After a start to the week without a match, the Rugby World Cup resumes this Wednesday (5:45 p.m.) with a meeting in Group A, that of the French XV. At Groupama Stadium in Lyon, Uruguay challenges Namibia to obtain their first victory in the competition and avoid last place in the group. Valiant against France then Italy despite two defeats, the Uruguayan “Teros” are favorites against the Namibians who conceded 219 points in three matches, including 96 against the Blues at the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille.
Uruguay-Namibia (group A): 5:45 p.m. (M6)
This Tuesday, the players of the XV of France trained at the end of the afternoon at the Georges Carcassonne stadium before being received at the town hall, in the early evening, by the mayor of Aix-en-Provence Sophie Joissains. In the process, the Blues took advantage of a crowd bath in the Provençal city which welcomes them in anticipation of the 4th group match against Italy, scheduled for October 6 at the Groupama Stadium in Lyon.
This Wednesday, no training on the program for Fabien Galthié’s men. Some of them will take the opportunity to visit children with disabilities in the morning.
“Obviously we are very disappointed. I’m proud of my teammates because no one ever gave up, but we wanted this victory. We gave everything on the pitch but we missed opportunities. Ireland were clearly better than us tonight (Saturday), and the only thing we have to do now is learn from this defeat and understand what we did wrong, reacted Cheslin Kolbe after the defeat (8- 13) of South Africa during the summit clash against the XV of Clover. In the quarter-final, the Springboks have a good chance of finding the French XV but the RC Toulon player does not want to think about it yet.
“I will be very honest with you, we are not yet qualified so it is impossible for me to plan for a possible quarter-final against France,” he explained cautiously, with a thought for Antoine Dupont, his former teammate in Toulouse. They (Les Bleus) have everything to have a great World Cup, and I hope that Antoine (Dupont) will be back in the competition. I wish him a speedy recovery. But once again, we’re not going to focus on things that don’t exist. The only thing we are sure of is our last group match against Tonga.”
Born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) but arrived in Uruguay at the age of 9, the 24-year-old full-back will be one of the main weapons of his team to bring down the Namibian defense. Author of a try against the Blues, the former rugby sevens player will have his 18th selection with the XV team on the Lyon pitch. He should have several opportunities to shine against a weaker opponent on paper. His supporters present in France are awaiting his 7th international test, and more if affinities.
34, as the number of points difference in favor of Wales against Australia (40-6) Sunday evening in Lyon. Proof of the sinking of the Wallabies, this defeat is the largest conceded by the Australian selection in the group stage of the World Cup. On the verge of a historic elimination, the double world champion nation (1991, 1999) had never lost by more than 9 points during a first round match. Conversely, the Leek XV is enjoying a good series of 3 wins in the last 4 duels against Australia, as many as in the 30 previous confrontations (1 draw, 26 defeats). So, can we talk about a new pet peeve?