AS we count down to the first game of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, Times Sport takes you through Pool A which pundits have tagged the ‘Pool of death’.
With host England favourites to top the pool, Australia are vying to make their presence felt while the battle will be between Wales and the Vodafone Flying Fijians to try and emerge from the pool rounds.
How can we forget about the baby of the pool though – Uruguay?
Fiji coach John McKee has said the team has the potential to upstage the big guns and Fiji would be seriously looking at making it to the quarter-finals.
But all that will be determined when the dust settles after the pool rounds are completed and hopes are high that Fiji will emerge on top.
Fiji Rugby Union CEO Radrodro Tabualevu believes we are in the pool of opportunity.
According to BBC Sport this is the pool everyone else is glad to avoid, taking into account three of the top six teams in World Rugby’s rankings plus the Pacific Cup champions are in.
Fiji will start its RWC campaign against England on September 19 at 7am local time.
This is what BBC Sport has to say about teams in Pool A
How England fared so far
England have plenty to work on, but have the consolation of a victory under their belt.
They fielded an experimental line-up for the 19-14 win against France a fortnight ago, and produced a very un-English performance.
They were bullied up front for long periods, but displayed a degree of fizz and sparkle out wide that will have put Wales on alert.
Shaun Edwards will have taken note of Antony Watson’s sublime finishing skills, and of the way Henry Slade unpicked the French defence with wit and guile.
Like Wales, we have yet to see their full-strength team, but Stuart Lancaster appears to have a luxury of riches at his disposal behind the scrum.
The return of stalwarts such as Dan Cole, Tom Youngs and Courtney Lawes for the return fixture in Paris will add the ballast that was missing at Twickenham.
Wales set to face the toughest pool?
Wales’ 2015 World Cup adventure starts on 20 September when they play Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium.
In addition to the South Americans, Wales face previous winners England and Australia, as well as Fiji who ended Welsh involvement in the 2007 tournament.
It is the pool everyone else is glad they avoided, with three of the top six teams in World Rugby’s rankings plus the Pacific Cup champions vying for two places in the quarter-finals.
So who will survive and who will fall at the first hurdle? We take a look at the teams before the big kick-off.
Even this close to the event, there remains something of the enigma about Warren Gatland’s team.
While most of the home nations have launched into their warm-up programs, with games scheduled on consecutive weekends, Wales have dipped their toes, been scalded, and retreated to their Vale of Glamorgan HQ.
It’s difficult to gauge exactly where they are.
The defeat to Ireland was disheartening, but it was suffered by a patched-together side comprised of players who’d barely touched a ball in play during their intensive conditioning regime.
After their north Wales sojourn, the squad travelled the 200 miles back, with each wondering whether the final stop at Cardiff Central station would signal the end of their World Cup journey.
Amateurs versus professional
The tiny South American nation may be more synonymous with the round ball, having won the football World Cup twice, but they’re determined to be more than just Pool A whipping boys.
That is likely to be their destiny though, given that their only full-time professional — Castres second row Rodrigo Ortega Capo — mysteriously retired from international rugby in June.
They shipped 100 points last time they faced England in a World Cup, back in 2003.
The Uruguayans are Wales’ first opponents August 20 at the Millennium Stadium, and Gatland’s men will want to rack up the points.
Fiji, who are in a pool with Australia, Wales, England and Uruguay, will play in the tournament opener against England at Twickenham.
In a pool that could well be decided on points difference, the Uruguay game could prove as significant in its way as all the rest.
Cheikas’ Australia revolution
Australia have undergone a renaissance under coach Michael Cheika.
Before he took the reins, they were on the verge of careering spectacularly off course.
The series defeat by the Lions in 2013 triggered a meltdown, with off-field indiscretions more worthy of headlines than on-field performances.
But Cheika has brought a steely edge, and delivered a first Rugby Championship for four years.
The victory over New Zealand in Sydney addressed the erroneous assumption that they’re a soft touch up-front.
Their scrum — beefed up by the likes of Scott Sio and Sekope Kepu — had the All Blacks sliding backwards on a number of occasions.
And the strut and swagger of the David Pocock-Michael Hooper axis meant they ruled the roost at the breakdown. Australia’s gifted backs have turned winning while on the back foot into an art form.
Imagining what the likes of Matt Giteau and Israel Folau are capable of with a solid set-piece is the stuff of nightmares for their pool opponents. New Zealand’s emphatic victory in Auckland a week later has inevitably taken the shine off the Sydney win.
But it should be remembered, that Cheika made six changes for that match, which was contested in the bear-pit of Eden Park — a ground where New Zealand haven’t lost for 20 years.
The pride of the Pacific
During the buildup to last autumn’s game against Fiji, Warren Gatland was subjected to a barrage of questions about Wales ignominious World Cup defeat to the Pacific Islanders in 2007.
He pointed out that a more suitable reference would have been Wales’ 66-0 trouncing of the same opponents four years later.
This year’s most useful point of reference might be Fiji’s recent victory over Samoa in the final of the Pacific Nations Cup.
The side of 2011, whose campaign was derailed by in-fighting before they even took to the pitch against Wales, are a far cry from this current vintage.
Players such as Nikola Matawalu and Leone Nakawara are Pro12 champions, and no less an authority than Bob Dwyer has predicted that either Wales or England will fall to them in the group of death.
And former Fiji coach Wayne Pivac — now in charge at the Scarlets — believes they will target Wales for a shock result.
Fiji could yet prove the kingmakers in this most dastardly of pools.
Fiji Squad: Forwards: Lee Roy Atalifo, Isei Colati, Campese Ma’afu, Peni Ravai, Manasa Saulo, Sunia Koto (Vice Captain), Tuapati Talemaitoga, Viliame Veikoso, Tevita Cavubati, Leone Nakarawa, Api Ratuniyarawa, Nemia Soqeta, Sakiusa Masi Matadigo, Akapusi Qera (Captain), Malakai Ravulo, Netani Talei, Dom Waqaniburotu, Peceli Yato. Backs: Nemia Kenatale, Nikola Matawalu, Henry Seniloli, Lepani Botia, Gabiriele Lovobalavu, Joshua Matavesi, Ben Volavola, Vereniki Goneva (Vice Captain), Kini Murimurivalu, Nemani Nadolo, Waisea Nayacalevu, Metuisela Talebula, Asaeli Tikoirotuma.
