Overview
- Round one, on Saturday, July 4, produced three marquee results: New Zealand 34-32 France, Ireland 33-31 Australia and South Africa 45-21 England, with Japan also beating Italy 27-10.
- Matches were frantic and error-prone, highlighted by Ruben Love’s early yellow card for New Zealand, Will Jordan and Cam Roigard each scoring doubles for the All Blacks, and Tom Clarkson’s last-gasp try and Sam Prendergast conversion that won it for Ireland.
- Coaching and selection storylines already matter: Dave Rennie began his All Blacks tenure with a win, Joe Schmidt will hand over the Wallabies to Les Kiss on July 20, and Ireland opened without key injured players such as Jack Crowley and Caelan Doris.
- World Rugby’s new 12-team ‘North v South’ format is under way with two conference windows and a November finals series in London, and major broadcasters including ITV/ITVX are showing the matches live.
- Teams now turn quickly to Round 2 next weekend where injury management, selection choices and form will shape who can sustain a run toward the November finals and the tournament’s pecking order.