Rugby League World Cup 2013 Scores: Predicting the Weekend's Results

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup continues apace this weekend, with hosts England and Wales among those in action as they seek to rectify opening-match defeats.

England and Australia are among the tournament favourites that will be in action this weekend, while mightily impressive Fiji and Italy teams will also hope to continue their excellent form.

With two games on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, there should be plenty of thrills and spills for supporters to enjoy over the entire weekend.

Fixture	Time	Score Prediction
England vs. Ireland	Saturday, 14.30 GMT	England by 5 points
Australia vs. Fiji	Saturday, 20.00 GMT	Australia by 8 points
Wales vs. USA	Sunday, 14.00 GMT	Wales by < 5 points
Scotland vs. Italy	Sunday, 16.00 GMT	Italy by < 5 points

England vs. Ireland, Saturday 14.30 GMT (England by 5 points)

England opened their World Cup campaign with an eight-point defeat to Australia at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium, following a disrupted build-up to the tournament.

Prop Sam Burgess will be an enforced absentee, having received a ban for a high tackle made in the opening fixture, while coach Steve McNamara may choose to recall James Graham, per Sky Sports.

Ireland were downed by Fiji in their opening encounter, falling to a sizeable 32-14 defeat after an Akuila Uate hat-trick.

They should be little match for England if McNamara's side are to challenge for the title as expected, and England will hope for a comfortable win.

Australia vs. Fiji, Saturday 20.00 GMT (Australia by 8 points)

With both teams coming into the game off the back of impressive victories, Australia and Fiji's encounter on Saturday evening should be a brilliant 80 minutes of rugby action.

Fiji thrashed Ireland in their opener, while England were Australia's victims in a highly impressive performance from the Southern Hemisphere side.

Australia, as expected challengers for the title, will expect to claim victory but will find life far from easy against a quick and powerful Fiji side. There has been talk of changes to the side, but Australia's stars are keen to play, per Fox Sports.

Should they stick with a similar lineup, the hope will be that combination plays improve after a stuttering opening half against England. Victory should be in order, but finding form in attacking areas will be the bigger concern.

Wales vs. USA, Sunday 14.00 GMT (Wales by Less Than 5 Points)

Wales' tournament began in far-from-impressive style as they slumped to a 32-16 defeat to Italy on the opening weekend, while USA are preparing for their opener against Cook Islands on Wednesday night.

Welsh coach Iestyn Harris is still confident of progression, per BBC Sport, and will hope to see his side set the record straight in Wrexham.

With several days extra to rest up before the clash, Harris' side have a natural advantage over their opponents and must use that to their benefit.

The hosts should claim a win, but it is unlikely to be emphatic based on current form.

Scotland vs. Italy, 16.00 GMT (Italy by Less Than 5 Points)

Italy were in terrific form in their impressive win over Wales on Saturday evening and will hope to carry that momentum into next Sunday's encounter.

When also considering that Scotland will play a very physical Tonga side three days later on Tuesday evening, the Italians could find that they are in better condition for the game come Sunday afternoon.

Given that Italy also beat England in the warm-up for the competition, the Azzurri must be treated as genuine contenders to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

A win over Scotland would reinforce that claim, and Carlo Napolitano's side will be confident of achieving just that this weekend.