Favorite Blues with nothing against the Blacks and Ireland?

Thomas Senecki, Media 365: Posted on Thursday, August 10, 2023 at 10:14 pm.

New Zealand is back at its best. The French will have a lot to do, they know, during the World Cup, and the latest updated forecast establishes very strict trends for title predictions.

This data is still worth what it’s worth, which is to say, not much … But everyone enjoys dissecting it, and there is no doubt that excitement builds before the long-awaited meeting: according to Opta, which relied on a very advanced event artificial intelligence that mixes the latest results – in World Cup, but not only – or even the various face-to-face meetings already planned (including group levels), the XV from France seems to be the favorite for the world title with a percentage of 23%, only 1% better than New Zealand (22%).

Ireland is almost at the level of the French and New Zealanders

This further confirms the XXL content of the World Cup opening match at Stade de France, in less than a month now (Friday, September 8th), which the Blues should win according to these stats. Unsurprisingly, Ireland and South Africa, the other big favorites in Group B (which will meet the Group A Blues in the quarter-finals), follow with a good gap in favor of the Irish who are almost in Group B. French and New Zealand level (19% vs. 13% for Springboks).

Behind Australia (9.3%) and England (6.8%) are ahead of Argentina (4.8%), Scotland (1.8%) and Wales and Japan (0.3%) who have the same small percentage, which is particularly worrying for the Welsh. The study also shows there is a 97% chance for the Blues to qualify – versus just 7% for Italy – then 55% in the semi-finals and 41% in the final. The quarter-finalists should be France – AfSud, All Blacks – Ireland, Australia – Argentina and England – Walesalthough Opta also cautioned against watching Fiji fall behind Welsh (26% chance of qualifying in a quarter).