Rugby World Cup Schedule 2015: Fixture Info, Group Tables and Top Point-Scorers

Week 2 of the Rugby World Cup 2015 has drawn to a close, and teams are now starting to show the bumps and bruises that inevitably come hand-in-hand with a tournament of such great magnitude.

The competition has so far succeeded in living up to the massive expectations laid ahead of host nation England, who suffered defeat to Wales on Saturday in a fixture that blew the Pool A standings wide open.

Fans can only hope the remainder of the contest maintains that level of excitement in what's already shaping up to be remembered as one of the best World Cups of all time.

We provide a look at the tournament's upcoming schedule, along with a breakdown of the top point-scorers and discussion of some of the most prolific players to have left their impact thus far.

Date	Time (BST)	Home	Away	Venue
September 29	4:45 p.m.	Tonga	Namibia	Sandy Park, Exeter
October 1	8 p.m.	France	Canada	Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
October 2	8 p.m.	New Zealand	Georgia	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
October 3	2:30 p.m.	Samoa	Japan	Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
October 3	4:45 p.m.	South Africa	Scotland	St James' Park, Newcastle
October 3	8 p.m.	England	Australia	Twickenham, London
October 4	2:30 p.m.	Argentina	Tonga	Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
October 4	4:45 p.m.	Ireland	Italy	Olympic Stadium, London

Pool Standings

Pos.	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
1	Australia	2	2	0	0	93	16	1	9
2	Wales	2	2	0	0	82	34	1	9
3	England	2	1	0	1	60	39	1	6
4	Fiji	2	0	0	2	24	63	0	0
5	Uruguay	2	0	0	2	12	119	0	0

Pos.	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
1	Scotland	2	2	0	0	84	26	2	10
2	South Africa	2	1	0	1	78	40	3	7
3	Samoa	2	1	0	1	31	62	0	4
4	Japan	2	1	0	1	44	77	0	4
5	United States	2	0	0	2	32	64	0	0

Pos.	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
1	New Zealand	2	2	0	0	84	30	1	9
2	Argentina	2	1	0	1	70	35	1	5
3	Georgia	2	1	0	1	26	64	0	4
4	Tonga	1	0	0	1	10	17	1	1
5	Namibia	1	0	0	1	14	58	0	0

Pos.	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
1	Ireland	2	2	0	0	94	17	2	10
2	France	2	2	0	0	70	21	1	9
3	Italy	2	1	0	1	33	50	0	4
4	Canada	2	0	0	2	25	73	1	1
5	Romania	2	0	0	2	21	82	0	0

Top Point-Scorers

Player	Team	Total	Tries	Conversions	Penalties	Drop Goals
Ayumu Goromaru	Japan	29	1	3	6	0
Owen Farrell	England	27	0	3	6	1
Nicolas Sanchez	Argentina	26	0	4	5	1
Dan Biggar	Wales	23	0	1	7	0
Greig Laidlaw	Scotland	20	0	4	4	0
Frederic Michalak	France	19	0	2	5	0
Handre Pollard	South Africa	19	0	2	5	0
Tommaso Allan	Italy	18	0	3	4	0
Nemani Nadolo	Fiji	16	1	1	3	0
Merab Kvirikashvili	Georgia	16	0	2	4	0

Pinpoint Owen Farrell

England coach Stuart Lancaster showed no small amount of nerve when he dropped regular No. 10 George Ford in place of Owen Farrell against Wales, a decision that looked to be spot on for the majority of the match.

Talk will inevitably turn to the late penalty that could have earned England a draw, but Farrell stood behind captain Chris Robshaw's decision to kick for touch, according to Press Association Sport (via ESPN.co.uk):

"

There were a couple of us talking and there were lads around us. We all bought into the decision. If doesn't work out you'll get criticised. It's something to jump on. We wanted to go and win the game and back ourselves to do that.

It was mentioned that it was from the touchline, but we backed ourselves to win the game. It's not worked out this time, but if we'd got the match-winning try everyone would have praised the decision.

"

The statistics suggest the reselected Farrell would have added the three points, too, considering the English No. 10 has succeeded with all nine of his attempted kicks at this year's World Cup.

What's more, Goalkickers figures indicate the odds were in Farrell's favour had he chosen to go for the penalty, which would have prevented Wales from collecting their second Pool A victory:

Farrell's partnership alongside centre Sam Burgess looked fruitful for the most part, that was until more of an attacking burst was required due to Wales' second-half comeback.

All things considered, though, the tug-of-war between Farrell and Ford can be considered alive and well after the former showed against Wales that there are still significant benefits to come with him at fly-half.

Dan Biggar's Call to Arms

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

Sitting just a handful of points below Farrell in the overall points list is Wales No. 10 Dan Biggar, who was deservedly nominated man of the match for his metronomic input in Saturday's dramatic triumph.

Ex-England prop David Flatman agreed Warren Gatland's No. 10 was top of the pile when it came to Twickenham's most impressive performers, after scoring 23 points in total:

Take into account the fact this was Biggar's first outing of the World Cup, and his unshakeable display becomes that much more impressive, especially in the face of a Welsh injury crisis.

With Scott Williams, Hallam Amos and Liam Williams all picking up knocks against England on Saturday, winger George North was left to describe just how empty the squad feels at present:

Fortunately for Gatland, the increasingly reliable Biggar has survived to fight another day, and his importance to the first XV has only evolved during what's been a terrific past 12 months for his Wales career.

Some of his weapons and comrades may be absent, but Biggar needs to be another leader for the back line alongside centre star Jamie Roberts, with his outing against England as strong an opener as he could have hoped for.