Rugby World Cup 2023 - Quarterfinal Network Visualisation

Only a few days, and four matches, late. 

(If we never speak of the Ireland game again, that would be good) 

(No, really, their reward for beating the Springboks in the group stage was a quarterfinal against New Zealand) 

(How are England the only Northern hemisphere side through?!!!) 

(I mean, if either France or Ireland had lost one more match, I can see the semifinal line up being Argentina vs France, Ireland vs England, because France can out New Zealand New Zealand but not out 'Bok the Springboks, while Ireland were built to disrupt South Africa but didn't seem to be able to deal with New Zealand this time.) 

(It could be worse, they normally peak a year too early, not a month too early). 

Ahem, like I said, let us never speak of this again. 

The quarterfinal diagrams for the Rugby World Cup look significantly different to the group stages, because 3/5ths of the teams are eliminated, which is far more than the equivalent stages of the football (or the rugby league). New Zealand and Ireland are the two teams that stick out the most, both on the left hand side. 

Because the figure is off-centre, Argentina are the team closest to the centre, with Perpignan the club team closest to the centre. 

So many teams being removed has completely changed which club teams have the most representatives. Of the 4 teams with the most players at the start of the competition (Selknam, Penarol, Moana Pasifika and Benetton), only Benetton still have any players left in. 

The teams with the most players left in at this stage are Leinster with 17, Fijian Drua with 16 and Toulouse with 12. In the community diagram, all 8 teams are separate communities.  

My only hope for the semifinals is that they're good games.