Canadians Having to Watch Rugby World Cup Without Canucks
For the first time in the history of the Rugby World Cup, this year’s tournament will be played without Canada, after the Canucks failed to qualify for the event in France. It is a big blow to Canadian rugby, but they will be hoping to bounce back in four years’ time when the competition takes place in Australia.
Three spaces were handed to the Americas region for this year’s World Cup, and they were taken by Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile. The latter qualified for the tournament for the first time, while like Canada, the United States also missed out on a place at the prestigious event.
France Favorites to Prevail in Home Country
Hosts France are the favorites at +260 in the Rugby World Cup odds to lift the trophy in front of their home fans on October 28 in Paris. Heading into this tournament, they have won seven of their last eight matches, so they have been in excellent form.
France jumped ahead of New Zealand in the rugby betting odds for the World Cup after they defeated the All Blacks in their Pool A opener. The home side was dominant in the second half of that contest, inflicting New Zealand’s first-ever loss in the group stage of the competition.
If France continues to play with the same intensity and are as clinical as they were against New Zealand and Uruguay, they could take some beating in their bid to win the trophy this year.
Argentina Best Chance of Americas Region
The highest-ranked Americas team at the 2023 World Cup is Argentina. They are 10th in the world rankings, and they qualified automatically for this tournament after finishing in the top three of the pool at the 2019 World Cup.
Argentina’s best performance at a World Cup so far came in 2007, the last time the tournament was held in France. They finished third in that competition. Victory came over Scotland in the quarter-final, before being eliminated in the semi-final by South Africa. In the bronze medal match, they defeated the hosts 34-10 in one of the biggest surprises of the competition.
With wins over Australia, England, New Zealand, and Scotland over the last two years, Argentina came into this World Cup full of confidence.
Positives From Defeats to Tonga
Although Canada missed out on the chance to compete at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, they did face Tonga in two World Cup warm-up matches. They lost both matches against the Oceania team, but they gave the World Cup side a strong test before they headed to France.
In the second game in Tonga, they scored 12 points in a 36-12 defeat. The Canucks are now ranked 23rd in the world rankings. Their goal in 2024 will be to get back into the world’s top 16, which will help their chances of returning to the World Cup in 2027.
The 2023 Rugby Union World Cup features 48 matches and despite the absence of Les Rouges, many Canadians will be tuning into the event from Europe across the two months of the tournament.
