RWC 2015 3rd October

England 13-33 Australia 

England have been eliminated from their own Rugby World Cup courtesy of a 33-13 defeat at the hands of Australia at Twickenham this evening. 

Stuart Lancaster's side become the first host nation to exit a World Cup in the group stages, and they made a number of bright breaks in the first half, but failed to transfer that onto the scoreboard as Australia gained control. It was the Wallabies who got the first points of the evening when Bernard Foley knocked over a penalty, but Owen Farrell soon brought England back level with a kick of his own. It was the Foley show for the remainder of the first half, however, as the Australian fly-half took the game away from the hosts with a pair of tries. 

The first came from close range midway through the half after some sustained pressure from Michael Cheika's side, while five minutes before the interval he went over again following some good work by Israel Folau. That gave the visitors a 14-point lead at the break, and that advantage was extended by a further three shortly after the restart when Foley kicked another penalty. The Waratahs kicker then denied England a certain try when he knocked on while trying to intercept a pass, but it wouldn't be long before the Red Rose finally crossed over. 

Anthony Watson was the man to hand his side a World Cup lifeline, breaking through two defenders on the wing before stretching over the line. A pair of wayward passes from Australia handed England another break forward, from which they won a penalty that Farrell dispatched to bring the hosts within a converted try. Any hopes of a comeback were dealt a blow when Farrell was sent to the sin-bin for the final 10 minutes of the match having tackled Matt Giteau off the ball. 

Foley restored his side's 10-point lead with the resulting penalty, and he added another shortly afterwards to hammer another nail into England's World Cup coffin. Giteau twisted the knife in the final play of the game by adding another try, condemning England to elimination from Pool A and effectively sealing his side's place in the quarter-finals. 


South Africa 34-16 Scotland

South Africa went top of Rugby World Cup Pool B thanks to a dominant 34-16 victory over Scotland in Newcastle this evening.  After a bruising opening 10 minutes at St James' Park, it was South Africa who scored the first try of the contest through veteran flanker Schalk Burger, who was adjudged to have grounded the ball by the TMO. 

Handre Pollard made no mistake with the conversion and not long after put the Springboks 13 ahead with a pair of penalties as Scotland struggled to cause any problems in the other half. Dark blues captain Greig Laidlaw got the Scots on the board with a penalty of his own but then missed his second kick to leave Vern Cotter's men 10 points behind. 

Jannie du Plessis was sent to the sin bin for dangerous tackling in the final 10 minutes of the first half, but Scotland failed to make their numerical advantage pay and it was South Africa who scored the second try shortly before the break. 

JP Pietersen, who scored a hat-trick against Samoa last week, was the man who touched down and Pollard continued his 100% record with the boot to put the Springboks 17 points in front at half time. Laidlaw's penalty reduced the deficit shortly after the resumption and then St James' Park erupted as Tommy Seymour scored Scotland's first try after Duncan Weir had stolen the ball and surged into Springbok territory. 

The kick out wide from Laidlaw was good, but the momentum swung straight back South Africa's way as Pollard scored a drop goal before Laidlaw was sent to the sin bin for blatantly upending Bryan Habana as the South Africa winger overtook him in pursuit of a loose ball. Scotland cut the lead back to seven thanks to Duncan Weir's penalty, but Pollard soon answered with one of his own from just inside the halfway line, restoring South Africa's double-digit lead as the match entered its final quarter. Pollard added another penalty in the 68th minute and South Africa then put the game to bed five minutes later as Habana went over for his 61st international try. 

South Africa leapfrog Scotland in the group ahead of their final match against the USA. Scotland face Samoa in their last group game and will feel victory is needed with Japan up also up against pointless USA in their last match. 


Samoa 5-26 Japan

Japan have cruised to victory against Samoa in Pool B of the Rugby World Cup, brushing their opponents aside 26-5 to keep their qualification hopes alive. They opened the scoring with eight minutes on the clock through Ayumu Goromaru's penalty kick before being awarded a penalty try in the 23rd minute. 

Goromaru calmly converted to make it 10-0, and it was not long before indisciplined Samoa shot themselves in the foot again. The tournament's top scorer added another penalty in the 34th minute, before Akihito Yamada went over for a try for minutes later. 

Two further penalties from Goromaru in the 48th and 59th minutes added some gloss to the scoreline, before Samoa reduced the deficit with a try of their own. Paul Perez raced clear in the 64th minute after collecting a pass from Tusi Pisi but it proved little consolation for his team, who were well beaten by a Japanese side that moves up to second place in Pool B.