2019 Rugby World Cup quarter finals

The 2019 Rugby World Cup group stage is over! Torrential rain caused flooding and landslides in parts of the country overnight, and organizers called off the Namibia-Canada game at Kamaishi Recovery Stadium in northeastern Japan six hours before kickoff on Sunday. This all is behind us and now it’s time for the quarter finals of this exciting tournament.

England versus Australia

England won pool C with 17 points above the likes of France, Argentina, Tonga and USA. The team of Eddie Jones is considered to be one of the favourites to win this tournament and in order to do so they will need to eliminated Australia in the quarter final. Australia finished second in pool D just behind Wales and hope to give England a hard time.

New Zealand versus Ireland

Ireland started this tournament with a shock loss against the home nation. This false start in the tournament can become a crucial mistake. Now they will face the odds-on favourites to win this tournament. New Zealand won Group B with 16 points, only one point above South Africa. The defending champions is looking to complete their World Cup hat-trick. Ireland really needs to up their level if they want to have any chance to reach the semi-finals.

Wales versus France

The third semi-final is an interesting one. The bookies think this will be the closest one out of all four quarter finals. Wales won Group D with 19 points, while France finished second in Group C behind England. Both teams are well-known with each others qualities, since they face each other in the Six Nations regularly. It’s going to be an interesting match on Sunday 20 October.

Japan versus South Africa

Home nation Japan is the biggest surprise of this tournament. They caused a shock by beating Ireland during the group stage matches and this led to Japan finishing in first place. Thanks to this first place they will play South Africa in the quarter finals. The Springboks finished just behind New Zealand in Pool B and are odds-on to win this match.