2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage results and match reports: Round two

Rugby World Cup results

Thursday September 14

• France 27-12 Uruguay

Friday September 15

• New Zealand 71-3 Namibia

Saturday September 16

• Samoa 43-10 Chile
• Wales 28-8 Portugal
• Ireland 59-16 Tonga

Sunday September 17

• South Africa 76-0 Romania
• Australia 15-22 Fiji
• England 34-12 Japan

England prevail over Japan

England continued their advance towards the World Cup quarter-finals by toppling Japan 34-12 but a messy performance that came alive in the the second half will have done little to worry the tournament’s heavyweights.

Lewis Ludlam, Courtney Lawes, Freddie Steward and Joe Marchant touched down and it was only when their full-back had collected a George Ford chip and stormed over in the 67th minute that they looked comfortable.

Lawes’ try came after the ball had taken a comical bounce off Joe Marler’s head and while England celebrated their first World Cup tries since their 2019 semi-final victory over New Zealand, a madcap evening in Nice posed fresh questions.

Early in the second half they were booed by their own fans as they continued to kick the ball away at every opportunity, only to then throw the kitchen sink at enterprising opponents ranked 14th in the world.

The ambition paid off and with Ben Earl and Steward propelling them forward as well as impetus coming from Marcus Smith’s arrival off the bench, they stormed out of sight.

After routing Argentina 27-14 with 14 men in their Pool D opener, they at least avoided a potential banana skin and with fixtures against Chile and Samoa to come, they are destined to reach the last eight.

Fiji stun Australia

Simione Kuruvoli inspired Fiji as they edged past Australia 22-15 with a fine performance at the Rugby World Cup.

Fiji’s brilliance at the turnover, combined with the clinical boot of Kuruvoli, saw them pick up their first win of the tournament after last week’s defeat by Wales.

Australian full-back Ben Donaldson was opportunistic early on and punished a Fiji high tackle when he converted the first opportunity of the game to give Australia a 3-0 lead after three minutes.

The Pacific Islanders sought a response through scrum-half Kuruvoli, who tied the score before converting another penalty to give his side a 6-3 lead after 20 minutes.

The first try of the game came in the 22nd minute through Mark Nawaqanitawase. The winger chased the long ball, took a quick line-out and combined with Samu Kerevi before he received the offload to add five more to to Australia’s tally.

But the Wallabies’ hard work started to unravel through ill-discipline and they started to concede needless penalties, much to the delight of Kuruvoli who added six more and the half ended 12-8 in favour of the Fijians.

Fiji extended their lead when Carter Gordon misjudged the bounce of a high ball which invited Josua Tuisov to storm through and make it 19-8 in the 42nd minute.

Suliasi Vunivalu went over late on for Australia after Fiji scored another penalty but it was not enough and they held on to complete a memorable 22-15 victory.

South Africa batter Romania

Cobus Reinach and Makazole Mapimpi each grabbed a hat-trick of tries as South Africa crushed Romania 76-0 in their second Pool B game of the Rugby World Cup.

The world champions wasted no time clinching their bonus point scoring four ties inside the opening 12 minutes.

Scrum-half Reinach claimed an early double before wing Mapimpi, with his first, and Damian Willemse, also crossed.

Reinach sealed a deserved hat-trick off the back of a scrum and Willemse calmly converted as the Springboks carved out a 33-0 half-time lead.

South Africa started where they left off in the second half through hooker Deon Fourie who claimed their sixth try of the game in the 43rd minute.

Romania’s discipline began to waiver and after 54 minutes they gave away a penalty try.

Grant Williams weighed in with two tries before Mapimpi, a handful for the Romanian defence all game, completed his hat-trick with two further tries.

South Africa led 71-0 with 13 minutes remaining and Willie Le Roux got in on the act on 73 minutes with the Springboks’ final try of a comprehensive victory to add to their opening win over Scotland.

Sexton sets new benchmark

Johnny Sexton smashed Ireland’s individual points record as his side edged closer to the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a crushing 59-16 bonus-point victory over Tonga in Nantes.

The influential fly-half surpassed Ronan O’Gara’s all-time tally of 1,083 in style with the fourth of his side’s eight tries on a balmy evening at Stade de la Beaujoire.

Captain Sexton also kicked a penalty and four conversions en route to moving on to a career total of 1,090 before being withdrawn from a bruising Pool B encounter at half-time ahead of next week’s crucial clash with South Africa.

