2023 Rugby World Cup pool stage results and match reports: Round five

Rugby World Cup results

Thursday October 5

• New Zealand 73-0 Uruguay

Friday October 6

• France 60-7 Italy

Saturday October 7

• Wales 43-19 Georgia
• England 18-17 Samoa
• Ireland 36-14 Scotland

Sunday October 8

• Japan 27-39 Argentina
• Tonga 45-24 Romania
• Fiji 23-24 Portugal

Australia crash out despite Fiji loss

Fiji advanced to face England in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, eliminating Australia, despite suffering a stunning 24-23 loss to Portugal who secured their first ever win in this tournament at the eighth attempt.

Rodrigo Marta’s 78th-minute try was converted by Samuel Marques to make history for Portugal, who were playing in only their second World Cup.

But although Fiji’s players slumped to the turf in frustration, they can look forward to a quarter-final appearance after picking up a losing bonus point to send Australia out at the pool stage for the first time in World Cup history.

Argentina book Wales clash

Argentina set up a World Cup quarter-final against Wales as Mateo Carreras’ hat-trick helped them see off Japan 39-27 in their winner-takes-all Pool D clash.

With both sides knowing victory would see them take second place in the pool at the other’s expense to join table-toppers England in the next round, Los Pumas sealed the spot after scoring five tries in Nantes, with Carreras the star man.

Tonga grab a win

Tonga beat Romania 45-24 in the final Pool B game at the World Cup.

The teams came into the Lille clash without a point between them but the Pacific Islanders finished strongly to ensure they exited the competition with a win.

Ireland overpower Scotland

Rampant Ireland set up tantalising quarter-final rematch against New Zealand by condemning ragged rivals Scotland to another early World Cup exit with a crushing 36-14 bonus-point success in Paris.

Gregor Townsend’s men required a heroic win by eight points or more at Stade de France to snatch progression at the expense of their opponents.

But Test rugby’s top-ranked nation emphatically underlined their status with a thrilling display of attacking verve to avoid major drama in a feisty encounter.

James Lowe’s early try settled any nerves before Hugo Keenan crossed either side of a score from the recalled Iain Henderson to quickly take the game away from the shell-shocked Scots before the break.

Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose added to the embarrassment before Scottish pair Ewan Ashman and Ali Price claimed quickfire consolations.

Ireland will take on the All Blacks in the last eight, seeking to avenge the 46-14 thrashing suffered at the same stage of the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

Head coach Andy Farrell perhaps has cause for concern ahead of that showdown due apparent injuries suffered by wings Mack Hansen and Lowe.

Scotland, meanwhile, face an early flight home for the second successive tournament, with South Africa going through as Pool B runners-up to take on hosts France.

Premature departures for Blair Kinghorn, Jamie Ritchie and Darcy Graham due to fitness issues contributed to their woes, while Ollie Smith was shown a yellow card for causing a mass brawl.

The Scots came into the competition with one of their most talented teams in years but, following a chastening evening in the French capital, were left to rue being placed in the most difficult group alongside the reigning champions and the world’s number one team.

England made to sweat by Samoa

England were forced to dig deep in an 18-17 victory over Samoa that will have left probable World Cup quarter-final opponents Fiji licking their lips.

A dominant final quarter saw Samoa’s 17-8 lead eventually overhauled when Danny Care crossed with seven minutes left for a try that was converted by Owen Farrell.

It was a night of personal triumph for Farrell, who eclipsed Jonny Wilkinson’s total of 1,179 to become the nation’s highest points scorer, but a poor team performance will have taken the shine off that achievement.

Samoa finally discovered their mojo in the climax to a disappointing group campaign and they fell metres short with one last do-or-die assault that if successful would have produced a first-ever victory in the fixture.

A lingering sense of injustice hung over an early decision – made once the conversion had been taken – to chalk off Duncan Paia’aua’s try for a hard-to-detect knock-on that would have propelled the underdogs 19-8 ahead.

Until this night in Lille, England had not conceded a try for 160 minutes but they were breached twice by Samoa wing Nigel Ah-Wong – and it could have been more.

Their only consistent weapon was the driving line-out and Fiji will have watched the events at Stade Pierre-Mauroy with interest, seeing how rattled Steve Borthwick’s side became when faced with an incisive, off-loading attack.

England’s pack made an early impact but it was the sharp handling of Farrell and Joe Marchant that led to their first try in the 10th minute as Manu Tuilagi motored forwards before sending Ollie Chessum over in the left corner.

Tuilagi tore through the midfield once again as Samoa continued to be picked apart at will with George Ford and Farrell dovetailing well and their next drive ended with a penalty from their captain that saw Wilkinson’s record finally broken.

