What an incredible opening Rugby World Cup weekend that was. Always destined for greatness, days one, two and three in Japan were the magic number that brought nervy hosts, booming tackles and big implications. Here’s our hot takes after Sunday’s action. Ireland are back Plenty of questions have been asked of Ireland in 2019 but after a comprehensive 27-3 victory over main pool rivals Scotland, a fair amount of them have been answered. Joe Schmidt will not be wandering around after this World Cup shouting “I coulda been a contender” – Ireland are contenders, for the World Cup trophy. Yes the All Blacks didn’t show many weaknesses against the Springboks but on Sunday’s form the feeling is that Ireland could mix it with them as they did, more than did, in 2018. On the game, Scotland were never really in it, with forward power the difference as James Ryan, Rory Best and Tadhg Furlong all bashed their way over, Andrew Conway adding a touch of sparkle in the second half.
