Of course, the biggest news from the last round is the huge victory of Portugal against Fiji. An incredible match and an even more incredible game by the Portuguese who completed their participation in the phenomenal World Cup with the victory. Fiji almost gambled everything away and allowed Australia to still advance to the quarter finals. France plowed through Italy, while New Zealand was strong against Uruguay. Ireland held a rugby clinic for Scotland in the first part of the match, later the Scots managed to improve the impression but not to avoid defeat. England barely beat Samoa, while the Argentinians finally put in a good game and beat Japan in a head-to-head duel for a place in the quarter-finals. Tonga defeated Romania in a back-to-back Group B derby, while Wales were up to the task against a very good Georgia. Next weekend, the ¼ final matches are scheduled.
New Zealand violently against Uruguay
Uruguay held on well in the opening minutes of the match. They even score a try that was overturned by referee Wayne Barnes. The All Blacks didn’t have much mercy after that. They solved the first part of the match relatively easily with a score of 26-0, which did not look so bad for the Uruguayans. However, in the second part of the match, they had no chance. It is very difficult to play with teams where all 33 players from the list are at a very high level, especially those players who will not play in the finals of the competition. Although they lost 73-0 at the end, the Uruguayans did not lose heart in this World Cup, they can be absolutely proud of their rugby players. Uruguay is definitely a rugby country. You think not? See who from Uruguay has qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics so far.
The French dismantled Italy
Italy is the biggest disappointment of the World Cup for us. We don’t know what happened but they were rather pale and unconvincing. In the end, they took 3rd place which was realistic before the start of the championship, but the way they lost to New Zealand, and now to France, is amazing. Who would have thought that at the beginning of the year, these two teams played a one-on-one match. The French played without their top two playmakers and it was not felt at all in the game. It was 31-0 at halftime. In the second half, the only thing the Italians did was score one try, while the French scored another 30 points to make it 60-7. It’s simply unbelievable what kind of defeats the 6 Nations team allowed themselves.
Group A standings:
| Поз (Pos) | Екипа (Team) | У(GP) | П(W) | И(L) | Н(D) | ПФ(PF) | ПА(PA) | ПД(PD) | БП(BP) | Б(Pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Француска | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 210 | 32 | 178 | 8 | 18 |
| 2 |  Нови Зеланд | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 253 | 47 | 206 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 |  Италија | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 114 | 181 | -67 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 |  Уругвај | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 65 | 164 | -99 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 |  Намибија | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 37 | 255 | -218 | 0 | 0 |
Impressive Irish to first place in group
The match was announced as to be or not to be for both teams. Whoever wins goes to the ¼ final. There was only one case for both teams to go through and South Africa would be eliminated. If Scotland had won by a margin greater than 21 points and that Ireland also got a bonus point. Then, in the round of three teams, the Scots would have the best point difference, and the second place would be taken by Ireland because they won the match against South Africa. Rugby is not a sport where you calculate, and the Irish immediately made that known, because they won the bonus point already in the first part of the match where they dismantled Scotland 26-0. We really don’t remember when the Scots were down to 0 points at the end of the first half of the match. The Scots won the second part of the match with a score of 14-10, but everything was decided by then, because the Irish triumphed with a score of 36-14. The Irish go to New Zealand in the ¼ finals. The Scots finish in third place.
Tonga better than Romania in the back derby
We had the opportunity to see excellent rugby in the match between Tonga and Romania. Our neighbors played excellently in the first part of the match when, after Tonga’s lead, they increased the gas and reached 21-17 at halftime. However, in the second part of the match, the better physics of Tonga ruled, which was simply unstoppable for Romania. It has long been known that this match will decide who will take fourth and fifth place. Tonga won 45-24, but we have to say that the difference was incomparably smaller than the score shows. Both teams did not have too many chances next to Ireland, South Africa and Scotland.
