Pool A Review After 2 Rounds

Ireland came into the group as heavy favourites to top the pool, and after they beat Scotland it was almost a full-blown conclusion. Then they faced Japan and got stunned 19-12 at the Shizuoka Stadium on Saturday and that threw the group wide open. The hosts are now leading the group and could go on to be the first tier 2 nation to make it to the quarter-finals.

With Samoa struggling with suspensions and Russia not quiet at that level to upset a tier 1 nation, Ireland is expected to still make it out of the group, while Japan vs Scotland is the last fixture in Pool A and could well be decide who goes through with the Irish. 

Remaining Fixtures: 

Thursday, 3 October: Ireland vs Russia — Kobe Misaki Stadium

Saturday, 5 October: Japan vs Samoa — City of Toyota Stadium

Wednesday, 9 October: Scotland vs Russia — Shizuoka Stadium

Saturday, 12 October: Ireland vs Samoa — Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium

Sunday, 13 October: Japan vs Scotland — International Stadium Yokohama

Table:

Top Points Scorers In The Pool: 

Top Points Scorer: Yu Tamura (Japan) — 22 points (averaging 11.0 per game) 

Top Try Scorer: Kotaro Matsushima (Japan) — 3 tries (averaging 1.5 per game) 

Who progresses to the knockout stages?

We feel Ireland will pick up bonus point wins in their final two fixtures, while we were expecting Japan to win at least one of their last two remaining fixtures. 

The winner of Pool B faces the runner-up in Pool A (Japan) in quarter-final 2.

The winner of Pool A (Ireland) faces the runner-up in Pool B in quarter-final 4.