IT is another crucial weekend with four matches to be played, with the results from two certain to also determine the positions of the respective coaches post-World Cup.
The first match-up is between Samoa and Japan and if the former win, it will increase their prospect of automatic qualification for RWC 2019 in Japan.
This however will not affect Japan’s position since they qualify automatically as host for the next tournament but a win is something they would want in the bag because that would make RWC 2015 as their best ever since participating in all editions since the first in 1987.
And depending on how other results in the pool go, a win against Samoa and then another against the United States may see Japan in the knockout phase, an achievement they could not even sniff at before this.
Scotland take on South Africa in the second game of the day, with defeat for the latter possibly sending the two-time champions back home before the quarter-finals beginning October 17.
Recent odds favour the Springboks who have a 4-0 record against their opponents since RWC 2011 but some games at a World Cup do not always end according to predictions and past statistics.
But nothing on Saturday rivals the England-Australia game (3am Sunday Malaysian time).
There are many permutations left to decide who in this pool go through to the quarter-finals, although Wales lead the table with 13 points and with a game left, against Australia Saturday week.
Here are some permutations:
• If England beat Australia without a bonus point but do so against Uruguay, which they should do with ease, they will have 15 points.
• If Australia lose to England but beat Wales both without a bonus point, they too will have 13 points like Wales. This means Australia advancing by virtue of the win against Wales.
• If Australia lose to both England and Wales and England beat Uruguay, it’s England and Wales that will go through.
• If England lose to Australia, the latter will have 13 or 14 points depending on whether they have a bonus point. If this happens, even a bonus point win for England against Uruguay will be of no help because the most points they can have will be 11.
England coach Stuart Lancaster is under contract until after RWC 2019 but failure to lead the team to the quarter-finals will place a lot of pressure on the England Rugby Union to rethink.
In Pool C it looks like New Zealand will top the group without too many worries but Sunday’s game between Argentina and Tonga will be crucial to decide the second-placed team.
New Zealand have had to name scrumhalf TJ Perenara as reserve flyhalf for their match against Georgia due to injuries to Beauden Barrett and Colin Slade but Perenara has had some experience in the No. 10 jersey with the NZ Schoolboys some years ago.
The injuries to Barrett and Slade are minor but New Zealand supporters must be praying against a repeat of the RWC 2011 harrowing experience when their team ended playing the final against France with a fourth-choice flyhalf who was asked to join the team to cover for injuries while out fishing.
Fiji showed in Thursday night’s game against Wales how dangerous they can be with ball in hand, the extra excitement coming from the continuity of play resulting from the offloads but where they do this with accuracy in the 7s, the Fijians lack the same precision in the 15s.
The four- or five-day turnaround time between matches for some teams has taken its toll, although teams have had enough time to prepare after the draw was announced.
But being prepared and having to actually go through the physical confrontation on the field are two entirely different situations.
The only solution would be to extend the duration of the tournament but that would come with additional costs and for now a highly unlikely consideration.