The road to the quarter-finals
The road to the quarter-finals
(Rugby News Service) Monday 24 September 2007
PARIS, 24 September - Five nations will see their dreams of an IRB Rugby World Cup quarter-final dashed over the weekend as the pool stages draw to a close.
South Africa, Australia and New Zealand are already assured of quarter-final berths as the winners of Pool A, B and C respectively, but 10 nations still have a chance of joining them.
Pool A:
* Tonga are guaranteed to finish as runners-up behind South Africa with a win or draw against England at Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday.
* Defending champions England will finish as runners-up if they beat Tonga.
* The runner-up will play Australia in the first quarter-final in Marseille on 6 October.
Pool B:
* Wales will finish as runners-up behind Australia if they avoid defeat against Fiji in Nantes on Saturday as in the event of a draw they have a far superior points difference.
* Fiji need to beat Wales to be guaranteed a quarter-final place as runners-up.
* The runner-up will play South Africa in the third quarter-final in Marseille on 7 October.
Pool C:
* Scotland are guaranteed to finish as runners-up behind New Zealand with a win or draw against Italy in Saint-Etienne on Sunday.
* Italy need to beat Scotland if they are to reach their first RWC quarter-final.
* The runner-up will play the Pool D winner in the fourth quarter-final in Saint-Denis on 7 October.
Pool D:
* France need a win against Georgia to guarantee them a spot in the quarter-finals.
* Argentina with a win or draw against Ireland are guaranteed to win the Pool.
* Ireland are guaranteed to qualify for the quarter-finals if they beat Argentina with a bonus point for scoring four tries and deny the Pumas a bonus point.
* Theoretically Georgia can still make the quarter-finals, but would need to beat both Namibia and France to stand a chance.
* Whoever finishes as Pool D runner-up will play New Zealand in the second quarter-final in Cardiff on 6 October.
