Rugby World Cup 2015: Assessment after three rounds

Almost every team at the 2015 Rugby World Cup have played three matches, and we are now in the homeward stretch of the pool stages.

Here is an assessment of the pools so far.

Pool A
After their great win over England the week before, Wales followed up with a narrow victory over Fiji. While they may have a few injury concerns to date, they seem to have the depth to overcome it.

With the pressure of a nation on them, England folded like a deck of cards and meekly bowed out the tournament.

Australia and – in particular their scrum – look great and they showed the sort of form needed to not just make it out the pool of death but to take the Cup home.

Along with South Africa, they are arguably the form team of the competition.

Special mention goes to Foley who was unbelievable. His brilliant individual performance was reminiscent of Carter in 2005 against the Lions. Australia and Wales will square off at Twickenham with the loser to face South Africa and the winner a date with Scotland or Japan.

Australia must be favoured to win this match but Wales have had an extra two days to prepare. Despite both of them qualifying already, the stakes are still very high with the winner avoiding the All Black and South Africa side of the draw.

Pool B
After being shocked by Japan, South Africa have gone on a rampage disposing of Samoa and Scotland with ease. Along with the Wallabies, they have the best form of the tournament so far.

Japan struggled against Scotland on a short back up but easily disposed of Samoa with the clinical skill you would find with the better sides. This team is the real deal and the South African game is beginning to look less like a fluke now.

They should dispose of the US without much trouble. Samoa has been a disappointment but if they click against Scotland and upset them this would mean Japan would make the quarters.

South Africa will top this group and although the heart would love to see Japan qualify, I think Scotland will account for Samoa.

Pool C
The All Blacks continue to win as expected in this group but their form is terrible. They went 50 minutes against Georgia B where they could only manage one try.

Their game is riddled with errors at the moment. The high standards they set themselves have been missing this tournament, with the exception of the second half against Argentina.

On current form, they will struggle to win a quarter final and are favourite on reputation only, because the form is not there. Despite the brave opening loss, Argentina have looked the better team of this group since.

Impressive wins over Georgia and Tonga have seen them lock down second spot. As predicted by everyone this group will go to the All Blacks from Argentina

Pool D
After cruising to easy wins over minnows in the open two rounds and having everyone rave about them, Ireland faced their toughest test to date against Italy. They got a real fright, scraping in by 7 points.

The bubble has burst. Despite being the most fancied northern hemisphere side, there are big questions being asked about how much of a contender they realistically are.

France have been going along nicely and look set for a big one. Putting a line through the France versus Italy game, they have the better form going into their big clash with the Irish.

Again massive stakes are on the line for these teams. The winner will play Argentina and the loser get the All Blacks. Ironically, France has a better record against the All Blacks than against Argentina so they might prefer the All Blacks. For Ireland the opposite is true, they have a dismal record against the All Blacks but a useful one versus Argentina.

Not sure how to pick this group, but I think Ireland might just edge France.

Australia versus Scotland and Ireland versus Argentina on one side of the draw. New Zealand versus France and South Africa versus Wales on the other side.