Inaugural 2023 Rugby World Cup match between France and New Zealand at Stade de France.Match between New Zealand and Namibia in Toulouse.
Pool A of the 2023 Rugby World Cup began on 8 September 2023 and concluded on 6 October 2023. The pool included hosts France and previous three-time champions New Zealand, along with Italy, Uruguay and Namibia.[1] Hosts France and New Zealand, whom France had defeated in the opening match, qualified from the pool.
^The rankings of 1 January 2020 were used for seeding for the final draw.
^ abAs the identity of the Americas 1 winners was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the World Rugby Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into band 4.[3]
^ abAs the identity of the Africa 1 winners was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the World Rugby Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into band 5.[3]
Overview
The opening match of the 2023 Rugby World Cup was played between hosts France and three-time champions New Zealand. France won 27–13, courtesy of tries from Damian Penaud and Melvyn Jaminet. Mark Tele'a scored the first try of the tournament for New Zealand after less than two minutes, making it the quickest try in an opening match of a Rugby World Cup.[4] The loss was New Zealand's first ever in the pool stages of a Rugby World Cup.[5] The next day, Italy won their opening match against Namibia by a score of 52–8.[6] On 14 September, Uruguay played their first match of the tournament against hosts France, which France came out victorious with a scoreline of 27–12.[7] The next day, New Zealand bounced back from their opening day defeat against France with 11 tries over Namibia in a 71–3 victory, despite losing Ethan de Groot to a red card for a dangerous collision.[8] Five days later, Italy recorded a 38–17 bonus point victory over Uruguay, following a second-half comeback which previously saw them trail 17–7.[9] The next day, France recorded their largest ever victory in a 96–0 victory over Namibia to move them on the brink of qualification to the knockout stage, while officially eliminating Namibia from the tournament. Thirteen tries were scored by France, who lost captain and key player Antoine Dupont to an injury from the match.[10]
Namibia played their final match of the tournament against Uruguay in Décines-Charpieu. Namibia went ahead with two early tries from Gerswin Mouton and J. C. Greyling, along with successful penalties and conversions from Tiaan Swanepoel. However, Uruguay turned it around in the second half with tries from Baltazar Amaya, Santiago Arata and Bautista Basso to earn the Uruguayans their first victory of the tournament in a 36–26 victory and deny Namibia their first ever victory in a Rugby World Cup.[11] Two days later, New Zealand faced Italy knowing that a defeat would mean that they would be eliminated from the World Cup at the pool stage for the first time ever. However, the All Blacks came out comfortable winners in the end as they starred in a fourteen-try show in Décines-Charpieu to move to the brink of qualification to the quarter-finals. Aaron Smith scored a hat-trick of tries after just 34 minutes in the bonus-point victory.[12]
In the final matchweek of the pool, New Zealand and Uruguay faced off in Décines-Charpieu for their final matches to try and push for a place in the knockout stage. The All Blacks ran out comfortable winners, inspired by Damian McKenzie who scored two tries and kicked two conversions, in a 73–0 victory that officially saw them qualify for the quarter-finals while officially eliminating Uruguay from the tournament. All that remained in Pool A was the final match between hosts France and Italy to officially decide who would join New Zealand in the knockout stage. Both sides were assured to finish in the top three, meaning they were both assured a place in the 2027 Rugby World Cup, along with the All Blacks.[13] The final match of Pool A took place the following day, with France sweeping aside Italy with a 60–7 scoreline in Décines-Charpieu with eight tries in a match to ensure that France qualified as they topped Group A, New Zealand qualified in second and Italy suffered elimination from the tournament as they finished third, but qualified for the 2027 Rugby World Cup.[14]
Sam Cane was originally named in the New Zealand starting XV as captain, but withdrew prior to the match after sustaining an injury in the team's final training session. He was replaced by Tupou Vaa'i, whose place on the bench was taken by Brodie Retallick, while the captaincy was handed over to Ardie Savea.[19]
Luca Bigi was originally named as the replacement hooker on the Italy bench, but withdrew prior to the match due to injury. He was replaced by Ivan Nemer, who took the position of substitute loosehead prop, while Federico Zani shifted across to the role of hooker.[30]
This was the fifth match at the 2023 World Cup where the losing team failed to score any points – a new record for a single tournament, surpassing 2007 and 2019.
