RWC Pool A: This could go anywhere

The World Cup is just around the corner, which means it's time to review the Pools. First up we've got Pool A, containing two age-old 6 Nations rivals, the home nation, and one of the most physical teams in the tournament. With recent results, this pool looks closer than ever between the main four. We could see some complicated pool stage mathematics being pulled out to figure out who qualifies.

Japan made history four years ago, now they are the host nation, can they go further, and reach the quarter finals?

1st: Ireland - 18 points

It's been a rocky couple of months for Ireland so far. They put Italy away well enough, but it wasn't the most convincing performance. Two weeks later, at Twickenham, they were resoundingly crushed under England's chariot, and that was with nearly a full-strength side. They looked lethargic and lost on the pitch, and England rightly bulldozed their way to a record victory. This will worry many Irish fans, who have seen a steady decline in the last 12 months for their team, since beating New Zealand for the second time, highlighted by bookending their Six Nations with two heavy defeats.

Can Sexton right the ship for Ireland?

Of course, it's not all doom and gloom, they've played the warm-ups without their heart or brain. Schmidt chose to keep James Ryan and Jonny Sexton out of the firing line, seeking to see what he had behind his first-choice players. When they return Ireland's fortunes should take an upturn, being able to get back to their dominant kicking game, complemented by a strong lineout game. And during this time their scrum has been solid at worst, and a penalty machine at best, helping them to victory in Cardiff.

As for the World Cup, Ireland are fortunate they've got such a nice pool, they don't fear Scotland, due to consistent success against their Celtic compatriots, and Japan will struggle against the kick-chase strategy executed by Sexton and Murray. Ireland should come out on top, putting a couple of bonus point wins over Samoa and Russia in the process.

2nd: Scotland - 15 points

I can't wait to watch Scotland play at this tournament. Japan is famed for dry, hard, fast pitches which encourage attacking quick tempo rugby. In other words, exactly the kind of game Townsend has installed with Scotland. With Finn Russell, Stuart Hogg, and the electric Darcy Graham in the backline expect Scotland to unleash some beautiful rugby and wonderous tries on their way around Japan.

Scotland's real issue is not likely to be highlighted too much in the group stage since outside of Ireland the teams in Pool A are not known for their stingy defensive systems. Scotland can often struggle to make gain-line advancements from their forward pack, which in turn ruins any chance they can unleash their backline. The issue is particularly highlighted away from Murrayfield, without the crowd gives their ballcarriers a little extra momentum. How they cope on the other side of the world will be particularly critical to their chance of making the knockouts.

I do expect them to beat Japan, in the final pool stage game, Scotland will be at a disadvantage having played Russia only four days earlier, but with it all on the line, I expect them to win a try fest by a slim margin.

No team is more dependent than Scotland with Finn Russell.

3rd: Japan - 11 points

World Cups usually go one of two ways for home teams. Either they go all the way and win the trophy (see New Zealand and South Africa), or it goes terribly wrong in the group stages (see England and France). I don't think it's too harsh to say Japan aren't going to win the trophy, they play a great brand of rugby, but they are still a Tier Two nation. Never the less expect them to put on a real show for the home fans. They are a team that truly plays with no fear, they leave everything on the pitch and view every opposition as the biggest test they've ever faced.

Japan look in good form, and are more than capable
of pulling off another shock victory.

With their game focused on getting the ball out to the wide channels as quickly as possible even the likes of Ireland could struggle to contain the incredibly quick Japanese. Expect them to score two or three tries a game. Where they will struggle however is in the tight, well-drilled operations like Ireland will look to target the lighter and shorter Japanese pack which could starve the Brave Blossoms with crucial possession.

As I mentioned earlier expect second and third place to be decided on the final day as the two most attack focused teams in the tournament clash for the right to play (probably) South Africa in the quarter-finals. It should be a firecracker of a game, but I think the physicality of the Scots could just leave the Japanese on the outside looking in.

4th: Samoa - 5 points 

It wasn't too long ago that Samoa would have been rated above Japan here, a team blessed with their natural ball skills and natural physicality should be a threat to teams in the pool stages. In the past Samoa have proved to be a challenge for even the most assured Tier One nations, but that has begun to fade recently. This can largely be stemmed from lack of support for the Pacific Islands - a fate also suffered by Fiji and Tonga - which means they struggle to play meaningful matches year on year, and even when they do get games in the schedule often players choose to turn down the selection to earn money at their professional club.

Samoa will bring the blood and thunder but can
they compete at a consistent enough level?

Samoa are a team know for their hardball carrying, and brutal tackling. That can play on the minds of opponents who feel more under pressure, always waiting for the next big hit to strike. That can weigh on teams and lead to more error-strewn performances, something that the Samoan's will look to exploit. They'll be up against it, with set-pieces requiring a lot of time to get right, something that the Pacific islands don't get all that often.

Thankfully for a World Cup, Samoa will be blessed with more preparation time than they usually get, which should help them put together some worthwhile performances, and marry their god-given talents with a bit of rugby nous. As a team they will be targetting a win from either Scotland or Japan, hoping to out muscle both teams and snatch an unlikely victory. But it is just that, unlikely. As such barring a bonus point victory against the Russians this could be quite a disappointing tournament for the hardest hitters in the tournament.

5th: Russia - 0 points

And finally in Pool A we have Russia, the team that was not officially the last to qualify, but the last team to know they were travelling to Japan. It was a tumultuous road to the World Cup this time around, after missing out to Romania initially (in controversial circumstances), and then got to watch Spain also miss out due to further sanctions, they went through as the next, next best team available from Europe. It was all very messy, and what it ultimately means is that Russia are considered the weakest outfit at the tournament this year.

They've lacked any worthwhile build-up to the tournament, with fixtures hard to come by especially. In fact, they've played two warm-up games, the first a drubbing by the Italians, followed up by a frankly shameful loss against Jersey. A second division English club side, who finished fourth in the Championship last season. It's going to be a long tournament for Russia, and honestly, their victory was making it to the pool stages. Expect every try to be celebrated with the furore of a win, but don't expect even a bonus point.

Even Russia can't quite understand how they made it to the World Cup, it's all rather confusing.