Winning strategies for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals

afr.com:

The quarter-finals of the 2023 Rugby World Cup are an incredible match-up between teams of the northern and southern hemispheres in every game this weekend.

There is also a massive strategic game being played off the field.

The only team north of the equator to win the Rugby World Cup since it’s inception in 1987 was England, through a Johnny Wilkinson drop-goal in the last minutes against Eddie Jones’s Australia, 20 years ago in Sydney.

World Rugby’s leadership is dominated by an English chairman in Bill Beaumont, an English CEO in Alan Gilpin and a Scottish vice-chairman in John Jeffrey – they are desperate for a rare northern hemisphere victory for strategic reasons we will explore in the coming weeks.

QF1: Wales (winner Pool C) v Argentina (runner-up Pool D), in Marseille at 5pm Saturday (6am AEST Sunday).

This match is all about vastly different tactical approaches from Wales’ Warren Gatland and Argentina’s Michael Cheika.

Gatland drives a disciplined, controlled game, with Wales averaging 30.8 kicks in play per game, the second highest in this World Cup behind England, as they try to dominate field position and put sustained pressure on the opposition.

This is backed-up by the best tackle success in the tournament at 88 per cent, remarkable as Wales average 166.8 tackles per game, well above every other team in this World Cup.

Argentina’s Rodrigo Isgro running the ball against Chile. The Pumas will have plenty of opportunity to run against the big kicking Welsh. AP

So how do Michael Cheika and the Argentinians react?

They have to assiduously counter-attack, judging which Welsh kick to run and which to tactically kick-return. The Pumas backline is fit, fast and elusive, sitting second in the tournament for