It’s the final round of pool action at the Rugby World Cup in France and all four home nations are in action.
England and Wales are in strong positions in their pools and will be looking to sign off with big wins over Samoa and Georgia respectively.
And on Saturday evening all eyes will be on the Pool B clash between Ireland and Scotland. It’s the last-chance saloon for the Scots, who need to break an eight-match losing run against the men in green or they’re heading home.
- Under 47 points in Ireland v Scotland
- England -20 v Samoa
- Wales to beat Georgia by 11 to 20 points
Ireland vs Scotland
Scotland need to pull out all the stops against tournament favourites while Ireland know a measured performance and pragmatic approach will set them up for a likely semi-final against New Zealand.
And measured and pragmatic seems to be what this Ireland team do best.
Yes, they ran in eight tries against Tonga and 12 against Romania, but against the best teams it’s defence that has been key for the Irish and the last two meetings between these Pool B rivals have shown they know how to keep a lid on the Scots.
The last two Six Nations have been won 22-7 and 26-5, scorelines similar to the 27-3 success Ireland scored when the nations met at the 2019 World Cup.
Ireland have not conceded more than 20 points in a match since July 2022 against the All Blacks and are in pole position in their pool thanks to their 13-8 success against South Africa.
Ireland have won their last eight matches against Scotland and only one of those has featured more than 47 points so betting low on points looks the best approach again.
Ireland vs Scotland Teams
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Johnny Sexton (c), 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris, 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Peter O’Mahony, 5 Iain Henderson, 4 Tadhg Beirne, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Dan Sheehan, 1 Andrew Porter
Bench: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 David Kilcoyne, 18 Finlay Bealham, 19 James Ryan, 20 Jack Conan, 21 Conor Murray, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Stuart Mccloskey
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ali Price, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman
Bench: 16 Ewan Ashman,17 Rory Sutherland, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Luke Crosbie, 22 George Horne, 23 Ollie Smith
England vs Samoa
England have done their best to shrug off a poor World Cup build-up with three solid wins and with top spot in their pool already wrapped up they can play with the pressure off in their final pool fixture.
Samoa have been a little disappointing at this tournament having arrived with a squad bolstered by former All Blacks Charlie Faumuina and Lima Sopoaga plus ex-Wallaby fly-half Christian Leali'ifano.
A routine win over Chile was followed by a battling performance in a 19-10 defeat to Argentina and they then lost to Japan last time out putting their qualification hopes for the next World Cup in jeopardy.
England have changed all but one of their starting XV from the 71-0 win over Chile - Owen Farrell remains but starts at 12 instead of fly-half - and with Freddie Steward, Manu Tuilagi and Jonny May among those in the backline, England can forge another big win.
England vs Samoa Teams
England: 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Manu Tuilagi, 12 Owen Farrell (c), 11 Jonny May, 10 George Ford, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 Ollie Chessum, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Ellis Genge
Bench: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Joe Marler, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 George Martin, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Ollie Lawrence
Samoa: 15 Duncan Paia’aua, 14 Nigel Ah-Wong, 13 Tumua Manu, 12 Danny Toala, 11 Neria Fomai, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Jonathan Taumateine, 8 Steven Luatua, 7 Fritz Lee, 6 Theo McFarland, 5 Brian Alainu’u’ese, 4 Sam Slade, 3 Michael Alaalatoa (c), 2 Sama Malolo, 1 Jordan Lay
Bench: 16 Seilala Lam, 17 James Lay, 18 Paul Alo-Emile, 19 Sootala Fa’aso’o, 20 Alamanda Motuga, 21 Melani Matavao, 22 Christian Leali’ifano, 23 Miracle Faiilagi
Wales vs Georgia
A shock 13-12 defeat to Georgia in Cardiff last November was a key factor in the sacking of Wayne Pivac as Wales coach and the return of Warren Gatland, but it’s hard to foresee another upset.
Wales are brimming with confidence after putting 40 points on Australia last time out, while the Lelos haven’t lived up to their usual World Cup role as battling underdogs.
They needed a last-gasp try to draw with Portugal - a team they beat 38-11 in March - and while they took the lead against Fiji last time out, they couldn’t hold on. Georgia cannot finish third in the pool to qualify for 2027 - they have managed totals of just 15, 18 and 12 in their three matches - and may struggle to hold out against a strong Wales line-up.
But Georgia have fought hard for long spells in all three of their matches and Wales are unlikely to want to be drawn into a tough physical battle. A handicap in the mid-teens looks fair and backing a win by 11 to 20 points could be the best bet.
Wales vs Georgia Teams
Wales: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Louis Rees-Zammit, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Tommy Reffell, 6 Aaron Wainwright, 5 Dafydd Jenkins, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Tomas Francis, 2 Dewi Lake (c), 1 Gareth Thomas
Bench: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Nicky Smith, 18 Henry Thomas, 19 Christ Tshiunza, 20 Taine Basham, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Sam Costelow, 23 Mason Grady
Georgia: 15 Lasha Khmaladze, 14 Akaki Tabutsadze, 13 Giorgi Kveseladze, 12 Merab Sharikadze (c), 11 Davit Niniashvili, 10 Luka Matkava, 9 Vasil Lobzhanidze, 8 Tornike Jalagonia, 7 Beka Saginadze, 6 Mikheil Gachechiladze, 5 Konstantine Mikautadze, 4 Nodar Cheishvili, 3 Beka Gigashvili, 2 Shalva Mamukashvili, 1 Guram Gogichashvili
Bench: 16 Vano Karkadze, 17 Nika Abuladze, 18 Irakli Aptsiauri, 19 Vladimer Chachanidze, 20 Giorgi Tsutskiridze, 21 Gela Aprasidze, 22 Tedo Abzhandadze, 23 Demur Tapladze
