Rugby World Cup quarter-finals: who are favourites to advance and can Japan beat South Africa?
- The tournament enters the knockout stages, and there is sure to be at least one upset
- Every rugby fan in the world – except South Africans – are hoping Japan can continue to ride the wave of home support and form
The Rugby World Cup now enters the business end of the tournament. The quarter-finals kick off this weekend, and fans hold their breath to see who will progress.
Historically, the last eight have rarely passed without an upset – be it Ireland losing to Argentina in 2015, France beating England in 2011, or France beating the All Blacks in 2007 – but who will be the one to upend the odds this time?
Emotion will spur one team on and overwhelm the next. Time will tell which team rises to the occasion.
England vs Australia
Win record in past five games: England 5-0 Australia
England enter this game as red hot favourites. Not only have they won every match against Australia of this World Cup cycle, but that includes three wins in Australia. England cruised through their pool and their only tier one test against Argentina turned into a hammering, seeing off the South Americans 39-10.
However, Australia have a lot of great personnel. On the rare occasions they do click they are a force to be reckoned with, as they showed when they put a record score over the All Blacks (47-26) in August. If anything is likely to lift their game, it’s a match up again their old rivals the English.