Rugby World Cup quarter finals: A major rivalry and a surprise package

DEFENDING champions New Zealand play Ireland, England face old rivals Australia, France have Wales and surprise package Japan are up against South Africa in this weekend’s Rugby World Cup quarter-finals.

Here is a closer look at the match-ups, to be played Saturday and Sunday in Tokyo and Oita:

Oct 19, Oita: England v Australia –

There’s no shortage of sub-plots as one of rugby’s great rivalries heads into its latest instalment in Oita on Saturday. 

The two coaches have a long personal history — Australia’s Michael Cheika and Eddie Jones, in charge of England, were team-mates at Sydney’s Randwick club.

England also have a score to settle after their 33-13 defeat to the Wallabies embarrassingly sent them packing from the pool stages of the 2015 World Cup on home soil.

But England beat the Wallabies in last-eight clashes at the 1995 and 2007 World Cups — and in the 2003 final, when Jones was in charge of his native Australia.

Recent history very much favours England, who have won six successive games against Australia since the 2015 World Cup.

England also look like one of the form teams at the World Cup, but past results and reputations will go out of the window when they face an Australian team packed with attacking threat.

Oct 19, Tokyo: Ireland v New Zealand –

New Zealand have already reclaimed the world number-one ranking from Ireland and they will have a point to prove after two defeats in recent years to the Six Nations side.

The Irish, stunned by Japan in Pool A, only spent two weeks on top of the rankings but they come into the match knowing they can beat the All Blacks, having won two of their last three.

Ireland won a 40-29 thriller in Chicago in 2016 and then beat the All Blacks in Dublin 16-9 during a New Zealand tour of Europe for their first-ever home win.

The match in Tokyo features some intriguing match-ups, not least World Player of the Year Johnny Sexton up against Richie Mo’unga, widely considered one of the most exciting talents in the global game.

After a convincing 27-3 win over Six Nations rivals Scotland, Ireland did not exactly shine during the pool phase and have been hit by injuries to a stellar back line.

But Ireland’s coach Joe Schmidt, a New Zealander, should have close to a full squad to pick from for the first time in the competition.

One unknown is New Zealand’s lack of serious match practice after their pool game with Italy was cancelled due to Typhoon Hagibis.

It will be a full month since they were last properly tested — in their 23-13 opening pool win against Southern Hemisphere rivals South Africa — and there are fears in some quarters they could be “undercooked”.

Oct 20, Oita: Wales v France –

Warren Gatland’s Wales are deservedly favourites for this clash in Oita — but nobody is writing off the unpredictable French, who have a habit of springing surprises at the World Cup.

Four wins out of four meant Wales, the Six Nations champions, qualified top of a competitive Pool D also including Australia and Fiji. 

France, meanwhile, scraped past Argentina, beat USA and were run close by Tonga before their final pool game against England was scrapped to avoid the typhoon.

However, it is unwise to read too much into France’s form, as they showed in 2011 when they lost to Tonga in pool play but ended up reaching the final, where they were shaded 8-7 by New Zealand.

Along the way was a tempestuous semi-final against Wales, which Les Bleus edged 9-8 after Welsh captain Sam Warburton was sent off early on for a tip tackle.

Gatland, meanwhile, who will step down after the World Cup, has built a formidable Welsh team known for its highly organised play and stifling defence.

But a number of injuries, including at fly-half where Dan Biggar is recovering from concussion, could dent the Welsh cause against the mercurial French, who have scored some of the most spectacular tries of the tournament.

Few would have predicted this as a quarter-final line-up but Japan have smashed all expectations — and 50-1 odds — to top their pool and set up a thrilling-looking encounter in Tokyo.

Comparisons will inevitably be drawn to the last time the two teams played in a World Cup — the 2015 “miracle of Brighton” when Japan pulled off a 34-32 upset widely considered the biggest shock in the sport’s history.

That achievement has even sparked a movie but the sequel was less pretty, the Springboks dismantling Japan 41-7 in a World Cup warm-up match in which the Brave Blossoms barely got into the game.

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