Rugby World Cup Results 2015: Saturday Scores, Pools, Updated Knockout Fixtures

Scotland booked their spot in the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup 2015 with a 36-33 win over Samoa on Saturday, the first of three matches that will decide the seedings for the next round as the group stages come to an end.

Australia beat Wales 15-6 to set up a quarter-final meeting with the Scots, while England cruised past Uruguay, 60-3.

Here's the schedule for Saturday, complete with updated results:

Home	Score	Away
Samoa	33-36	Scotland
Australia	15-6	Wales
England	60-3	Uruguay

The current pool standings:

Pool A	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
Pool B	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
Pool C	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
Pool D	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	For	Against	Bonus	Points
1	Australia*	4	4	0	0	131	35	1	17
2	Wales*	4	3	0	1	111	62	1	13
3	England	4	2	0	2	133	75	3	11
4	Fiji	4	1	0	3	84	101	1	5
5	Uruguay	4	0	0	4	30	226	0	0
1	South Africa*	4	3	0	1	176	56	4	16
2	Scotland*	4	3	0	1	136	93	2	14
3	Japan	3	2	0	1	70	82	0	8
4	Samoa	4	1	0	3	69	124	1	5
5	USA	3	0	0	3	32	128	0	0
1	New Zealand*	4	4	0	0	174	49	3	19
2	Argentina*	3	2	0	1	115	51	2	10
3	Georgia	4	2	0	2	53	123	0	8
4	Tonga	4	1	0	3	70	130	2	6
5	Namibia	3	0	0	3	51	110	1	1
1	Ireland*	3	3	0	0	110	26	2	14
2	France*	3	3	0	0	111	39	2	14
3	Italy	3	1	0	2	42	66	1	5
4	Romania	3	1	0	2	38	97	0	4
5	Canada	4	0	0	4	58	131	2	2

Teams marked * have qualified for the knockout stages. 

Here's how the draw for the knockout fixtures look with one matchday left in the group stages:

Date	Home	vs.	Away	Venue
17 October	South Africa	vs.	Wales	Twickenham
17 October	New Zealand	vs.	Pool D Runner-Up	Millennium Stadium
18 October	Pool D Winner	vs.	Argentina	Millennium Stadium
18 October	Australia	vs.	Scotland	Twickenham

England 60-3 Uruguay 

Uruguay put up a decent fight in the first half but were no match for an England squad with a point to prove, as an avalanche of late tries put the heavy 60-3 score on the board during Saturday's final match.

England had little left to play for but pride and were determined to give a good final showing, but they ran into an early deficit when Felipe Berchesi converted a penalty for an offside call. Order was quickly restored, however, with Danny Care in particular looking impressive with the ball.

Anthony Watson scored the first try of the match after superb work from England's pack, although the speedster was clearly offside for Jack Nowell's lovely kick.

England dominated possession and nearly all of the action took place inside Uruguay's half, but to their credit, the South Americans defended well.

It took 18 minutes for Nick Easter to score a second try and give the hosts some breathing room, becoming the third-oldest try-scorer in World Cup history, per the event's official Twitter account.

Jefferson Lake of Sky Sports couldn't help himself:

Easter added a third try soon after, collecting an offload from Care and diving over the line.

Former rugby star Matt Dawson liked what he was seeing from the 28-year-old, via BBC 5 Live Sport:

Uruguay were in real danger of getting blown out by England, but their defence clamped down and managed to keep the hosts from scoring any more tries in the first half.

Stuart Lancaster's men seemed content with the 21-3 lead, as their attack became less focused, and they hardly threatened the rest of the half.

Santiago Vilaseca did run into a yellow card just before the whistle, setting things up nicely for the English.

Despite the lead, former rugby star Brian Moore was not pleased with England's effort:

Watson scored his second try of the night almost immediately after the second-half kick-off, using his speed to get to the corner and add the bonus point.

Henry Slade added a try on his World Cup debut, chasing down a kick and almost juggling the ball before crossing the line and touching down.

The youngster drew praise from the Daily Telegraph's Paul Hayward for his efforts:

At this point, Uruguay's defenders were visibly tiring, and the floodgates opened. Nowell made it 36-3, Owen Farrell added the conversion and Easter scored his third just minutes later, completing his hat-trick and pushing the lead even further.

Nowell piled on inside the final 10 minutes with two more tries, and a penalty try put the final score on the board.

Wales 6-15 Australia

Australia produced a heroic defensive performance to beat Wales and grab the top spot in Pool A on Saturday, setting up a meeting with Scotland in the next round.

Wales dominated the first 20 minutes and took a quick lead through Dan Biggar, who continued his perfect run through the tournament by converting the first penalty.

As shared by Bleacher Report UK, his form had been immaculate until that point:

The Wallabies dominated Wales with their scrum and raw athleticism in their last match, but they were thoroughly outplayed by the Welsh in the opening stages. Australia were forced to defend with numbers, and the fans were treated to a barrage of big hits in their half of the pitch.

The Welsh fans were loving what they were seeing, but for all of Wales' dominance, it didn't lead to any more points. Australia's discipline in their own half was impressive, not giving the in-form Biggar any chances to add to the lead.

And when the Welsh whirlwind finally started to settle down, the Wallabies struck immediately.

Bernard Foley converted a penalty of his own to tie things up and gave the Aussies the lead minutes later, with the pressure suddenly shifting.

Wales were now on the back foot, and while Biggar managed to pull his side back on level terms, Australia looked like the more threatening side.

BBC 5 Live's Mark Pougatch was just enjoying a fine match of rugby:

Foley's perfect record at Twickenham this tournament continued with his third penalty of the day. And when it was Biggar's turn to match him, he finally missed his first kick of the tournament, pushing it wide from distance.

