Rugby World Cup diary: Wales qualify while Scotland keep hopes alive

Rugby World Cup pool D: Wales 29 Fiji 17

Wales have qualified for the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals where they will play England or France.

Warren Gatland’s side, the reigning Six Nations champions, secured their last-eight spot with a bonus-point 29-17 victory over Fiji. Josh Adams scored a hat-trick and Liam Williams added the fourth try with 12 minutes remaining.

Dan Biggar, who went off injured, kicked two conversions while Rhys Patchell kicked a conversion and a penalty.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Fiji gave Wales a scare in a thrilling encounter with early tries from Josua Tuisova and Kini Murimurivalu, but they are now out of the World Cup following Wales’s stirring performance.

Wales head coach Gatland said: “It was tough. From 10-0 down I would’ve taken a bonus-point win. We showed some real character to get back into that.

“They have some incredible individual athletes, we showed some character to fight back, I’m pleased with that performance and result. It was a little bit different to the first two games, hopefully it’ll set us up nicely going forward.

“We felt a few of their tight forwards were starting to feel the pace before half time, the message was to keep working them and take the opportunities that came. From a conditioning point of view we looked strong and there were some good defensive sets as well.”

Wales play Uruguay in their final group D game on Sunday 13 October.

Scots keep last-eight hopes alive

Scotland’s chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals were boosted after a 61-0 bonus-point victory over Russia.

George Horne scored a hat-trick of tries and Adam Hastings contributed 26 points overall in the pool A win in Shizuoka.

Gregor Townsend’s side will now face Japan in a vital final pool match on Sunday. Scotland now require four points more than the host nation to reach the last eight.

In Wednesday’s early match Argentina secured a 47-17 victory over the United States in pool C.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Wednesday’s RWC results

• Pool C: Argentina 47 USA 17
• Pool A: Scotland 61 Russia 0
• Pool D: Wales 29 Fiji 17

Who plays next?

There’s no matches at the Rugby World Cup on Thursday. The next action is a pool D clash between Australia and Georgia on Friday in Shizuoka (11.15am BST).

Remaining RWC pool fixtures

Pool fixtures conclude on 13 October and the quarter-finals will be held on 19-20 October. All times below are UK.

Pool A

• Saturday 12 October: Ireland vs. Samoa (11.45am; Hakatanomori Football Stadium, Fukuoka; ITV)
• Sunday 13 October: Japan vs. Scotland (11.45am; International Stadium, Yokohama; ITV)

Pool B

• Saturday 12 October: New Zealand vs. Italy (5.45am; City of Toyota Stadium, Aichi; ITV)
• Sunday 13 October: Namibia vs. Canada (4.15am; Kamaishi Recovery Memorial Stadium, Kamaishi; ITV)

Pool C

• Saturday 12 October: England vs. France (9.15am; International Stadium, Yokohama; ITV)
• Sunday 13 October: USA vs. Tonga (6.45am; Hanazono Rugby Stadium, Osaka; ITV)

Pool D

• Friday 11 October: Australia vs. Georgia (11.15am; Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Shizuoka; ITV 4)
• Sunday 13 October: Wales vs. Uruguay (9.15am; Kumamoto Prefectural Athletic Stadium, Kumamoto; ITV)

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For analysis of the biggest sport stories - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news - try The Week magazine. Get your first six issues free–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––