The Balls.ie crystal ball went into overdrive this week as we preview the lie of the land as Ireland head into their first ever home World Cup in 2023....
Well, it's finally upon us, the 2023 Rugby World Cup is here. It feels like its been ages since the idea was first mooted that Ireland should host this World Cup.
When in 1994, Gay Mitchell suggested that Dublin should bid for the Olympics in 2004, everyone's first reaction was to laugh hysterically. And it turned out that everyone's first reaction was right. But when, way back in 2013, Minister for Sport Leo Varadkar suggested that Ireland should make a play for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the public said "Let's go for it."
And despite an audacious late bid from Qatar, Ireland's claim eventually won out. And now the event is upon us. The Irish economy is booming, Dublin's public transport system is the envy of Europe, and Ireland has been voted the best small country in the world to do business for a seventh successive year.
Here, we preview the contenders, the stadia, the coverage, the host country itself, and give you the lowdown as to what's coming in the highly anticipated opening ceremony.
The Stadia
The stadia are all ready and some are a wondrous sight.
The biggest boost on this front was the surprise availability of what was once thought to be a long forgotten project, Eircom Park. The stadium was developed on the old Glass Bottle Site by former FAI President Bernard O'Byrne. It was all part of an audacious, but ultimately unsuccessful, effort to unseat former FAI President and current head of UEFA John Delaney.
- Picture Credit. David Maher/SPORTSFILE.
There were panic stations in IRFU headquarters when the Cork county board, in a fit of pique after the controversial axing of the Munster hurling championship, tabled an eleventh hour motion to withdraw the use of GAA stadia to rival sporting bodies, but the politicians stepped in and cooler heads prevailed. The stadia that were loaned to the IRB were Croke Park, Semple Stadium and the 80,000 all seater Walsh Park in Waterford.
TV3's Vincent Browne celebrated his millionth show by lambasting the amount of public money being spent developing and refining the grounds, notably Eircom Park. He suggested that the existing stadia should be grand, highlighting UCD's ground at Belfield as a suitable venue.
As is obligatory, Millennium Stadium in Cardiff will get its a quota of games.
The stadia have been subject to lavish praise from almost all commentators, with the BBC's John Inverdale professing himself in awe at what he's seen. The Sunday Times' Stephen Jones thought the stadia were all useless with the exception of the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff which he said was the only suitable venue.
The TV Coverage
TV rights are not as expensive as they were five years ago but they remain strong. The collapse of Sky has certainly changed things. Rupert Murdoch's death ended up proving fatal for his company. His son James lacked the old man's shrewdness and his heavy investment in League of Ireland coverage failed to pay off, leaving the company with debts from which they were ultimately unable to recover.
BT Sport and TG4 continue to dominate the market, with most people in the UK now choosing to watch TG4's coverage largely to escape BT's Austin Healy. Eoghan O'Neachtain has become a household name in Britain.
There was some controversy after a pre-World Cup warm up game between Ireland and England, when one of BT Sport's lead analysts, former Munster hooker Frankie Sheehan, awarded the Man of the Match award to Peter O'Mahony despite the fact that O'Mahony spent the entire game as an unused substitute.
RTE is to have a highlights package on late in the evening, the first time it has acquired the rights to rugby since the station was privatised. Director General Denis O'Brien has welcomed the development.
The Opening Ceremony
The competition will opened by the President of the IRB, Will Carling, and the Minister for Sport Mick Wallace. Wallace surprised the global audience by attending the World Cup draw in a Treviso jersey. Riverdance is to be dusted down and performed again and President Brenda Fricker will be read out some Seamus Heaney poetry. The star attraction of the 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony, Noel Mannion, is expected to formally declare the tournament open. Phil Coulter has been drafted in to write the World Cup theme song.
The Teams
Ireland
The hosts enter the World Cup as formidable contenders. Irish rugby has handled the collapse of the Heineken Cup and the resulting financial implosion of the four provincial teams better than expected.
Irish clubs continue to lord it over their Italian, Scottish and Welsh counterparts. In the Quinn Hair Care Pro 16 in 2022/23, an all-Irish final saw Young Munster defeat Greystones on a scoreline of 19 - 13.
For the fourth year in succession, the Leinster Senior Cup Final was the most widely watched sporting event in the world, with millions of people across the globe once again tuning into to dodgy streams on the internet to see Blackrock take on rank outsiders St. David's of Artane live from Donnybrook. The plucky boys from Artane, who only took up rugby a few years ago, felled the mighty Blackrock.
