A must win game for the Scots

This week will see the last of the group stage matches and the QF games will commence from 8 October onwards. There are some key games prior to the quarters and the game of interest will be the England Vs Scotland game.

It’s a must-win game for the Scots, who have won only two of their last 10 games against the English. For the first time in their 140-year playing history, the two teams will meet on neutral soil. Scotland needs to win by more than seven points and deprive England of a bonus point to give them a chance of progressing to the last eight. Scotland is quite hopeful of a win, yet they haven’t beaten England by more than seven points for 25 years.

Scotland’s defence coach Graham Steadman is anticipating some hard fought rugby in the must-win game. Steadman is being given the license to mastermind a defensive strategy to cope with England’s fearsome strike runners, including Samoa-born Manu Tuilagi and Chris Ashton, as Scotland seek the all important win to advance to the quarter-finals.

The game between the Wallabies and Russia will be interesting for a different reason as antagonistic Australian-born lock Adam Byrnes will feature in the clash representing Russia. Byrnes, a former Queensland Red and now Melbourne Rebel qualified for Russia through his mother, is renowned for irritating opponents into distraction.

With the spate of injuries that the Wallabies suffered in their win against the USA, the think tank has opted for Radike Samo to wear the # 14 jersey, with O’Conor moving to the full back position. Samo is an imposing presence and his first-choice position is at No: 8. He is known for holding the ball in one hand and using the other to great effect bulldozing his way through opposition defences. He played for the Fiji Under-19’s before winning six caps for the Wallabies in 2004. After a brilliant 2011 season - where he was instrumental in the Reds’ victorious campaign - Samo forced his way back into Wallabies reckoning - seven years after his previous cap. One of the fairy tale stories of this year was with the veteran being awarded the Try of the Year for his inspiring 60 metre effort against the All Blacks in the Tri Nations decider. He literally brought the house down in his home town with a winning sprint to the line ahead of All Blacks Corey Jane and Mils Muliaina and this was his first Test try.

Meanwhile the Welsh have a quarter-final berth almost in their pocket, but they will not be underestimating a flamboyant and rejuvenated Fiji outfit in their final match on Sunday. This is a Pool D game and at the start of the RWC the pundits had termed this as the pool of death.

Wales have been shocked twice by Fiji in recent times, first in RWC 2007, when they were upset 38-34, and again in November last year when the teams drew 16-16 at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Wales remain hopeful that key players James Hook and Dan Lydiate will be available for a probable World Cup quarter-final clash against Ireland in Wellington if they get past Fiji. Hook and Lydiate have not played since going off injured during Wales’ victory over Samoa. Neither player will be available for the Fiji game but should on form book their last-eight place.

The likely Ireland clash is a target for both men as Wales continue building towards what they hope can be their most successful RWC campaign since 1987 where they occupied the third place.