Rugby World Cup Schedule 2015: Tables, Fixtures After Argentina vs. Georgia
Argentina gave their Rugby World Cup 2015 campaign a jolt on Friday after defeating Georgia 54-9 at Gloucester's Kingsholm Stadium in what was their first win of the tournament.
Daniel Hourcade's men starred in the only fixture of the afternoon as rugby fans the world over prepare for an extravagant weekend of rugby action, where England and Wales headline the bill in their Pool A clash.
The two Pool of Death combatants will face off on Saturday night after each making winning starts to the tournament, with a raft of other high-stakes matchups on the slate.
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Read on for a look at the updated tables and fixtures following the Pumas' Week 2 win against Georgia, along with preview of the most promising upcoming World Cup fixtures.
World Cup Standings
| 1 | Wales | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 9 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | England | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 11 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Australia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 13 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | Fiji | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Uruguay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 54 | 0 | 0 |
| Pos. | Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | For | Against | Bonus | Points |
| 1 | Scotland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 10 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Samoa | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Japan | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 44 | 77 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 | South Africa | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 32 | 34 | 2 | 2 |
| 5 | United States | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 25 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | New Zealand | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 30 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Georgia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | Tonga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 17 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | Argentina | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Namibia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 58 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | France | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 70 | 21 | 1 | 9 |
| 2 | Ireland | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 7 | 1 | 5 |
| 3 | Italy | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Romania | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 38 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Canada | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
Upcoming Fixtures
| 2:30 p.m. BST/9:30 a.m. ET | Italy vs. Canada |
| 4:45 p.m. BST/11:45 a.m. ET | South Africa vs. Samoa |
| 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET | England vs. Wales |
England vs. Wales
A standoff between two such bitter rivals as England and Wales will ever be seen as a massive occasion, but Saturday evening's showdown between England and Wales could be the most important of its kind.
World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward certainly believes so, anyway, after dubbing this "the biggest Rugby World Cup pool match ever" in his Daily Mail column earlier this week:
"It’s certainly the biggest I can remember - I started getting big-match nerves as early as Tuesday evening when news of England’s expected line-up started filtering out. Since then, the sense of anticipation and excitement has just been building and building - and the tension is not going to ease up yet.
"
And as has become tradition under these circumstances, team selection has been dissected to the Nth degree, with England coach Stuart Lancaster naming Owen Farrell and Sam Burgess as part of his XV.
Wales counterpart Warren Gatland has thrown up a couple of curveballs himself, though. BBC pundit Jonathan Davies stated his surprise at the absence of flanker Justin Tipuric, while Hallam Amos gets a massive chance to shine on the big stage:
England and Wales have met just twice before under a World Cup banner, with the Dragons triumphing in the 1987 quarter-finals before the Red Rose claimed its revenge at the same stage of the 2003 competition.
Injuries have hit Wales hard, and Gatland's side travel to Twickenham having won there just once in the last seven years, with hosts England under a mountain of pressure to boost their Pool A hopes on Saturday.
Scotland vs. United States
Scotland coach Vern Cotter will have been overjoyed with the efforts of his side in their 45-10 victory over Japan on Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped the helmsman making 10 changes to his XV for the test of the United States.
With former Pool B favourites South Africa having dropped to the Cherry Blossoms last Saturday, the Scots can now take advantage to top the group themselves, but Cotter told ITV his team are merely looking to the next fixture:
"Oh we are getting ahead of ourselves once again. I respect our opponents too much to be predicting anything. We're fully focused on trying to put in a good performance in two days' time.
We're not on the paddock yet. The game starts on Sunday and we need to be ready for that. The players need to be 100 per cent committed and play our best rugby. Then we'll see what happens after that.
"
Meanwhile, Mike Tolkin's U.S. team are in the hunt to hit back from their opening defeat to Samoa, knowing that a second successive loss would all but rule them out of advancing to the quarters.
Despite scoring 45 points against Japan, it was actually Scotland's work off the ball in which Cotter may have taken particular delight, with the official Rugby World Cup Twitter account pointing out the team's extraordinary tackling figures:
The odds have already been toppled once in Pool B thanks to the Springboks' early stumble, but the United States have benefited from a full week's break compared to Scotland's four-day turnaround.
The standings would be blown even further apart if the Americans were to somehow manage a win at Leeds' Elland Road on Sunday, in a fixture that's all of a sudden become so much more important for both participants.
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