RWC 2019

Namibia fans relish brief lead over All Blacks

For the briefest of moments Namibia could enjoy the feeling of being ahead of New Zealand at 3-0, and the score remained close throughout the first half.

It was this half of the match that Namibia fans chose to dwell on, including the captain, Johan Deysel's family, who were among the crowd.

"We've got a fantastic first half, we are quite proud about our first half and our boys put their bodies on the line", said Johan senior. "We are not a professional team, they've got a lot of amateurs and we knew that the second half they [NZ] were going to be tough."

South Africa v Italy

The Springboks are third in Pool B, behind leaders Italy and New Zealand after losing to the All Blacks in their first match of the tournament.

South Africa responded to their loss to the defending champions by thumping Namibia 57-3 and will be expected to get the better of an Azzurri side who have taken maximum points from their two matches.

New Zealand 63-0 Canada

Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Scott Barrett became the first siblings to play in the same All Blacks side in a World Cup and they all made their mark in a nine-try drubbing.

All three brothers touched down along with Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Shannon Frizell and Brad Weber (two) after New Zealand were awarded an early penalty try.

Canada rugby fans welcome All Blacks challenge

The last time the two teams met at the Rugby World Cup was in 2011 and Canada were on the wrong side of a thrashing from the hosts and eventual winners, with New Zealand winning 79-15 at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

Canada captain Tyler Ardron is relishing the opportunity to measure themselves against the best tonight, despite many expecting the All Blacks to flog them, including their own fans.

"We're at the World Cup to play against the best there is. And we get that today."

Springboks call up Damian Willemse

Kriel suffered a hamstring injury in the team's opening Pool B defeat to New Zealand and it has now been deemed he will not recover to feature in the group stage, prompting a switch with Willemse.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said: "Damian would have been more involved with us this year but for injury. He is familiar with our systems and should have no problem slotting in."

He added: "I feel for Jesse. He has been in the matchday 23 for almost every match since I took over and is a model professional. He was a key member of the squad."

Townsend happier after Scotland win

Townsend's men had endured an awful start to their campaign in a heavy opening defeat to Ireland, while hosts Japan's shock win against the Irish dealt a further blow to Scotland's hopes of advancing from Pool A.

But where Scotland had been poor from the off against Ireland, they were much improved on Monday and led 20-0 at the break.

Samoa's Ed Fidow then received two yellow cards and was dismissed for conceding a pair of penalty tries to hand Scotland a commanding 34-0 bonus-point win that brings them back into contention.

RWC 2019: New Zealand v Canada

The All Blacks began their campaign with victory over South Africa, in the process taking a huge early step towards the knockout stages of the tournament.

Their next outing is against Canada; while it is expected to be a more straightforward affair, Hansen has still named a strong New Zealand side.

Included in the XV are brothers Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett, becoming just the second trio of siblings to start together in a World Cup match - after Tonga's Vunipola brothers in 2015.

Hooper rues first-half failings

In what will surely be the key fixture in Pool D at the Rugby World Cup, Wales got the better of a strong-finishing Australia 29-25, having led 23-8 at the break.

Tries from Dane Haylett-Petty and Hooper himself set up a tense finish, but the Wallabies could not quite wrestle back control of the match.

Hooper was disappointed but keen to move on quickly, knowing Australia cannot afford to spend too long reflecting on a defeat that likely sends them into the same side of the draw as England and New Zealand.

Target on Wallabies halves as Wales prepare for World Cup scrap

Though both have been out of favour at the selection table at times this year but they are set to play pivotal roles in Australia’s most important pool match.

Wales flyhalf Dan Biggar said his side was certainly wary of Foley, who has found some of his best games in Cardiff over his career, and the impact of Genia as his halves partner.

“His record speaks for itself. He is an excellent player. He has success against us in the past, he has always seemed to have played well in Cardiff in particular,” he said.

Rugby hosts Japan stun Ireland 19-12 in massive World Cup upset

The Brave Blossoms came from behind at Shizuoka Stadium with Kenki Fukuoka's second-half try and Yu Tamura's boot beating a side recently ranked number one in the world in a shock to match their victory over twice world champions South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.

While they stunned world rugby then, to win this time in front of an uproarious home crowd with so much focus on Asia's first World Cup was arguably more significant.