against the Blossoms? It's truly hard to say, but looking out to the Far East, Japan have had a recent drop in form, and look unlikely to pull off any similar 'miracles' in Nice or Nantes. The Brave Blossoms suffered defeats to Samoa and Fiji in the latest Pacific Nations Cup, and face a re-union with Manu Samoa in Pool D. Despite recent struggles in form, England should beat Japan, Samoa and Rugby World Cup debutants Chile, to finish in the progression stages alongside Argentina.

Like the All Blacks and South Africa, England have historically been one of those sides that despite recent form heading into the Rugby World Cup, can get back to their best once they reach the competition. With the exception of the 2015 embarrassment on home soil, England have always progressed to the knock-out stages, and unlike 2015, they could be set to face Wales or Australia in the quarter-finals, instead of taking a Pool stage defeat to those sides.

If England step up to their full potential, they could certainly beat any side coming out of Pool C. We believe that Steve Borthwick's men have the capabilities to turn their fortune around, with this Saturday's match against potential quarter-final opponents Fiji, being a telling fixture for the hopes of England fans set to make the short trip over the Channel. However, a loss at Twickenham could well lead to fans changing the channel, as expectations would drop for Borthwick's side.

This is the world's most difficult question that is stumping rugby fans, pundits and reporters alike. New Zealand, France, Ireland and South Africa are the main contenders, as we believe a winner will arise from either Pool A or B. The quartet are likely to meet in some variation in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, with Les Bleus and All Blacks progressing from Pool A, whilst the Springboks and Andy Farrell's men look poised to move on from Pool B.

From there on, it's incredibly hard to say, but we will give it a go. We give the All Blacks the top spot in Pool A, with France set for runners-up. We also think Ireland will finish top of Pool B, with the Springbok's in-tow for second place. This sets us up for New Zealand vs South Africa and France vs Ireland in two blockbuster quarter final match-ups.

What then follows are two exhausting arm-wrestles between World Rugby's top four ranked nations, and we can see the All Blacks toppling the Springboks, in a repeat of their latest Rugby Championship encounter. Tomorrow's clash at Twickenham will set the tone for this potential fixture, with both side's fielding fully stacked squads, in what 'Bok's hard-hitter Eben Etzebeth rightly coined; 'it's not a warm-up match'.

Despite the home field advantage, we predict that Ireland will once again get the better of France in their respective semi-final. In what was the decisive contest for the 2023 Six Nations, the men from the Emerald Isle recorded a resounding 32-19 victory in Dublin's Aviva Stadium. We can see Ireland once again beating Les Bleus, this time on their home turf, and sending them packing from the competition in the final eight.

Then it's time for the semi-final, in what will put the best team's from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres against one-another, for a generational clash. After what will undoubtedly be a phenomenal game of rugby, we think the Rugby World Cup winning experience that makes up the foundation of the All Blacks squad, will prevail over Ireland and send Andy Farrell's side out of the competition.

Again, this is one of the most difficult Rugby World Cups to predict, yet when the All Blacks hit top form on the pinnacle stage, they are near-bye unstoppable. A run in with Argentina with the Web Ellis Trophy title on the line would be a celebration of Southern Hemisphere rugby, and New Zealand are our pick to win it all, before they walk away from France with a record-setting fourth Rugby World Cup title.