Tries from Tadhg Beirne, Caelan Doris and Mack Hansen paved the way to victory, with Bundee Aki’s double and second-half scores from James Lowe and Rob Herring capping Sexton’s landmark moment.

Vaea Fifita crossed just before half-time to give Tonga hope in the aftermath of Peter O’Mahony’s yellow card, while William Havili contributed three penalties and a conversion.

But the world’s top-ranked nation comfortably maintained their 100 per cent start to the tournament and emerged relatively unscathed moving towards pivotal Paris appointments with the Springboks and Scotland.

French made to work hard

France eventually saw off battling Uruguay to continue their perfect start to the World Cup after grinding out a 27-12 win at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in Lille, in a game which saw our tipster land 5/1 and evens winners.

Anthony Jelonch returned from a lengthy ACL injury absence to captain the team as part of 12 changes to the starting XV which had opened the tournament with an impressive victory over three-time world champions New Zealand in Paris.

Les Bleus went in front from an early Melvyn Jaminet penalty after Uruguay had collapsed the scrum.

The home fans, though, were then left in stunned silence when Jaminet failed to gather a deep cross-field kick out on the touchline. Nicolas Freitas picked up the loose ball to dart down the left and score in the corner, landing a 5/1 winner in the first team to score a try market.

France responded with a try in the 11th minute when Antoine Hastoy burst through off the scrum, which Jaminet converted and then further extended the lead with another penalty.

Romain Taofifenua was sent to the sin bin after the French lock caught Santiago Arata high with his shoulder going into a tackle – which remained at a yellow card after review by the TMO, Welshman Ben Whitehouse, when on another night it could have been deemed a red.

Uruguay, playing their first match in Pool A, had a try ruled out in the 35th minute when Felipe Etcheverry dived over, with Tomas Inciarte penalised for an obstruction in the build-up as France went into half-time 13-5 ahead.

France thought they had scored a try early in the second half when Gabin Villiere collected a loose ball to run in, but it had been inadvertently knocked-on off Anthony Jelonch’s shoulder.

Uruguay then reduced the deficit to 13-12 after Baltazar Amaya powered over in the corner and Etcheverry made the conversion.

France, though, responded again when Peato Mauvaka touched down under the posts after a fortunate ricochet from Etcheverry’s clearance to settle the home fans’ nerves once again.

Any hopes of a comeback from Los Teros were finally ended after Louis Bielle-Biarrey went over in the corner before Sekou Macalou’s breakaway 80-metre try was ruled out by the TMO for kicking through the ruck.

Wales limp past Portugal

Wales took another step towards the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals, but they were given a fierce examination by minnows Portugal before winning 28-8 at Stade de Nice.

Warren Gatland’s much-changed team struggled throughout for control and fluency in the Pool C contest, the highlight of which was Portugal’s attacking flair.

Wales started with only three survivors from the side that defeated Fiji last weekend, and their latest performance was a world away from what they delivered in Bordeaux six days ago.

Wing Louis Rees-Zammit, captain Dewi Lake, flanker Jac Morgan and number eight Taulupe Faletau scored tries, while Leigh Halfpenny kicked three conversions and Sam Costelow landed one, yet a vast improvement will be required against Australia in Lyon next weekend.

Portugal gave as good as they got for large parts of the game, and they undoubtedly deserved more than flanker Nicolas Martin’s try and a Samuel Marques penalty, with Wales not collecting a bonus point until the dying seconds.

Their exciting back division stretched Wales’ defence in all directions, although wing Vincent Pinto blotted the copybook when he was red-carded late in the game following a bunker review after his boot caught Josh Adams in the face.

All Blacks ruthless in the rain

New Zealand overcame Namibia 71-3 in Toulouse with a ruthless display of attacking to get off the mark in Pool A of the Rugby World Cup.

The All Blacks began their tournament with a defeat to hosts France in Paris but had no such trouble in their second outing as Cam Roigard and Cam McKenzie each scored two tries to help Ian Foster’s side collect a bonus point and move second in the pool.

Namibia remain without a victory in 23 attempts at the World Cup going back to 1999 and never looked strong enough to pose problems for New Zealand – for whom Ethan de Groot was red carded in the final minutes – in a game played largely in torrential rain.

Samoa secure bonus point

Samoa opened their account at the Rugby World Cup after storming to a 43-10 bonus-point victory against Chile at Stade de Bordeaux.

A fairly even first half saw penalty kicks dictate the swing of the scoreboard but Samoa suddenly raced away with four quickfire tries to condemn Chile to their second successive Pool D loss.