RUGBY WORLD CUP: Results Saturday 10 October

Australia 15, Wales 6 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
England 60, Uruguay 3 in Manchester (World Cup, Pool A)
Scotland 36, Samoa 33 in Newcastle (World Cup, Pool B)

Briefly
Australia put on a stunning ten minute display of defence against Wales in the second half. Reduced to 13 players they held out a great effort by Wales to score in a thrilling encounter. The score was 12-6 to Australia. A Welsh try with the conversion would have put them in the lead. But Wales could not breach the defence. Stand up tall Australia and be proud. Yet another amazing game at this tournament.

Probably the best game of rugby at the tournament to date saw Scotland just edge out Samoa 36-33. What a game! Running rugby at its best. Whew!!

England defeated Uruguay 60-3. That was that!

After today’s results the quarter finals look like this.

Australia v Scotland
Wales v South Africa
New Zealand v Ireland or France
Ireland or France v Argentina

The quarter finals will take place next Saturday and Sunday

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Saturday’s Games

Due to other commitments previews have to be brief.

10.10.2015
Australia v Wales at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)

This is a crucial game in Pool A. The winner will take top spot and will play either Scotland or Japan in the quarter finals. The loser will have the much harder game against South Africa.

Prediction: Wales by 5 points. Score 26-21

England v Uruguay in Manchester (World Cup, Pool A)

Nothing much to write about this one. England are out of the tournament and will want to appease their fans with a huge win which they are capable of doing. Uruguay will be going home without a win and having to re qualify for the 2019 tournament.

Prediction: England by 73 points. Score 81-8

Samoa v Scotland in Newcastle (World Cup, Pool B)

Samoa has been a huge disappointment at this tournament. They will put up a good fight in the first half but I expect Scotland to be too strong in the second.

Prediction: Scotland by 13 points. Score 24-11

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Pool Standings

Here are the pool standings prior to Saturday’s and Sunday’s final pool fixtures.

POOL A

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
AUSTRALIA	3	3	0	0	126	29	97	17	2	1	13
WALES	3	3	0	0	105	47	58	11	2	1	13
ENGLAND	3	1	0	2	73	72	1	6	5	2	6
FIJI	4	1	0	3	84	101	-17	10	11	1	5
URUGUAY	3	0	0	3	27	166	-139	2	26	0	0

Still to play

10.10.2015	AUSTRALIA		WALES		TWICKENHAM
10.10.2015	ENGLAND		URUGUAY		MANCHESTER

Tonight Australia and Wales fight it out to see who gains top position in this pool. Both are assured of a quarter final place.

POOL B

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
SOUTH AFRICA	4	3	0	1	176	56	120	23	4	4	16
SCOTLAND	3	2	0	1	100	60	40	11	5	2	10
JAPAN	3	2	0	1	70	82	-12	6	10	0	8
SAMOA	3	1	0	2	36	88	-52	3	10	0	4
UNITED STATES	3	0	0	3	32	128	-98	3	17	0	0

Still to Play

10.10.2015	SAMOA		SCOTLAND		NEWCASTLE
11.10.2015	UNITED STATES		JAPAN		GLOUCESTER

South Africa is assured top spot in this pool. Scotland and Japan will slug it out for second place. If Japan gets through it will be the first time in their Rugby World Cup history to do that.

‘Scotland will qualify for the quarter-finals if they beat Samoa on Saturday or if Japan fail to beat USA on Sunday (provided that it is not a bonus-point draw for Japan).

Samoa can finish in third place only with a bonus-point win against Scotland and if Japan gain no points against USA.’
http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/news/107002

So at this stage South Africa will play either Australia or Wales in a quarter final, whilst England or Wales will play either Scotland or Japan in the other.

POOL C

 

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
NEW ZEALAND	4	4	0	0	174	49	125	25	3	3	19
ARGENTINA	3	2	0	1	115	51	64	13	4	2	10
GEORGIA	4	2	0	2	53	123	-70	5	16	0	8
TONGA	4	1	0	3	70	130	-60	8	17	2	6
NAMIBIA	3	0	0	3	51	110	-59	5	16	1	1

Still to Play

11.10.2015

ARGENTINA

NAMIBIA

LEICESTER

New Zealand has sewn up top place in this pool whilst Argentina has second place. Namibia will have to defeat Argentina on Sunday to have a chance at gaining automatic qualification for 2019 over Tonga.

POOL D

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
IRELAND	3	3	0	0	110	26	84	14	2	2	14
FRANCE	3	3	0	0	111	39	72	12	4	2	14
ITALY	3	1	0	2	42	66	-24	3	5	1	5
ROMANIA	3	1	0	2	38	97	-59	4	13	0	4
CANADA	4	0	0	4	58	131	-73	7	16	2	2

Still to Play

11.10.2015	ITALY		ROMANIA		EXETER
11.10.2015	FRANCE		IRELAND		CARDIFF

Ireland and France will battle it out for top spot in this pool. Both are assured of a place in the quarter finals. Italy faces Romania on Sunday to decide third place.

So for the other quarter final games, New Zealand will play either Ireland or France, whilst Argentina will play either Ireland or France.

This is a big weekend at the 2015 Rugby World Cup finals.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Results 6 October

06.10.2015
Fiji 47, Uruguay 15 in Milton Keynes (World Cup, Pool A)
Romania 17, Canada 15 in Leicester (World Cup, Pool D)

Briefly
Fiji unleased their free flowing rugby against Uruguay to score a decisive victory. Meanwhile Romania came from 0-15 down to just overhaul the Canadians to register their first win in this Rugby World Cup.