Legendary prop forward Michael Bent is expected to bow out after the tournament. An ever present in the green jersey for almost a decade, Bent was honoured at a civic reception by the Lord Mayor of Dublin in 2020. A special Late Late Show tribute programme is being broadcast on the eve of the tournament with the likes of Fred Cogley, George Hook, Jim Sherwin and Jimmy Magee recalling the man universally known as "Michael Bent."
Mike Hayden, Galwegians mercurial out-half, has made the squad to the relief of the romantics, despite Murray Kidd's well known doubts about him. Hayden has largely failed to live up to his early promise, when in the province's last ever match, he inspired Connacht to their now legendary 13-0 win over New Zealand in the Sportsground. A stage play, 'The West's Awake', based on that famous match is currently on its second run in London's West End.
Since his sensational rap album was released, the celebrity fanfare that surrounds Clermont wing Simon Zebo has continued unabated. Twelve Japanese school girls attempted to launch a kidnap attempt on Zebo when the Irish team were in Asia but thankfully IRFU committee member Pa Whelan was on hand to fight them off.
On the plus side, their talismanic skipper Brian O Driscoll was persuaded to play on for one more year.
The Irish supporters remain enthusiastic and committed though Young Munster fans remain disgruntled that they don't have enough players in the team. The Irish Rugby World Cup song, 'Oh I wish I was back home in Stillorgan' was sung on the Late Late Show by Christy Moore and Phil Coulter (the latter being the song's author) and assorted celebrities. Late Late host Craig Doyle also joined in.
In a special World Cup supplement to mark the final ever print edition of the Irish Times, Gerry Thornley and the returning Edmund Van Esbeck expressed high hopes for the Irish team. Ireland are tipped by most analysts to reach at least a semi-final with some, such as RTE's Brent Pope and BT Sport's Stuart Barnes, tipping them to win it out. However, Stephen Jones of the Sunday Times reckons Ireland will be lucky to get past the First Round.
Coach: Re-appointed Head Coach Murray Kidd is in bullish mood heading into the tournament (or the 'tourney' as he annoyingly insists upon calling it).
Prediction: Semi-Finalists
England
After a controversial speech by Prime Minister Nigel Farage, English rugby was forced to institute a policy whereby at least five of their players had to be born outside of the Pacific Islands. The newly appointed 'President for Life' of English rugby Mark McCafferty has objected vigorously to the new regulations. The UK's most widely read free-sheet, The Daily Telegraph, has suggested that this will be the last World Cup England take part in,
Their front row which consisted of the Gloucester pairing Julian Woodham-Smith and Lawrence Freshwater-Daniel, with the Yorkshireman Jeff Thomas at hooker, had long been their ace in the hole, but they have been largely neutered by recent rule changes.
Since the collapse of the Heineken Cup in 2015, English clubs have been competing in the Anglo-French Cup and have been steadily improving. One of their teams reached the quarter-finals of this competition for the first time in 2023.
Coach: Mark McCafferty's decision to appoint himself coach certainly raised eyebrows, particularly given his penchant for giving in to the demands of struggling Premiership clubs. His decision to appoint Nigel Wray as forwards coach has also been considered a failure. Bt Sport's main analysts Austin Healy and Lawrence Dallaglio remain staunch supporters of the pair despite the hostile attitude of the supporters.
Prediction: Quarter-Finals
France
The French penchant for unpredictability has reached unheard of heights in recent years. Every year since 2016, they have either won the Grand Slam or the Wooden Spoon, and played with either gay abandon or a mind-numbingly turgid stolidity.
All bar three of the Top 16 sides are now run by Arab sheikhs. ( The others are run by billionaire property developer Robbie Fowler, the winner of season two of the Apprentice Steve Rayner, and by Ireland's wealthiest man, the phenomenally resilient Sean Quinn, who's attempts to get an internationally successful club team going in the Cavan/ Fermanagh region remain as yet unachieved.)
As of 2023, they are on a high, having soundly beaten New Zealand 38-6 in the 2022 November tests. However, a dropped ball near the end cost them a seventh try and they left the field to resounding boos.
Coach: Ronan O' Gara has used 845 players in 47 test matches since 2018.
Prediction: Finalists
Scotland
Things appear to be on the up for Scotland after they almost won a match in the Six Nations for the first time since 2014. After failing to qualify for the last World Cup, the Scots are back in the big time.
Coach: Jim Telfer is back as coach again after serving as Ian McGeechan's assistant for the past few years. He has appointed Ian McGeechan as his assistant.
