Wales face Argentina this Saturday at the Stade Vélodrome in Marseille, in the first quarter-final of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Who will be the first to qualify for the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-finals, Wales or Argentina? That’s what’s at stake in this first quarter-final between the Welsh and the Argentinians who face each other this Saturday, October 14 at 5 p.m. in Marseille. A match that the XV du Poireau approaches as favorites, after winning its four matches and finishing at the top of Pool C ahead of Fiji and the disappointing Australian team. After missing their start to the tournament, the Argentine Pumas managed to qualify by finishing in second place in Group D, behind England. An outsider position that Argentina particularly likes.
For its fourth World Cup quarter-final in a row, Wales will have to do without one of its major players, Taulupe Faletau, who is out until the end of the competition. He was replaced at number 8 by Aaron Wainwright, which allowed Tommy Reffell to join the team in the third line. Captain Jac Morgan is back in the starting lineup after being rested against Georgia. At fly-half, Dan Biggar makes his comeback after being hit against Australia. Wales starting XV: L. Williams (15) – Rees-Zammit (14), North (13), Tompkins (12), Adams (11) – Biggar (10), Davies (9) – Reffell ( 7), Wainwright (8), Morgan (6) – Beard (5), Rowlands (4) – Francis (3), Elias (2), Thomas (1).
On the Argentinian side, Australian coach Michael Cheika created a surprise by announcing the tenure of Tomas Cubelli as scrum-half. Aged 34 (90 caps), he was preferred to Gonzalo Bertanou, who has started the competition since the start and who was not even included on the scoresheet for this quarter-final. To compensate for the injury of vice-captain Pablo Matera (forfeited for the rest of the competition) in the third row, Toulon player Facundo Isa was named starter. Argentina’s starting XV: Mallia (15) – Boffelli (14), Cinti (13), Chocobares (12), M. Carreras (11) – S. Carreras (10), Cubelli (9) – Kremer ( 7), Isa (8), Gonzalez (6) – Lavanini (5), Petti (4) – Gomez Kodela (3), Montoya (2), Gallo (1).
The start of this first quarter-final of the 2023 Rugby World Cup will be given at 5 p.m. on the pitch of the Vélodrome stadium in Marseille by South African referee Jaco Peyper. This meeting will be broadcast unencrypted on TV on France 2 this Saturday evening. To follow this match between Paris Saint-Germain and OGC Nice on the Internet, simply connect to the France Télévisions platform or to another platform such as myCanal for example. In this meeting, Wales is favored by the various sports betting sites. The odds for a Welsh victory are around 1.5 while the odds for a Pumas victory are between 4 and 6. The odds for an unlikely draw are 25.
