Wales in Charge of Pool D

Australia 25 - 29 Wales

Wales took control of their own destiny by holding on to beat Australia on Sunday morning, meaning that they need only to dispatch Uruguay and Fiji to finish top of their pool, in doing so avoiding the likely clash of England and then New Zealand in the knock out stage. Wales started with a serious bang, turning Australia over on the floor before dropping a goal less with less than a minute on the clock. From that point in the first half was all Wales as they scored a try from a cross-field kick and then Gareth Davies intercepted a telegraphed Will Genia pass to race in at the corner. Wales went in at half time 23-8 up and you could have forgiven them for thinking the game was done. The Wallabies though had other ideas, and they came out in the second half ready to force pressure in the Welsh, notably upfront in the scrum, not an area where Australia have been historically strong. Suddenly the game was all Australia and it looked like Wales were not just holding on for dear life, but ready to do what they have so often done in recent years and surrender the game late to the Wallabies. Quick recycled ball and good hands near the Wales line eventually told as the Wallabies found a hole to put Dane Haylett-Petty through close to the posts, before Michael Hooper went over from close range a little while later. Suddenly it was a 4 point ball game, but Wales showed guts to stay in the fight and never allow the Aussies over again. This result means that if England were to top their pool, then they would meet the Wallabies in the Quarter Finals, in a game where they will be keen to erase the ghosts of 4 years ago, where Australia dumped them out of their own World Cup.

Georgia 33 - 7 Uruguay

Uruguay couldn't quite back up their mid week heroics as they were well put away by a very strong Georgia side. Georgia have been knocking on the door of Europe's elite for a while now and on this evidence, they looked like a side with real potential and a pack to challenge anyone in that category. In the end, Georgia simply over powered Uruguay with their big rangy forwards. Uruguay had a 4 day turnaround to deal with and used a large number of players that had battled so gallantly against Fiji in the week, so in context this result was never really in doubt. Uruguay will hope though that a few of their players could get spotted by professional clubs, with pretty much all of their squad juggling real life jobs with training and playing for the national side. They certainly have a few handy players that would be well worth a look at and that would hopefully elevate the standard of Uruguayan rugby even further than what we've seen.