From top left, Ireland, France, red cards and All Black Will Jordan all rate a mention in Jamie Wall's RWC A-Z. Photo: Photosport
Analysis - Red cards, the TMO, players with the X factor and the rarity of matches going into overtime - the ABC of the Rugby World Cup throws up some interesting factors that might influence the outcome.
A is for actually all black. The World Cup is the one time where sponsors are banished from team jerseys, so the All Blacks won't have French businessman Mohed Altrad's name on the front and British petrochemical outfit Ineos on their shorts. It's unlikely to quell the ongoing critique of the unique jersey design, derided in some corners as 'hideous' and looking 'like a toddler just vandalised it'.
B is for blue. Get used to that colour, because that's what every jersey of the All Blacks' opponents in pool play is.
C is for captain. Sam Cane is in fine form in 2023, but he's still not exactly in Richie McCaw-like territory when it comes to the minds of New Zealanders. OK, so that's a pretty high bar to set, but Cane can prove a real point by leading this side to glory at the tournament.
D is for Dubai. That's where All Black fans on their way over for the semis might get to meet the All Blacks going the other way if the team loses their quarterfinal.
E is for equality. Game management for the teams is far fairer than 2019, with no teams facing a four-day turnaround between fixtures. However, it also means the All Blacks have a two-week gap between the Namibia and Italy fixtures, something that has the potential to suck a lot of momentum out of the campaign.
It's do or die for coach Ian Foster. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
F is for Foster. The All Black coach isn't the first to know that whatever happens at the World Cup, it'll be his last stint in charge. The interesting part is how it wasn't what he or NZ Rugby planned this to happen, his one-term in office has been extremely tumultuous on and off the field.
G is for garbage time. The All Blacks' first game, against France in Paris, is huge. The next three? Not so much. Italy are better than usual, but shouldn't pose much of a threat, but Namibia and Uruguay will be happy to keep the score difference under 60.
H is for host nation. France is set to host its second Rugby World Cup, after doing so in 2007. Interestingly, both the final and third place playoff game in that tournament were replays of pool matches. The Springboks overcame England in a very turgid final, while Argentina managed to beat France for a second time after being victorious in the opening match.
I is for Ireland. The Irish came over and beat the All Blacks last year, and the odds of a quarterfinal between the two are reasonably high. But think back to four years ago: the Irish had beaten the All Blacks in Dublin and spent the better part of a year being favourites for the World Cup. Once it actually rolled around, they lost to Japan and got smashed by the All Blacks in the quarters. Will history repeat itself?
Prolific tryscorer Will Jordan will get a new platform to display his talents. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
J is for Jordan. 24 tests, 23 tries - Will Jordan has a pretty good claim to being the most exciting player in the game right now, with a penchant for making it happen in big games. How much of an impact will he have on this tournament?
K is for kicking. The All Blacks have stacked the squad with kickers, with Richie Mo'unga, Beauden and Jordie Barrett, and Damian McKenzie possibly all being in the top match day 23. Obviously, some long memories of just how important this facet of the game is.
Lyon will play host to the All Blacks during their cup campaign. Photo: AFP
L is for Lyon. The All Blacks are using the city as their base of operations, with pool games against Italy and Uruguay at Parc Olympique Lyonnais. It holds just under 60,000 and when the All Blacks aren't training, they can certainly eat well as the city is famous for its gastronomic culture.
M is for myth. There's going to be a lot of chat from World Rugby about how rugby union's 200th birthday is this year, due to William Webb Ellis supposedly picking up a soccer ball and running with it in 1823. It's rubbish, of course, a story cooked up in 1895 to cement rugby's class elitism against the emerging professional version of the sport that would be known as rugby league.
N is for Namibia. Fun fact: the country Namibia didn't even exist when the first Rugby World Cup was played. At the time it was a Cold War proxy battleground involving South African, Angolan and Cuban forces fighting one another. Yes that is correct, Castro got himself involved somehow.
O is for overtime. Only one World Cup game has ever had to go past 80 minutes, and it's one that may well be the most famous rugby test of all time. The 1995 final still stings for All Black fans but it gave us the image of Nelson Mandela handing the trophy to Francois Pienaar, something that doesn't exactly tell the whole story of what was happening in South Africa at the time but still legendary nonetheless.
The Stade de France in Paris will be the venue for the France-All Blacks match. Photo: AFP
P is for Paris. The City Of Lights will host the opening match between the All Blacks and France on 10 September, to be held at the now 25-year-old Stade de France in the northern suburb of St Denis.
Q is for Qatar. Will we see a Rugby World Cup there or in the Gulf states in the future? If the cheques keep flying out of there for sports ventures at the same rate they have been lately, don't bet against it, especially since Qatar Airways sponsored the match between the All Blacks and Springboks last weekend.
R is for red cards. It's not a matter of if, but when someone gets marched in the tournament. World Rugby has adopted the on-field review system pioneered in Super Rugby Pacific, which is a good move, so expect to see at least a little less contention around decisions that reduce sides to 14 men.
S is for Scotland. Think the All Blacks are going to be playing Ireland or the Springboks in their quarterfinal? The Scots, who pushed the All Blacks very hard in a 31-23 loss last November, might have something to say about that. Pool B is certainly primed for an upset, with Tonga capable of giving those sides a scare too.
T is for TMO. Just how much influence are the replay officials going to have on the tournament? Let's hope it's not a lot, and if they do, it's over quickly and they get it right.
U is for Uruguay. The All Blacks will meet Los Teros for the first time ever in a test but it won't be the first time they've played. The very odd 1976 season saw two separate All Black sides travel to South Africa and South America only a month apart, and the latter tour involved an opening match in Montevideo. The All Blacks won 64-3 almost exactly four years after Uruguayan rugby's most famous and tragic event took place.
The Springboks were victorious in 2019. Photo: AFP
V is for victory. That's the only reason why the All Blacks are there, so if they do manage to bring the Rugby World Cup home, it will be fascinating to see how the public react, given how much flak Foster has taken over the last couple of years.
W is for Wahs. While all this is going on, the Warriors are going to be playing in the NRL finals, something that is rarer than Rugby World Cups. Highly likely that some members of the All Blacks, including Warriors die-hard fan Dane Coles, will be waking up early in France to follow the action.
X is for X factor. Nehe Milner-Skudder broke the 2015 World Cup open with a six-try haul, including one in the final against the Wallabies. He brought an agile, hot stepping component that complemented the powerful Julian Savea on the other wing. Given that the 2023 wing positions are still pretty open, what sort of combination is Ian Foster going to put out?
Y is for youth. Cam Roigard and Tupou Vaa'i are the only All Blacks to be born in the 21st century, but they are still two years older than the late, great Jonah Lomu was when he put the game of rugby union on his massive shoulders and carried it into the professional age in 1995.
Z is for Zero. That's how many times France have won the World Cup, despite making three finals. This will be their best chance yet, but will the tough draw and weight of public expectation be too much?
