RUGBY WORLD CUP

11.10.2015
Japan 28, United States 18 in Gloucester (World Cup, Pool B)
Argentina 64, Namibia 19 in Leicester (World Cup, Pool C)
Italy 32, Romania 22 in Exeter (World Cup, Pool D)
Ireland 24, France 9 in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool D)

Reviews
Ireland placed themselves at the top of Pool D after defeating France 24-9 in Cardiff. There concern though is for a trio of injured players who may not be fit enough to play in next weekends quarter final match against Argentina. Coach Schmidt may have to find four replacements for injured players Peter O'Mahony, Paul O'Connell and Jonathan Sexton.

France will rue their lost opportunities on attack and will face a real battle against old foes New Zealand next weekend.

In other results Italy eventually defeated Romania but not without the Eastern Europeans putting up a great fight. Argentina overwhelmed a tired Namibia whilst Japan finished their Rugby World Cup tournament with a win but not enough to secure a quarter final place.

RUGBY WORLD CUP: Sunday’s Fixtures 11 October

United States v Japan in Gloucester (World Cup, Pool B)
Argentina v Namibia in Leicester (World Cup, Pool C)
Italy v Romania in Exeter (World Cup, Pool D)
France v Ireland in Cardiff (World Cup, Pool D)

Briefly
The USA v Japan game is for pride only. Because Scotland defeated Samoa Japan did not reach the quarter finals. But they can be proud of their achievement in gaining automatic qualification to the 2019..hang on! They automatically qualified as they will be the host nation.

Pool C has also been sorted so the Argentina-Namibia game has no bearing.

The action is in Pool D. Ireland and France clash to see who tops this pool and has an easier ride to the semi-finals. Romania and Italy clash for third place. Romania will desperate to win this game, qualify for 2019 and push the claim that Romania and Georgia should be included into the 6 Nations tournament.

There is a lot to play for tomorrow.

Predictions
Japan to win by 14 points. Score 27-13
Argentina to win by 31 points. Score 42-11
Ireland to win by 8 points. Score 21-13
Italy to win by 9 points. Score 24-15

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.

NEW ZEALAND 47, TONGA 9. Rugby World Cup, Pool C

09.10.2015

Briefly
New Zealand were under pressure from the Tongans in the first half and lead 14-6 at halftime. The second half was a different story with the New Zealanders showing more class, speed and fitness than their Pacific cousins. The highlight was Ma’a Nonui scoring a try in his 100th test for New Zealand.

Also pleasing was Dan Carter’s goal kicking and general around the paddock play. This was not New Zealand at its best. Tonga, especially in the first half, dominated the scrum (take note opposing quarter finalists!) and gave the Kiwis a solid workout before the business end of the tournament.

NEW ZEALAND 43, GEORGIA 10: Rugby World Cup Pool C

Review
I am seeing some strange things happening in this Rugby World Cup finals. Yesterday I saw Fiji push Wales off their scrum a number of times and today I saw Georgia decimate the All Black scrum on at least two occasions. Throw in Japan’s upset win over South Africa and the fact that the so called minnows have not been outclassed by the highly paid professional elite tier 1 group. The state of world rugby is in a healthy space.

Frankly, if New Zealand play in the quarter finals like they did today they will be out faster than a pigeon from a loft. They were awful.They were as loose as, the fumbled and bumbled through movements. Only moments of brilliance and two late tries brought a degree of respectability to the score line. This was supposed to be Georgia’s second string line up. Hmmm.

It may have been Georgia’s second team line up but they played like wounded tigers. They upset the All Black rhythm, were quick up on defence, never allowed the AB’s to settle at any stage and their scrum. Wow! What a lesson given!. It was a heroic effort. It was the sort of heartening performance that means the Rugby World Cup is an inspiration for aspiring rugby nations.

POOL C

	P	W	D	L	PF	PA	DIFF	TF	TA	BP	PT
NEW ZEALAND	3	3	0	0	127	40	87	18	3	2	14
TONGA	2	1	0	1	45	38	7	6	5	2	6
ARGENTINA	2	1	0	1	70	35	35	8	2	1	5
GEORGIA	3	1	0	2	39	107	-71	3	15	0	4
NAMIBIA	2	0	0	2	35	93	-58	0	0	0	0

Where to now?
New Zealand’s last pool game is against Tonga. This is the last chance for the world’s no.1 team to finally click. I expect they’ll not play their top side. Who knows how they will go in the quarter finals? Kiwi supporters are beginning to bite their nails.

Georgia has a win at all costs game against Namibia on the 7th October. A win will give them third place in the pool and automatic qualification to the 2019 Rugby World Cup finals.

Coming Up

04.10.2015	ARGENTINA		TONGA		LEICESTER
07.10.2015	NAMIBIA		GEORGIA		EXETER
09.10.2015	NEW ZEALAND		TONGA		NEWCASTLE
11.10.2015	ARGENTINA		NAMIBIA		LEICESTER