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Wales coach Warren Gatland says whoever loses this weekend’s “massive” World Cup warm-up match between England and Ireland will suffer a major setback ahead of the rugby tournament.
Gatland’s men, who won 16-10 away to Six Nations champions Ireland in their penultimate warm-up contest last Saturday, have been drawn in the same World Cup pool as main tournament hosts England and Australia.
But the group also includes Fiji, who knocked Wales out of the 2007 World Cup in France, and Gatland believes the Pacific Islanders shouldn’t be under-estimated.
“I am looking forward to the game this weekend between England and Ireland, because whoever loses is going to lose two in a row which puts them under a little bit of pressure,” said Gatland, with England beaten 25-20 by France in Paris in their last warm-up encounter.
“It’s a massive game for England and Ireland.”
Looking beyond Wales’ group, Gatland said: “I’ve been impressed by France. They looked a lot fitter and stronger than they have for recent campaigns.
“They dominated for 60 minutes against England and gave them a few headaches a couple of weeks in a row.”
He added: “This (Wales’) group potentially is going to come down to the bounce of the ball and a refereeing decision, and that’s the way it is.
“Everyone is talking about Wales, Australia and England but we should not under-estimate Fiji, they are going to be an incredibly tough proposition,” the New Zealander said.
“They have a lot of players playing at the top level in France, they’ve just won the Pacific Nations Cup and they have comfortably beaten Samoa – that’s not an easy feat.”
England open the World Cup against Fiji at Twickenham on September 18 and Gatland said: “If we go in there just thinking about the supposedly ‘big three’ teams and under-estimate Fiji, someone is going to get caught with their pants down.
“That opening game for England is not going to be a walk in the park. It’s going to be full-on.”
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.