Rugby World Cup Player Watch

In this piece we take a look at players who are certain to be on the plane to Japan, and who could be missing out.

Rugby World Cup Player Watch

Within the context of a Rugby World Cup year, performances in tournaments like the Six Nations will have considerable impact on a players participation.

As a result, in this piece we are going to take a look at some players who have punched their plane ticket to Japan, who are in the mix, and who may be struggling to get selected for their respective countries.

Who has punched their ticket?

Jayden Hayward (Italy)

Kiwi born Hayward has been one of Italy’s top players during the tournament regularly showing his proficiency in the air and can find space on occasion too.

Joe Cokanasiga (England)

Not a lot needs to be said here. The big Bath man offers electric dynamism on the wing and is sure to be on the plane to Japan later this year.

Who is in the mix?

Ellis Genge (England)

In all likelihood Genge and Ben Moon will probably compete for one of the prop spots in the England World Cup squad, and the former did his cause no harm against Italy putting in some huge hits and scrummaged well too.

Ben O’Keefe (New Zealand)

Bit of a curveball here, but referee O’Keefe had a less than ideal game whilst officiating France against Ireland. It was blatantly apparent that the French could not understand what he wanted from them and they got penalised immensely as a result. Given the sheer number of nationalities at the World Cup, O’Keefe could do with learning some key phrases in a language other than English.

Who is struggling?

Dorian Aldegheri (France)

Came on as a replacement for Bamba against Ireland and got found very quickly indeed. He could not deal with Irish pressure in the scrum, regularly infringed and received a sin-binning too.

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