Prediction: First Round
New Zealand
The collapse of the mighty All-Blacks is one of the most dramatic in the history of sport. The two year long strike that followed the controversial banning of the Haka in 2017 appears to have to retarded their development. The groundbreaking success of the All-Whites at the 2018 World Cup, where they reached the last eight after defeating Romania on penalties, hasn't helped either.
Since returning to competitions (without the Maori players who have maintained the strike) the Kiwis have failed to win a single match and have been forced into increasingly unorthodox locations to perform their pre-match war dance. They have taken to performing the dance at busy thoroughfares and historical landmarks in cities throughout the world. In the past 3 years, they have performed it outside the House of Commons in Westminster, the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, the Champs Elysee and The Supermacs outside Eyre Square.
Coach: The current fashion for Southern Hemisphere teams poaching Northern Hemisphere coaches has continued with New Zealand hoping Dean Richards can give them the competitive, hard-nosed edge they've been missing since their return to the fold.
Prediction: First Round
Argentina
The reigning Rugby Championship winners have had the Indian sign over the All Blacks in particular over the past few years and remain a bogey team for the hosts, frequently coming to face Ireland at their lowest moment. Leo Messi's abrupt retirement and failure to win a World Cup has seen widespread disgruntlement with the game of football and rugby looks set to take over as the national sport. Quite how the game became popular there in the first place is still shrouded in some mystery. Journalists continue to outdo themselves in their efforts to describe just how ferocious and brutal their forward play is. They reached the semi-finals last time out after defeating surprise packages The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the quarter finals.
Coach: Hugo Porta. The Argentine legend should have no difficulty rallying his ferocious team
Prediction: Quarter-finals
Australia
The Wallabies have played some fantastic and scintillating running rugby without ever bringing home trophies and they have,lost more often than they've won. Despite this, the decision to abolish scrums has definitely helped them. In the final year of the old scrums, they conceded a record total of 5 penalty tries against South Africa. The lowest scoring game they have been involved in was their 21 - 19 victory over England in Twickenham in 2019. They are coming into form at the right time.
Coach: David Campese has fashioned a team in his own image but has at times riled opponents, particularly Northern hemisphere ones, with his disparaging remarks about their ability. Before the 2019 Test match in Twickenham, he used the phrase "Poms" 14 times in a one minute and a half long interview. Expect him to provide plenty of "dressing room wall material" for opponents.
Prediction: Winners
Wales
They can alternate between delivering moments of sheer brilliance and farcical high comedy. In the previous World Cup in Japan, they defeated South Africa 44-42 having trailed 37-0 at half time. However, defeats to both Fiji and the re-partitioned Western Samoa saw them exit in the first round.
Their plans for this World Cup were disrupted when their 2nd row pairing of Gareth Gwyn Jones and Alan Llewellan Jones broke a curfew by sliding down the side of the Anglo Hotel and heading into Krystal nightclub. The following morning their indestructable, bull-dozing no.8 Rhodri Jones was found riding a tricycle completely naked down the M50. All three were sent home.
Coach; Former BBC analyst Jonathan Davies has not been strong enough to keep a tight leash on his wayward side.
Prediction: Quarter-Finalists
Italy
Doughty battlers, Italy have firmly established themselves as only the 2nd worst team in the Six Nations. As ever, they rely on one marquee player who gets mentioned the whole time by foreign commentators and gets Man of The Match 70% of the time he plays. This time around it's the young flanker Sergio Castrogiovanni. A giant of a player, he is Italy's leading try scorer, tackler, ball carrier in the past five years. He also kicked a drop goal in Italy's win in Cardiff in 2020.
Coach: Allesandro Troncon. Italy's first native coach has finally graduated to the coaching position after years of walking around the sideline with earpieces in his ear and water bottles in his hand and remonstrating with everyone in sight.
Prediction: First Round
South Africa
The winners of the last World Cup in Japan, South Africa remain as hard-nosed and unromantic as ever. Their victory over Australia in the final was built on savage dominance in the scrum, where they manufacture nine penalties all of which were converted by their youthful but reliable out-half Joost Van Der Botha. The abolition of the scrum has seen them neutered somewhat and they have to struggled to find their form since.
Coach: Springbok boss Brendan Venter has had a tense relationship with the media down the years. At one interview last year, he responded to questions from BT Sport reporter Craig Doyle by repeatedly asking "Are you talking to me?" in the style of Robert De Niro in the film Taxi Driver.
Prediction: Semi-Finalists
USA Eagles
Coached by Eddie O'Sullivan.
Prediction: First Round
