Rugby World Cup 2015 Schedule: Knockout Fixtures, Dates, TV, Live Stream Info
An arduous Rugby World Cup 2015 pool campaign came to a close on Sunday and moved us one step closer to the competition's knockout stages, an arena where only the cream of the crop will come to do battle.
Stuart Lancaster's England were the unfortunate party to fall out of the Pool of Death and in doing so, go down in history as the first host nation to fail to advance from the first round of their own tournament.
In their place, Wales and Australia move on from Pool A to join reigning champions New Zealand in the quarter-finals, along with France, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland and Argentina.
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Make sure you stay up to date with all the latest Rugby World Cup entertainment and don't miss a minute of the quarter-finals as we provide all the essential live stream and schedule information ahead.
| Saturday, October 17 | 4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET | South Africa vs. Wales |
| Saturday, October 17 | 8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET | New Zealand vs. France |
| Sunday, October 18 | 1 p.m. BST/8 a.m. ET | Ireland vs. Argentina |
| Sunday, October 18 | 4 p.m. BST/11 a.m. ET | Australia vs. Scotland |
Live Stream (TV Info): ITV Player (UK, ITV & ITV4), Universal Sports (US), Fox Sports (AUS, Fox Sports 2), Sky Go (NZ, Sky Sport 1), SuperSport (SA, SuperSport 1)
Ireland Out of the Frying Pan, Into the Fire
A pool-stage curtain call against France always looked like the tie that would dictate Pool D's winner, and the premonition came to fruition on Sunday as Ireland beat France 24-9 to claim their spoils.
That prize being the easier quarter-final opponent of Argentina rather than New Zealand, but as BBC pundit Jonathan Davies professed, the Pumas will be no simple task to overcome themselves:
The greatest concern for Joe Schmidt's side as things stand is an injury list that could even rival that of the ravaged Welsh, with Peter O'Mahony's tournament now over, while Paul O'Connell and Johnny Sexton could yet join the flanker.
Add to that the very likely, but yet-to-be-confirmed citing Sean O'Brien should pick up for a punch on Pascal Pape and Ireland have even bigger worries ahead. But the Telegraph's Brendan Gallagher saysid the French result must be savoured first:
In a way, seeing Sexton and O'Connell leave the pitch prematurely could have had its effect in galvanising the team, with Ian Madigan and Iain Henderson—their respective replacements—playing tremendous roles as substitutes.
However, performing with so much raw emotion and intensity mid-game is an entirely different challenge to the one that awaits a weakened Ireland lineup against Argentina at the Millennium Stadium this Sunday.
Springboks the Latest to Test Welsh Depth
As touched upon earlier, there isn't a team at the World Cup that has been cursed quite so badly as Wales in recent weeks and months, with full-back Liam Williams added to the absentee list after Saturday's 15-6 loss to Australia.
But Simon Borchardt of South Africa Rugby Magazine believes Pool D winners the Springboks will still have trouble making it past the Pool A runners-up, who need to call upon more reserves in Williams' stead:
BBC Scrum V's Phil Steele has even jested that the training camps of Poland and Qatar that have done such wonders for Welsh fitness in the past be ditched in place of safer retreats in future:
Since dropping to Japan 34-32 in their tournament opener, Heyneke Meyer's South Africa have gone from strength to strength, doing away with Samoa, Scotland and the United States without so much as breaking sweat.
It's terribly bad luck that Warren Gatland's Wales may be forced to pin any defeat on something so far out of their control, but Wales have reserves gearing to emerge yet, and aren't likely to accept any underdog billing gladly.
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