AUSTRALIA 33, ENGLAND 13: Rugby World Cup, Pool A

03.10.2015

SENSATIONAL GAME. ENGLAND OUT!

In what has to be one of the most sensational results in all Rugby World Cups, Australia has created rugby history by eliminating host nation England from the tournament.

This has been a sensational Rugby World Cup already and we are only at the pool stages. Is there more sensation to come? I blooming hope so!

England were comprehensively outplayed by Australia in every facet of the game. Australia’s defence was outstanding, they dominated the breakdowns, the scrums and simply out scored their opponents.

For England this is the end of their tournament. How bitterly disappointed the team, coaching staff and fans must be. Heartbroken would probably be putting it mildly. Devastating!

Australia has now put their hand up as a serious contender for a place in the finals.

ENGLAND v AUSTRALIA: Rugby World Cup, Pool A

03.10.2015

Image thanks to www.englandrugby.com

Venue: Twickenham

Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Pool Standings

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
WALES	3	3	0	0	105	47	58	11	2	1	13
AUSTRALIA	2	2	0	0	93	16	77	14	1	1	9
ENGLAND	2	1	0	1	60	39	21	5	2	2	6
FIJI	3	0	0	3	37	86	-49	3	9	0	0
URUGUAY	2	0	0	2	12	119	-107	0	19	0	0

Preview
It doesn’t get better than this. Probably the most crucial pool match of this World Cup and certainly the most important to this date. A loss by England would be catastrophic as it would almost certainly eliminate them from the quarter finals. If that happens it would be the first time at a Rugby World Cup tournament that the host nations has not reached the quarter finals.Heads could roll!

A win to Australia would bring them to at least level with Wales on the points table and set up a vital pool clash on the 10th October. The Aussies have been the improving team among the top nations in world rugby. They won the Rugby Championship for the first time, including win over New Zealand. This is a vastly improved side from a year ago.

Twickenham will be all noise but the English fans will also be holding their breath and crossing everything they can find.

Last Five Encounters
29.11.2014 England 26-17 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
02.11.2013 England 20-13 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
17.11.2012 Australia 20-14 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
13.11.2010 England 35-18 at Twickenham (Cook Cup)
19.06.2010 England 21-20 in Sydney (Cook Cup)

England has dominated Australia at test level in recent times.

Previous World Cups
06.10.2007 England 12-10 in Marseilles (World Cup,quarter final)
22.11.2003 England 20-17 in Sydney (World Cup, Final)
11.06.1995 England 25-22 in Capetown (World Cup, Quarter final)
02.11.1991 Australia 12-6 at Twickenham (World Cup, Final)
23.05.1987 Australia 19-6 in Sydney (World Cup)

These two teams have a long history at World Cup tournaments with England holding an edge.

Australia Last Five P 5, W 4, L 1
27.09.2015 v Uruguay W 65-3 in Birmingham (World Cup, Pool A)
23.09.2015 v Fiji W 28-13 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool A)
05.09.2015 v United States W 47-10 in Chicago
15.08.2015 v New Zealand L 13-41 in Auckland (Bledisloe Cup)
08.08.2015 v New Zealand W 27-19 in Sydney (Rugby Champ., Bledisloe Cup)

England Last Five P 5, W 3, L 2
26.09.2015 v Wales L 25-28 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
18.09.2015 v Fiji W 35-11 at Twickenham (World Cup, Pool A)
05.09.2015 v Ireland W 21-13 at Twickenham (World Cup Warm Up)
22.08.2015 v France L 20-25 in Paris (World Cup Warm Up)
15.08.2015 v France W 19-15 at Twickenham (World Cup Warm Up)

GWC Rugby Rankings
World Table: England 2nd, Australia 6th

World Rugby Ranking Points
Australia 86.75, England 82.35

Prediction: Almost too close to call. Australia by 1 point. Score 27-26

TEAMS

England
15 Michael Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Jonathan Joseph, 12 Bradley Barritt, 11 Jonathan May, 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Benjamin Youngs, 8 Benjamin Morgan, 7 Christopher Robshaw (Capt.), 6 Thomas Wood, 5 Geoffrey Parling,
4 Joseph Launchbury, 3 Daniel Cole, 2 Thomas Youngs, 1 Joseph Marler
Replacements
16 Robert Webber, 17 Mako Vunipola, 18 Kieran Brookes, 19 George Kruis,
20 Nicholas Easter, 21 Richard Wigglesworth, 22 George Ford, 23 Samuel Burgess
Head Coach: Stuart Lancaster

Australia
15 Israel Folau, 14 Adam Ashley-Cooper, 13 Tevita Kuridrani, 12 Matthew Giteau, 11 Robert Horne, 10 Bernard Foley, 9 William Genia, 8 David Pocock, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 Robert Simmons, 4 Kane Douglas,
3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore (Capt.), 1 Scott Sio.
Replacements
16 Tatafu Polota-Nau, 17 James Slipper, 18 Gregory Holmes, 19 Dean Mumm, 20 Benjamin McCalman, 21 Nicholas Phipps, 22 Matthew Toomua, 
23 Kurtley Beale
Head Coach: Michael Cheika