Rugby World Cup Fixtures 2015: Remaining Schedule, Latest Groups on Thursday

The pool stage of the Rugby World Cup 2015 has begun to take shape after the first week of competition, with some of the sport's titans coping more capably with the pressure placed upon them.

Hosts England have already tasted defeat at the hands of Wales, and South Africa are no longer considered certainties to top Pool B following their early fall at the hands of Japan.

Thankfully, we have a whole month of the tournament remaining, during which time fans can only hope the 2015 contest continues to live up to the already lofty expectations set in place.

Read on for a breakdown of the tournament's remaining fixture schedule, along with some of the top tournament headlines looking at this weekend's matches and beyond.

Date	Time (BST)	Home	Away	Venue
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
October 6	4:45 p.m.	Canada	Romania	Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
October 6	8 p.m.	Fiji	Uruguay	Stadium MK, Milton Keynes
October 7	4:45 p.m.	South Africa	USA	Olympic Stadium, London
October 7	8 p.m.	Namibia	Georgia	Sandy Park, Exeter
October 9	8 p.m.	New Zealand	Tonga	St James' Park, Newcastle
October 10	2:30 p.m.	Samoa	Scotland	St James' Park, Newcastle
October 10	4:45 p.m.	Australia	Wales	Twickenham, London
October 10	8 p.m.	England	Uruguay	Manchester City Stadium
October 11	Noon	Argentina	Namibia	Leicester City Stadium, Leicester
October 11	2:30 p.m.	Italy	Romania	Sandy Park, Exeter
October 11	4:45 p.m.	France	Ireland	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
October 11	8 p.m.	USA	Japan	Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester
October 17	4 p.m.	B1	A2	Twickenham, London
October 17	8 p.m.	C1	D2	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
October 18	1 p.m.	D1	C2	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
October 18	4 p.m.	A1	B2	Twickenham, London
October 24	4 p.m.	Winner QF1	Winner QF2	Twickenham, London
October 25	4 p.m.	Winner QF3	Winner QF4	Twickenham, London
October 30	8 p.m.	Loser SF1	Loser SF2	Olympic Stadium, London
October 31	4 p.m.	Winner SF1	Winner SF2	Twickenham, 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	Tonga	2	1	0	1	45	38	2	6
3	Argentina	2	1	0	1	70	35	1	5
4	Georgia	2	1	0	1	26	64	0	4
5	Namibia	2	0	0	2	35	93	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

Pool of Death's First-Place Booby Prize

It's not an original notion at this advanced stage, but interesting nonetheless, that it may actually be more beneficial for any of England, Australia or Wales to take second place in Pool A rather than win the lot.

It would be entirely cynical to suggest any team would ever throw a match on purpose, but following on from Japan's surprise victory over the Springboks, Ross Harries of BBC Scrum V floated the idea:

It makes some sense due to the fact that Scotland, having claimed 10 points from a possible 10, are positioned to win Pool B and could even still do so if they lost to South Africa at St. James' Park on Saturday.

One would imagine Fiji's hopes of progressing have been dusted off after failing to claim even a point from England or Australia, but Wales may yet consider them a threat after broadcaster Phil Steele praised their addition to Pool A:

The Scots are undoubtedly playing some attractive rugby while we only really saw anything close to the Springboks best in their 46-6 win over Samoa, but one fact remains: Most teams would still rather risk facing Scotland than South Africa.

That's especially the case for England and Wales, who triumph over their northern rivals on nearly an annual basis, but still we're soon to see one rugby giant depart the competition at the first hurdle.

Of course none of the Pool A front-runners might dare meddle in such a risky game of chance, but Pool A's runner-up finish may all of a sudden not look that unappealing.

Scotland's Hopes in the Balance

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

And a lot of those simmering questions will be answered when Scotland and South Africa meet in their northeast climate this Saturday for a fixture that always looked likely to decide the Pool B victor.

Except now it's Vern Cotter's men who are in the ascendancy, and former Scotland centre talisman Gavin Hastings says his old team need "the game of their lives" if they're to beat the Boks, per Stuff.co.nz:

"

They can win it, but they've got to play the game of their lives and eliminate the errors. We have seen both against Japan and the USA, that they create opportunities but they've made errors. South Africa will put Scotland under pressure for a full 80 minutes, and it is how they deal with that because they are not going to find enough space.

"

Scotland have been delightful to watch for periods of the tournament thus far, but one thing that's blighted their efforts is a slow start, with all 10 of their tries thus far having come in the second half.

The squad was hit with the news that Grant Gilchrist had been ruled out of the World Cup this week, but Planet Rugby's Ben Coles believes replacement Blair Cowan always deserved his place in the squad:

Scotland are in a strangely strong position in that they already sit three points ahead of Heyneke Meyer's squad and with superior points difference, meaning even a loss with a bonus point (or two) could keep them at the top this weekend.

But the European hopefuls and their masses of fans have come to expect far more than that now, and with a heavy Scottish following sure to be present in Newcastle, Saturday's showdown could be one for the history books.