Group B standings:
| Поз (Pos) | Екипа (Team) | У(GP) | П(W) | И(L) | Н(D) | ПФ(PF) | ПА(PA) | ПД(PD) | БП(BP) | Б(Pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ирска | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 190 | 46 | 144 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 |  Јужна Африка | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 151 | 34 | 117 | 3 | 15 |
| 3 |  Шкотска | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 146 | 71 | 75 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 |  Тонга | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 96 | 177 | -81 | 1 | 5 |
| 5 |  Румунија | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 287 | -255 | 0 | 0 |
Welsh with maximum performance to ¼ final
The Georgians came dangerously close to the TIR 1 nations, they came to be competitive with the teams that will play in the ¼ finals of the World Cup. It is a huge success and an incentive for the future. The Welsh positively surprised everyone at the tournament, few believed that they would manage to achieve all the victories in the group. Against Georgia, they played a solid match where they won with a bonus point 43-19. They routinely got the job done without several standard players. Wales go to the quarter-finals from first place, where they will meet the winner of the match between Argentina and Japan. Pretty good draw. Georgians will most likely take 4th place place, which is not a bad result in a very strong group.
Fantastic Portuguese to their first ever World Cup win
What a match. Top 5 best in the entire World Cup so far. What a game from Portugal, who duly tormented the Fijians. At the end of the very hard first part of the match, it was tied 3-3. In the second part, spectacular rugby and an incredibly exciting match. Portugal put pressure on Fiji as they were in the lead most of the time, but by the end of the match they had separated themselves to the Fijians at 23-17. And then the action of the Portuguese started, through which Rodrigo Marta scored an essay that Samuel Marquez successfully transformed for a new turn 24-23. Fiji have won a much needed bonus point, the Aussies can finally board the plane. Portugal won the 4th place in the standings, but that is nothing compared to the respect he will have after this match.
| Поз (Pos) | Екипа (Team) | У(GP) | П(W) | И(L) | Н(D) | ПФ(PF) | ПА(PA) | ПД(PD) | БП(BP) | Б(Pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Велс | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 143 | 59 | 84 | 3 | 19 |
| 2 |  Фиџи | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 88 | 83 | 5 | 3 | 11 |
| 3 |  Аустралија | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 90 | 91 | -1 | 3 | 11 |
| 4 |  Португалија | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 64 | 103 | -39 | 0 | 6 |
| 5 |  Грузија | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 64 | 113 | -49 | 1 | 3 |
England barely against Samoa
The English were not at the required level against Samoa, although they did not have to, because they had already secured the first place in the group before this match. It seemed like they were careful not to get any of the key players injured, but also not to embarrass themselves by losing to Samoa. It literally seemed that they played as much as they had to. However, Samoa really wondered what the result would be in the end. They opened the match very well where they led 14-8 at the end of the first half. They had a lot of opportunities, but believe it or not, they also had a few canceled tries. In the end, they lasted until 74th minutes when a try was scored by Danny Kerr and successfully converted by Owen Farrell for the coversion. It always seems that the English somehow get away with it. Who knows, maybe it’s karma payback for getting knocked out in the group stage in 2015 when they were hosts.
Argentina finally to the real game
There is no better way to choose which team will advance than head-to-head. Argentina did not play well at the beginning of the tournament, but now they were right when they needed to be. Right at the beginning, they let Japan know that it won’t be easy for them, when they were already leading 7-0 after a minute. The first part of the match was very even, where the South Americans led 15-14. The star of the evening was Mateo Carreras who scored a total of 3 essays and is most responsible for Argentina’s placement in the ¼ finals. In the end, the gauchos won 39-27. The Japanese finish the World Cup in 3rd place in the group, which earns them automatic qualification for the next World Cup. The Argentinians are going to face a very good Wales in the ¼ final where anything is possible.
Group D standings:
| Поз (Pos) | Екипа (Team) | У(GP) | П(W) | И(L) | Н(D) | ПФ(PF) | ПА(PA) | ПД(PD) | БП(BP) | Б(Pts) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Енглеска | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 150 | 39 | 111 | 2 | 18 |
| 2 |  Аргентина | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 127 | 69 | 58 | 2 | 14 |
| 3 |  Јапан | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 109 | 107 | 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 4 |  Самоа | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 92 | 75 | 17 | 3 | 7 |
| 5 |  Чиле | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 215 | -188 | 0 | 0 |
