To fill the rugby void for fans created by the coronavirus pandemic, World Rugby will be live streaming four Rugby World Cup classic matches this weekend including England’s outstanding victory over New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup 2019 semi-finals.
The action will kick-off with another classic semi-final and Portia Woodman’s award-winning performance for New Zealand against the Women’s Eagles on Friday. USA were stunned by Woodman who completed a hat-trick to qualify the Black Ferns for the RWC 2017 final. Woodman would go on to be named World Rugby Women’s 15s Player of the Year 2017 – the first player to win Player of the Year in both sevens and 15s categories.
It will be followed on Saturday by Argentina’s breakthrough game at RWC 1999. Los Pumas’ dramatic victory over Ireland in the last play-off match to decide the quarter-final line-up marked a turning point in their history and set them on the road to becoming a real force in the game. Gonzalo Quesada produced a kicking masterclass for Argentina and the fly-half finished the 1999 tournament as the top points scorer with 102 points, 23 of them coming against the Irish.
The third game of the weekend will take us only six months back in time to International Stadium Yokohama for England’s epic 19-7 win against New Zealand. Fans will relive all the passion from Japan as England shot to the top of the World Rugby Men’s Rankings for the first time in more than 15 years and qualified for the RWC 2019 final. Maro Itoje’s relentless efforts and man-of-the-match performance inspired Eddie Jones’ team to stop the All Blacks’ run of 18 consecutive victories in the tournament.
On Monday, the last classic of the weekend will feature an impressive performance from Canada’s women when they overcame France to reach the RWC 2014 final on home soil. France had not conceded a try going into the semi-final and it took an incredible display from Canada’s Magali Harvey to overcome Les Bleues. Harvey was named IRB Women’s Player of the Year four days after the final, becoming the first Canadian to win the accolade.
All classic matches will be shown on the Rugby World Cup Facebook page and World Rugby YouTube channel channel while expert commentary will help fans around the world to relive the drama, excitement and passion of these memorable matches.
- Friday, 1 May – USA v New Zealand – RWC 2017 – 19.00 BST
- Saturday, 2 May – Argentina v Ireland – RWC 1999 – 19:00 BST
- Sunday, 3 May – England v New Zealand – RWC 2019 – 16:00 BST
- Monday, 4 May – France v Canada – RWC 2014 – 19:00 BST