Star actor David Hasselhoff is apparently a rugby fan, and he loved what he was seeing:

Wales had started the first half in incredible fashion, but it was Australia's turn to impress to start the second.

The Wallabies pushed forward and put real pressure on the Welsh defence, but similarly to the first half, it didn't immediately result in points.

Foley did manage to extend the Aussie lead to six after 10 minutes, but tries were hard to come by.

Will Genia decided to hand the Welsh the advantage by committing an obvious and cynical trip, to the disbelief of the Australian fans. A yellow card and trip to the sin bin was the logical result, reducing the Wallabies to 14 men.

Taulupe Faletau thought he'd immediately taken advantage by scoring a try in the corner, but the TMO showed the 24-year-old lost control of the ball on the line.

ESPN Digital Australia's Andy Withers thought it was an incredible defensive effort from the Wallabies:

Dean Mumm only added to the Aussie's worries by getting sin-binned as well, taking out Alun Wyn Jones in the air at the lineout.

Jamie Roberts produced a superb offload to spring George North, but the 13 Aussies were defending like madmen at this point, stopping the centre from crashing over the line.

Former All Blacks star Nick Evans praised the defensive effort of his rivals:

The team's official Twitter account was also in awe:

Add pop star Niall Horan to the list of admirers:

With Genia returning from the sin bin, the Wallabies pushed forward with 14 men and advanced to within 15 metres, before a penalty gave them some breathing room.

Foley converted, handing the Aussies a nine-point lead.

That would be the final score, as Australia beat Wales to the top spot in Pool A. The Wallabies will meet Scotland in the next round, while Wales play South Africa. 

Scotland 36-33 Samoa

Greig Laidlaw was the hero for Scotland, making the difference with his boot in the team's narrow win over Samoa. In an entertaining encounter, the Scots did just enough to hold off the Samoans in the second half, qualifying for the knockout stages in the process.

The Scots came into the match knowing a win would guarantee their spot in the next round, where they'll meet the winner of Saturday's most anticipated clash: the Pool A contest between Wales and Australia.

Scott Heppell/Associated Press

Samoa weren't just going to roll over and make things easy on Scotland, however. The Pacific Islanders came out firing on all cylinders, controlling possession early and pushing deep into the opposing half. Fly-half Tusi Pisi gave his team the lead via a penalty after just three minutes, setting the tone for a spectacular first half.

Laidlaw pulled the Scots level after Census Johnston entered the scrum a little too eagerly, but Pisi converted the first try of the match just minutes later, diving over the line in the corner and managing to avoid going into touch, despite Matt Scott's best efforts.

Again the Scots hit back, this time via Tommy Seymour, but Pisi's energy had become contagious at this point. Manu Leiataua practically walked through a disorganised Scottish defence to make the score 15-10, and the World Cup's official Twitter account was loving the drama:

ITV expects the Scots probably weren't, as Samoa looked like the dangerous outsiders we all expected them to be before the tournament started:

Laidlaw converted another penalty right in front of the sticks to bring the Scots within two points, but possession continued to be a big issue for Scotland. In attack, Samoa played freely, combining their hard running with some beautiful offloads, and luck was on their side as well.

A loose ball could have been turned into points for Scotland. But instead, Tim Nanai-Williams managed to control it with his feet, working the ball past the Scottish defence and into the hands of Reynold Lee-Lo, who added to the lead.

Dawson thought their great play wouldn't last, however:

Discipline has been an issue for the Pacific Islanders throughout the tournament, as they've given away countless penalties, and this continued in the first half. Laidlaw took advantage, making it 16-20 with another conversion.

Ryan Wilson nearly made himself public enemy No. 1 in Scotland just before the half-hour mark, as he was shown a yellow card for stamping down on an opponent. The Samoans disagreed with the punishment, and it was easy to see why, as he could just as easily have seen a red card.

Pisi converted the penalty, and with the man advantage, Samoa powered forward. The Scots answered right back, however, tying things up with a driving maul, with John Hardie touching the ball down.

There was time for one more score, as Pisi converted another penalty to give his team a three-point lead heading into half-time. The Irish Sun's Neil O'Riordan almost felt bad for the Scottish fans:

The pace of the match didn't drop at the start of the second half, to the delight of the crowd, but Scotland's defence looked more disciplined, taking away more space from the Samoan runners. Vern Cotter's men showed more patience, and it showed early, with Laidlaw converting two penalties to give his team the lead.

Per the World Cup's official Twitter account, that made Laidlaw the new leading scorer at the tournament.

Now playing with the lead, Cotter injected some size in his squad, with Josh Strauss coming on, and the Scots started to grab hold of the possession stats a little more. Samoa looked tired, but Laidlaw couldn't take advantage, missing two penalties in a row after making his first seven.

The Daily Telegraph's Mick Cleary wasn't a fan of the officiating in this match:

Sean Lamont also made his way onto the pitch, grabbing his 100th cap for Scotland in the process, per the team's official Twitter account.

The final 10 minutes of the match were as nervy as can be for the Scots, but Samoa lacked the energy to find a late try that would have handed them the win. Instead, the Scots scored a late try through Laidlaw, and while the Samoans managed to hit back through Motu Matu'u, it was too little, too late.

As reported by BBC Sport, Cotter had nothing but praise for hero Laidlaw after the match: "Greig had an outstanding game. We were under a lot of pressure; he kept his cool, we kept our cool. We just needed to win, and that's done. We're relieved, but we're proud as well—that was a tough game."

Scotland will play the winner of the match between Australia and Wales in the next round. Cotter's men will have their work cut out for them, as they've shown signs of weakness in the group stages, particularly against the quicker, more athletic sides. The Wallabies in particular look like a bad matchup for the Scots, given their pace out wide.