PARIS (AP) — Argentina is expected to easily win an historic all-South American contest at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday, with Chile left seeking a shock result against the continent's dominant force that would be the stuff of dreams for the tournament debutant.
This is the first Rugby World Cup to feature three South American teams in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. Argentina and Chile will have the honor of the first derby.
Fiji should move to the brink of the quarterfinals by beating Georgia and Scotland is also backed to come through against minnow Romania, a victory that would set up the Scots for a showdown with top-ranked Ireland in the final set of pool games.
ARGENTINA vs. CHILE (Argentina leads 36-0 overall, first meeting at RWC)
Argentina coach Michael Cheika made 11 changes to his starting lineup to face Chile and gave Rugby World Cup debuts to fullback Martin Bogado and right winger Rodrigo Isgro. That indicates that Cheika is confident enough to keep some of his front-liners back for a final pool game against Japan that should decide who goes through to the quarterfinals.
Argentina is 36-0 against Chile in previous meetings and the Pumas' convincing head-to-head dominance should continue. Argentina won by 61 points the last time they met in 2014.
Argentina's World Cup has been dictated by its opening-round loss to England, meaning the Pumas have had no space for error after that. Saturday in Nantes will be the same.
“I like where we are this week," Cheika said. "As we said after the first game, every week is a final. Our mental approach to this match is very good. Now it depends on how they cross the white line on Saturday, the moment when everything we talk about in these press conferences must be demonstrated. I have a lot of confidence.”
Chile's boisterous start to the tournament by scoring the first try in its opener against Japan has been subdued. Los Condores have lost all three of their games, 42-12 to Japan, 43-10 to Samoa and 71-0 to England. That's the reality of the gap between Chile coming into its first Rugby World Cup and some of the regulars.
“The speed ends up killing you,” fullback Francisco Urroz said of the Chileans' struggle to keep up with England's pace of play.
FIJI vs. GEORGIA (Fiji leads 4-1-1 overall, 1-0 at RWC)
Fiji and Georgia drew 15-15 in their last meeting two years ago. The reality is that Fiji is a very different team now.
If Chile, Georgia and other Rugby World Cup minnows need a role model, there are few better than Fiji.
Fiji's progress in the four years since the last Rugby World Cup has been eye-opening. Often brimming with individual talent, the Pacific islanders have been molded into a tactically and technically sound unit and beat 2003 World Cup winner England in a warmup game ahead of the tournament and then Australia, a two-time champion, in their last pool game.
The Georgia match should mean a step closer to the quarterfinals for Fiji, which made only one injury-enforced change to the starting lineup that stunned Australia 22-15 two weeks ago.
Georgia is disgruntled having only drawn 18-18 with Portugal in its last game, a team the Georgians often meet in the second tier of European rugby and always expect to beat.
SCOTLAND vs. ROMANIA (Scotland leads 11-2 overall, 3-0 at RWC)
It's worth keeping an eye on Scotland, the ‘other’ team in Pool B.
While the pool has been dominated by the heavyweight stories of top-ranked Ireland and defending champion and No. 2 South Africa, Scotland is not out of the running to squeeze one of them out of the quarterfinals.
Scotland has three boxes to check: A bonus-point win over Tonga, which it achieved a week ago. A bonus-point win over Romania, which it should achieve on Saturday. That would leave a final pool game against the Irish that might provide a little twist in the tale. A Scotland victory then could oust the tournament favorites.
A changed-up Scotland team showing 13 switches still needs to get maximum points in Lille against Romania, which has lost its two games 82-8 to Ireland and 76-0 to South Africa, but has had two weeks off to lick its wounds.
"This weekend is vital but it’s the only thing we can control at the minute," stand-in Scotland captain Grant Gilchrist said. “Without five points this weekend, we can’t even talk about next weekend."
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