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The third Quarter Final of the Rugby World Cup is a rematch of the 2019 Six Nations opener between Wales and France. On that day, the eventual Grand Slam winners had the measure of Les Bleus but it required a late try from George North in a highly competitive fixture.
France have enjoyed a week off to prepare for this after their final pool contest against England was scrapped due to Typhoon Hagibis. While Wales were in action against Uruguay however, Warren Gatland opted to rest most of his top players with only four retaining their starting role.
The run-on side is largely predictable, the same lineup that took the field against Australia in Tokyo. Aaron Wainwright moves back to the blindside flank with Ross Moriarty again on reserve duty, while Dan Biggar is fit to resume at flyhalf having shaken off a head knock suffered against Fiji.
There are two notable changes on the bench. Rampaging youngster Rhys Carré jumps ahead of Nicky Smith at loosehead prop cover. Aaron Shingler misses out entirely as Adam Beard is preferred to provide a specialist lock replacement.
Jacques Brunel meanwhile has made five changes to the team that narrowly avoided embarrassment against Tonga. Guilhem Guirado is recalled at hooker and captains the side despite rumors of discord with the team management. Bernard le Roux comes in at lock with Paul Gabrillagues swapped to the bench and no place at all for Arthur Iturria.
Antoine Dupont returns at scrumhalf to partner Romain Ntamack, with Camille Lopez again settling for a spot on the bench. Yoann Huget and Gaël Fickou come in for Alivereti Raka and Sofiane Guitoune respectively. There is a surprise in the reserves with utility back Vincent Rattez set to make his first appearance of the tournament.
Both teams went undefeated in the pool stage though France enter with an asterisk as England were favorites in the washed-out contest. As such, it’s Wales who are odds-on to claim victory in Kyushu having come through their four matches in more convincing fashion. A close match is expected but the men in red are a step ahead at the moment.
Kickoff is set for 4:15pm local time, 12:15am Pacific, 3:15am Eastern, 4:15am in Rio de la Plata. Live broadcasts will be available on ESPN 3 in Latin and South America, NBC Sports Gold in the USA, and TSN channels 1 and 4 in Canada.
FRANCE RWC 2019 RESULTS
W – France 23-21 Argentina
W – France 33-9 USA
W – France 23-21 Tonga
D – France 0-0 England
WALES RWC 2019 RESULTS
W – Wales 43-14 Georgia
W – Wales 29-25 Australia
W – Wales 29-17 Fiji
W – Wales 35-13 Uruguay
W – Win
L – Loss
D – Draw
TEAMS
WALES
1 Wyn Jones, 2 Ken Owens, 3 Tomas Francis, 4 Jake Ball, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (capt.), 6 Aaron Wainwright, 7 Justin Tipuric, 8 Josh Navidi, 9 Gareth Davies, 10 Dan Biggar, 11 Josh Adams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 13 Jonathan Davies, 14 George North, 15 Liam Williams
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Rhys Carré, 18 Dillon Lewis, 19 Adam Beard, 20 Ross Moriarty, 21 Tomos Williams, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin
FRANCE
1 Jefferson Poirot, 2 Guilhem Guirado (capt.), 3 Rabah Slimani, 4 Bernard le Roux, 5 Sébastien Vaha’amahina, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 7 Charles Ollivon, 8 Grégory Alldritt, 9 Antoine Dupont, 10 Romain Ntamack, 11 Yoann Huget, 12 Gaël Fickou, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 14 Damian Penaud, 15 Maxime Médard
Replacements: 16 Camille Chat, 17 Cyril Baille, 18 Emerick Setiano, 19 Paul Gabrillagues, 20 Louis Picamoles, 21 Baptiste Serin, 22 Camille Lopez, 23 Vincent Rattez
Date: Sunday, October 20
Venue: Oita Stadium, Oita
Kickoff: 16:15 local (00:15 Pacific, 03:15 Eastern, 04:15 Rio de la Plata)
Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)
Assistants: Nic Berry (Australia) & Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Marius Jonker (South Africa)
Broadcasts: ESPN 3 (Latin/South America), NBC Sports Gold (USA), TSN 1/4 (Canada)
