Pool C of the 2023 Rugby World Cup began on 9 September 2023 and concluded on 8 October 2023. The pool included two-times champions Australia, and automatic qualifiers Wales and Fiji. They were joined by Georgia (Europe 1) and Portugal (Final Qualifier Winner).[1]
It is the fourth time in five Rugby World Cup tournament in which Australia, Wales and Fiji have been in the same group (2011 being the exception, where Wales and Fiji were still drawn together, and Wales faced Australia in the bronze medal match).
^The rankings of 1 January 2020 were used for seeding for the final draw.
^ abAs the identity of the Europe 1 winners was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the World Rugby Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into band 4.[3]
^ abAs the identity of the Final Qualifier winners was not known at the time of the final draw, positions in the World Rugby Rankings were not taken into account, and the placeholder in the draw was automatically seeded into band 5.[3]
Overview
Pool C got underway with Australia facing Georgia, in which Australia came out victorious with a 35–15 win. Ben Donaldson earned himself two tries while also succeeding in 3 conversions and 3 penalties, earning him player of the match.[4] The following day, Wales faced Fiji in a pulsating encounter which Wales edged in a scoreline of 32–26. Tries were scored at both ends, but Elliot Dee's converted try in the 66th minute turned out to be what sealed victory for the Welsh, despite a late attempt at a fightback from Fiji which included a try from Mesake Doge in the 78th minute which was not converted.[5]Portugal, making their first Rugby World Cup appearance since 2007, began their campaign the following week against Wales. Despite a valiant effort from the Portuguese, Wales came out winners with a scoreline of 28–8, courtesy of four Welsh tries.[6] Australia faced Fiji for their second match of the pool the following day, as Fiji came out shock winners with a 15–22 victory in Saint-Étienne, with Josua Tuisova scoring their only try of the match.[7]
After a six day rest in the pool, action returned with Georgia facing Portugal in Toulouse. After trailing 13–0, Portugal staged a comeback with two tries from Raffaele Storti, before a late try from Tengiz Zamtaradze drew Georgia level and denied Portugal a famous first World Cup victory, with Nuno Sousa Guedes missing a last minute penalty for the Portuguese as the match finished with
a scoreline of 18–18.[8] On the following day, Wales took on Australia, in which Wales scoring a record breaking 40 points to Australia's 6, a result which saw Wales become the first team to officially progress to the knockout stage in the 2023 Rugby World Cup, while leaving Australia in serious jeopardy of exiting the tournament at the pool stage for the first time in the Wallabies history.[9]
The following weekend, on 30 September, Fiji and Georgia locked horns in Bordeaux with both sides still fighting to join Wales in the knockout stage. Despite trailing to first half penalties from Luka Matkava and Davit Niniashvili, Fiji fought back in the second half with tries from Waisea Nayacalevu and Vinaya Habosi to move to the brink of qualifying for the quarter-finals, while Georgia were confirmed elimination from the tournament despite Matkava's late penalty providing Georgia a losing bonus point.[10] The next day, Australia played their last match of the pool against Portugal in a must win encounter for both sides in Saint-Étienne. In a physical match which saw three players sin-binned, the Australians came out victorious with a 34–14 scoreline, despite a valiant Portuguese effort. Five tries were scored by Australia, two not converted, to secure a bonus-point win and keep their faint hopes of progression to the knockout stage alive while officially knocking Portugal out of the tournament.[11]
Ahead of the final matchweek in the pool, which Australia would not play, Fiji needed just a point from their match against Portugal to advance to the knockout stage alongside Wales and ahead of Australia. On 7 October, Wales played their final match of the pool against Georgia in which they came out with a 43–19 victory, courtesy of a hat-trick from Louis Rees-Zammit, to officially secure the Welsh top spot in Pool C.[12] All that was left in Pool C was the final match the following day between Fiji and Portugal, to officially decide whether it would be Australia or Fiji who would finish second in the pool and join Wales in the knockout stage. With the exception of a few moments, Fiji started the game slowly and by halftime the scoreline was level at 3–3, with both teams having scored only a penalty each. By the 51st minute, Portugal looked to pull off a historic upset with Francisco Fernandes scoring a try, which converted, brought the scoreline to 10–17. In the 68th minute, a well-worked drive from Mesake Doge levelled the score at 17–17. Two converted penalties for Fiji within the space of four minutes looked to seal their place in the last-eight for them, however, in the final minute of the game, Rodrigo Marta ran in a last try. Samuel Marques would convert, bringing the final scoreline to 23–24, and marking Portugal's first ever victory in a World Cup tournament. Although Fiji lost the match, they were awarded a losing bonus-point as they lost the game within a margin of seven points, therefore putting them level with Australia on points in the standings. According to the tiebreaking criteria, advancement therefore went to the team with the better head-to-head record. Because Fiji had won against Australia, they went through to the knockout stage, and for the first time in their history, Australia was eliminated in the pool stages. Portugal finished in fourth, while Georgia took fifth.[13]
Tommy Reffell (Wales) was originally named in the starting line-up, but withdrew during the match-day warm-up because of injury. He was replaced by Jac Morgan.[20]
José Madeira (Portugal) was originally named in the starting line-up, but withdrew the day before the match because of injury. He was replaced by Martim Belo, whose place on the bench was taken by Thibault de Freitas.[21]
Captain Will Skelton was originally named at lock for Australia, but failed a fitness test prior to the match. He was replaced in the starting line-up by Richie Arnold, whose place on the bench was taken by Matt Philip. The Wallabies captaincy was handed over to Dave Porecki.[23]
This was Fiji's first victory over Australia at the Rugby World Cup, and their first since an 18–16 away win in 1954.[24]
This was Australia's largest defeat in a World Cup match (by margin). It was also the first time they had lost two matches in the World Cup pool stages.[30]
Gareth Anscombe was originally named to start at fly-half for Wales, but withdrew after sustaining a groin injury during the pre-match warm-up. He was replaced by Sam Costelow, whose place on the bench was taken by Dan Biggar.[37]
Wales finished top of their pool for the second World Cup in a row – the first time they have achieved this feat in consecutive tournaments.[38]