Play became ragged and England suffered as a result, their sloppy handling allowing Samoa to attack and the Islanders showed skill to thread the ball to wing Ah-Wong for a classy try.

Blue shirts poured through gaps in the favourites’ porous defence and they were unpicked again when Lima Sopoaga hoisted a crossfield kick for Ah-Wong to produce an inch-perfect finish.

Nothing seemed to be going right for England as they infringed at a line-out but they enjoyed a stroke of luck when Paia’aua’s score off Alex Mitchell’s poor clearance kick was disallowed.

A sloppy Farrell pass intended for Tuilagi invited more pressure and after going through several phases in which the tryline was tested Samoa ended the spell with a Sopoaga penalty.

England were losing every moment and they chose to play their trump card by bringing on Marcus Smith at Ford’s expense with Farrell moving to fly-half.

They appeared to have scored when their pack dragged Samoa into the trenches but Chessum’s try was ruled out and then Marchant was denied because of a forward pass.

Farrell landed one penalty but the shot clock expired on a second attempt and England were thrown a lifeline when Tumua Manu was shown a yellow card for tackling Farrell in the air.

Pinned back by scrum after scrum, Samoa eventually cracked when replacement scrum-half Care raced through a large gap and once Farrell converted England were back in front.

A last-gasp attack by Samoa almost swept them over but excellent scramble defence kept them out and the dream of an upset was extinguished.

Hat-trick fror Rees-Zammit

Wales won their Rugby World Cup group and maintained an unbeaten march to the quarter-finals after beating Georgia 43-19 at Stade de la Beaujoire.

Warren Gatland’s team needed one point to finish top of Pool C after securing a last-eight place almost two weeks ago by defeating Australia in record-breaking fashion.

And they accomplished it on the same ground that 16 years ago Fiji condemned them to a World Cup pool-stage exit.

Wing Louis Rees-Zammit scored three tries, while there were also touchdowns for prop Tomas Francis, full-back Liam Williams and centre George North.

Wales ensured there would be no repeat of Georgia’s shock 13-12 success in Cardiff during the 2022 autumn Tests as they overcame fly-half Gareth Anscombe’s withdrawal just 45 minutes before kick-off due to a groin injury.

Anscombe’s late replacement Sam Costelow kicked five conversions and a penalty, although Georgia fought back to 24-19 adrift at one point through tries from Merab Sharikadze, Vano Karkadze and Davit Niniashvili, with Luka Matkava kicking two conversions.

A protracted mass brawl late in the game that spilled over the touchline and involved replacements from both sides saw Niniashvili and Wales substitute Taine Basham yellow-carded.

Wales were home and dry by this stage, although there was more injury concern when number eight Taulupe Faletau went off nursing what appeared to be a wrist problem.

Fabulous France

France booked their place in the Rugby World Cup knockout stage in style with a 60-7 romp over Italy, who exit the tournament.

Only a monumental defeat would have seen the hosts crash out, but that was never going to happen as Les Bleus ran in eight tries in Lyon.

Damian Penaud (2), Louis Bielle-Biarrey and Thomas Ramos all crossed the line in the first half, with Matthieu Jalibert, Peato Mauvaka and Yoram Moefana (2) adding second-half efforts as they ran riot with a record-breaking win over their opponents.

It sets up a quarter-final clash with either South Africa or Ireland and they will be dreaming of World Cup glory on their own soil.

Italy’s interest ends with a mauling, with Manuel Zuliani’s 70th-minute try finally getting them on the scoresheet, but they head home at the conclusion of their Group A campaign.

No problems for New Zealand

New Zealand eased into the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup with a 73-0 demolition of Uruguay in Lyon.

After putting nearly 100 points on Italy last week, the All Blacks had to wait 20 minutes to make the breakthrough here, Damian McKenzie crossing for the first of their 11 tries.

They had wrapped up the bonus point before half-time thanks to further tries from Richie Mo’unga, who slotted over five conversions, a stylish effort from Will Jordan and Cam Roigard.

Uruguay did not allow their heads to drop but they were powerless to stop New Zealand crossing seven times in the second half, with Leicester Fainga’anuku scoring a hat-trick.

Fletcher Newell and Tamaiti Williams were among the scorers while McKenzie finished off a brilliant move and Jordan also claimed a second try.

It was again a landmark evening for veteran lock Sam Whitelock, who, after becoming the most capped All Black last week, celebrated a 150th Test appearance and a record 23rd at the World Cup.

New Zealand could face Ireland, the world’s top-ranked side, in the last eight in what would be a much stiffer test of their title credentials.