Scotty Stevenson: Where to find flavour in Rugby World Cup's vanilla week

Analysis: This is the 2023 Rugby World Cup's vanilla week – but there's still a sprinkling of worthy contests if you know where to look, TVNZ commentator and sports writer Scotty Stevenson writes.

As is the nature of these world cup tournaments, there will always be one week during which the busiest spectator at most fixtures will be the one operating the scoreboard. Welcome to that week, which kicks off this morning with the hosts taking on Uruguay.

Not exactly the sequel anyone was looking forward to after the fireworks of the opening match and several big-ticket first round fixtures that at least had some bearing on final standings.

Manu Samoa will open their campaign against Chile in what promises to be little more than a warmup for the boys in blue, while South Africa will run up a cricket score against Romania and Wales should have little trouble settling their nerves after the Fijian fright when they take on Portugal.

New Zealand fans will tune in tomorrow morning for the Namibia clash, but perhaps more for morbid curiosity than anything else. This is the third consecutive world cup in which Namibia have been drawn in the same pool as the All Blacks.

In 2015, the scoreline read 58-14, and in 2019, 71-9. One cannot imagine anything but a similar tally in this one.

Much of the interest in New Zealand's performance will centre on the effectiveness of Damien McKenzie, who starts at ten after being left out of the match day 23 for the opening clash. His combination with debutant halfback Cam Roigard points to a more creative attack.

It will be fascinating to see if McKenzie can break the structural shackles that seem to have hobbled the team over the last two outings.

Dalton Papali'i gets another opportunity to advance a case, starting on the openside while squad captain Sam Cane gets another week to recover from the injury that kept him out of the match against France.

If there is a player to track closely in this one, it is Papali'i. New Zealand is not going to go close to winning the cup without an exceptional openside, and as the one specialist back up to Cane, Papali'i needs to be at his imposing, physical best this weekend.

There will be some scrummaging fans keeping a close eye on the refitted front row, too. Ofa Tu'ungafasi, who has become a specialist finisher for the All Blacks largely on account of his ability to play both sides of the scrum, has started just 10 of his 54 tests.

Of those starts, only three were as loosehead prop. Samisoni Taukei'aho is another who will enjoy a rare start. The hooker has sat on the pine in 17 of his 26 tests to date.

Motivation won't be lacking in the New Zealand camp, but there will be some extra for Sam Whitelock, who equals the record for the most test appearances as an All Black, currently held outright by Richie McCaw.

McCaw is rightly lauded as the greatest to have ever worn the jersey for New Zealand and it felt at the time of his retirement that his total of 148 test caps would be hard for anyone else to replicate.

What makes Sam Whitelock's achievement this weekend seem more poignant is the fact he has got here almost by stealth.

Whitelock has never been one to garner much by way of controversial headlines, but few would argue he hasn't deserved his place in the team on each of the previous 147 occasions.

He is that rare test player, one who is simply taken for granted by most fans. He's just… there.

Personal milestones aside, this is also a test for the coaching staff, who have taken what appears to be a more autocratic approach to the game plan than some others might, given the ability of the players at their disposal. It has become obvious that teams like to kick against the All Blacks, and that the All Blacks have tried that tactic on for size and, well, it does not fit.

You can go back a long way to see the genesis of this reactive strategic direction. All the way back to 2016 in Chicago when Ireland's head coach Joe Schmidt engineered the nation's first victory against the All Blacks.

From that point, New Zealand Rugby powers were in thrall to the Irish game. Joe Schmidt is now the All Blacks' assistant coach.

The Irish, it is fair to say, are no longer in thrall to New Zealand. This is one of those matches, against a genuine minnow, before which the words "go have some fun" should be the ones ringing in the cauliflower ears.

Despite the lopsided nature of this week's draw, there will be some matches that pop a pinch of spice into the weekend's largely bland offerings. First up will be Ireland, fresh from a shellacking of Romania, taking on Ikale Tahi of Tonga.

Tonga battled through this year's Pacific Nations Championship without success but gained some confidence from back-to-back victories against the Canadians en route to France. Despite that, and the potential to select a stellar backline which includes Solomone Kata, Pita Ahki, Malakai Fekitoa and Salesi (Charles) Piutau notwithstanding, the Irish should be too well drilled to drop their bundle here.

Still, New Zealanders will take note of just how well resourced Ireland are with far bigger fish laying in wait.

Undoubtedly a step up will be the Japan v England match. Japan have been the crowd-pleasing giant slayers of the last two editions of the tournament, accounting for South Africa in 2015, and Ireland and Scotland in 2019.

Having cruised past Chile in their opening match, the acid will be on the Brave Blossoms to show that their Pacific Nations form (winning just one of three) was foxing of the highest order.

England will feel they have grown an inch after dispatching Argentina with a man down, but Japan specialises in punching inflated egos in the bounce. One would not be surprised if head coach Jamie Joseph has had his team fixated on this clash for many months.

And that leaves one. Undoubtedly the most promising match of the fixture and, almost, a last chance dance for the Flying Fijians who failed to run down a shredded Wales in the final minute of their opening match.

Australia come into this on the back of their first win of the year – an unconvincing but passable victory over Georgia. Fiji have the game plan to genuinely rattle this Australian team, if they are forced into playing too much rugby (as Wales were).

The two bonus points earned by Fiji against Wales may well prove vital in deciding Pool C, if Fiji can get the dub in Saint-Etienne. The "if" is doing plenty of heavy lifting in the previous sentence.

Fiji last won a match against Australia in 1954, with their next best result a 3-3 draw in 1961. In all three world cup clashes (2007, 2015, and 2019) Australia has emerged victorious.

A Fijian victory may be long odds, but this is no great Australian side, and Simon Raiwalui's men have, in one 80-minute performance so far, at least achieved one thing possibly greater than a win: they've reminded all of us how great rugby can be when teams actually want to play it.