Fiji’s opening weekend encounter with Wales could yet prove to be a quarter-final play-in fixture in a competitive Pool C, with the Pacific Islanders win over England at Twickenham evidencing their development over the last couple of years into a side that look like genuine last eight contenders. The Flying Fijians knocked out Wales the last time a men’s World Cup was hosted in France, but head coach Simon Raiwalui has denied his team should be considered favourites for Sunday’s meeting in Bordeaux.

“When could we ever be called favourites when we’re considered a developing country versus a developed country, resources and those sort of things,” Raiwalui said. “We’re confident with our preparation, with our group. We never go in thinking we’re favourites to win, we’re humble.

“We go into this game obviously humble, we’ve worked hard throughout the eight-week (warm-up) campaign, and our focus has always been one week at time, what’s the next challenge, what have we got coming up this weekend. We’ve been working towards this point, so we’re totally focused on this game and nothing past this game. We understand Wales is a very good team, they’ve got a lot of experience so we understand the challenge and we’re looking forward to it.

“I think they’ll come in very well prepared, they’ll be tactically astute, they’ll be looking at things they can attack us with. They obviously have a very good tactical game, kick and chase, the set-piece, so they’ll be looking to put pressure on some of those areas. But we’re a different Fijian team, we’ve worked on certain areas that have traditionally been a weakness for us so it’s going to be a good challenge in those areas.

“One of my catchphrases is play like a Fijian, so traditionally that’s the offloading, the quick touch, the one touch, aggressive ball carriers, the contact, our set-piece. So that’s what I’ve really pushed, to play like a Fijian.”

Pablo Lemoine has named his Chile side to face Japan on Sunday as the South Americans prepare to make their World Cup debut. Flanker Martin Sigren, who spent last season with Doncaster in the Championship, captains a squad that will look to fly half Rodrigo Fernandez to provide creativity, while the versatile Santiago Videla is deployed on the right wing.

1 Javier Carrasco 2 Diego Escobar 3 Matias Dittus
4 Clemente Saavedra 5 Javier Eissmann 6 Martín Sigren (c) 7 Raimundo Martínez 8 Alfonso Escobar 9 Marcelo Torrealba 10 Rodrigo Fernandez 11 Franco Velarde 12 Matias Garafulic 13 Domingo Saavedra 14 Santiago Videla 15 Inaki Ayarza

Replacements:
16 Augusto Bohme 17 Salvador Lues 18 Inaki Gurruchaga 19 Pablo Huete 20 Santiago Pedrero 21 Ignacio Silva 22 Lukas Carvallo 23 José Ignacio Larenas

Antoine Dupont to star? England to struggle? Will Jordan to top the try scoring charts? Luke Baker and I have put together our pre-tournament predictions:

Darcy Graham is fit to start for Scotland against South Africa, with Gregor Townsend able to name a full strength side. Rory Darge and Jack Dempsey join captain Jamie Ritchie in the back row, with Zander Fagerson back available after suspension to take the starting tighthead shirt.

15. Blair Kinghorn (Edinburgh Rugby) 46 caps

14. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby) 35 caps

13. Huw Jones (Glasgow Warriors) 39 caps

12. Sione Tuipulotu (Glasgow Warriors) 19 caps

11. Duhan van der Merwe (Edinburgh Rugby) 31 caps

10. Finn Russell (Bath Rugby) – Vice-captain – 72 caps

9. Ben White (Toulon) 16 caps

1. Pierre Schoeman (Edinburgh Rugby) 23 caps

2. George Turner (Glasgow Warriors) 37 caps

3. Zander Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 59 caps

4. Richie Gray (Glasgow Warriors) 75 caps

5. Grant Gilchrist (Edinburgh Rugby) – Vice-captain – 65 caps

6. Jamie Ritchie (Edinburgh Rugby) – Captain – 43 caps

7. Rory Darge (Glasgow Warriors) 11 caps

8. Jack Dempsey (Glasgow Warriors) 12 caps

16. Dave Cherry (Edinburgh Rugby) 10 caps

17. Jamie Bhatti (Glasgow Warriors) 32 caps

18. WP Nel (Edinburgh Rugby) 57 caps

19. Scott Cummings (Glasgow Warriors) 29 caps

20. Matt Fagerson (Glasgow Warriors) 36 caps

21. Ali Price (Glasgow Warriors) 63 caps

22. Cameron Redpath (Bath Rugby) 7 caps

23. Ollie Smith (Glasgow Warriors) 6 caps

Attack coach Richard Wigglesworth was one of the voices from England camp up in front of the media this morning, offering his thoughts on the eve of their tournament getting underway. Wigglesworth both coached and was captained by Pumas hooker Julian Montoya at Leicester, and describes him as the “heartbeat” of this Argentina side.

“We have spent an incredible amount of time studying Argentina,” Wigglesworth said. “I know a couple of their players very well, I know their captain Julian Montoya very well – as good a player as there is in world rugby right now.

“Incredible leader, wants to win, gets people around him galvanised. You can see the heartbeat of their team is him. We’ve spoken a lot about what they bring and how they do it because that is what you do against any team.”

The 2023 Rugby World Cup will see a revamped foul play process in place, with the introduction of the “TMO bunker” system at the tournament for the first time.

The introduction follows a number of World Rugby trials during the course of the last year, including the Summer Nations Series and Rugby Championship.

The “bunker” system is designed to improve accuracy of decision making and avoid significant disruptions to the flow of games, and has already been utilised in a couple of high profile moments ahead of the World Cup.

So how does the “bunker” system work? Here’s everything you need to know:

Few would have expected a quiet ride to the World Cup when Australia rehired Eddie Jones in January, but even by his headline-a-minute standards, these last few months have felt particularly rich in debate and drama.

Call it the increasingly outdated approach of a populist pretender clinging to a final chance at glory, or the masterful manoeuvres of a veteran schemer successfully taking the attention off his struggling side, but since his return to Sydney as Dave Rennie’s replacement, Jones has most certainly played the hits.

The Springboks are confident that they can defend their crown – but could a gruelling schedule stop them?