Pitchside with Ferris: Will Ireland Secure the Bonus Point Win?

Typhoon set to cause major Disruption to RWC Pool Games

With the England v France and New Zealand v Italy games already cancelled, there is some real uncertainty on how this Typhoon will affect the outcomes of the remaining games over the weekend.

Fingers crossed, the England game will be rescheduled due to adverse weather conditions. Safety is the most important thing for players and spectators alike but it would be a huge shame should some of these World Cup group placings be ultimately decided by the weather conditions.

Recap on last week’s games 

South Africa v Italy 

South Africa were the far superior team, theirphysicality was immense at times. The Italian red card was justifiedand should have been two red cards in my opinion. This changed thegame and any hope they had of getting back into it at that pointvanished. If two red cards had of been given, South Africa may have put a fewmore points on the board.  

It is fantastic to see South Africa continuing to bounce back from their initial defeat to New Zealand at the start of the tournament.

They look to be a force to be reckoned with and the only concern is for Cheslin Kolbe, who hobbled off a few minutes before the final whistle. I feel he will be OK for a quarter final where it seems they could be facing either Japan or Ireland.  

England v Argentina 

England are proving to be a difficult team to beat inthis tournament. I think Eddie Jones will be happy with where they are at themoment. England didn’t have the best day out against Argentina but they were ultra-professional.

They made a few mistakes along the way, but theygot the job done and got the bonus point win. They had men come off the benchlike Jack Nowell who had been injured for a long time and he managed to scorethe last try of the game.  

Tomas Lavanini who made the tackle on Owen Farrell went shoulder to head and in my eyes, this is a straight red card. For everyone watching the game, it sucks the life out of it, the match is over after 17 minutes. There was no chance Argentina with 14 men were going to beat an England side with 15.

You could see the life being drained out of the Argentinean team when Lavanini went off. It seemed they lacked concentration from here on in the game.  

Upcoming Games

Scotland v Japan > My big pick this weekend! 

Japan have the advantage over Scotland who haveonly 3-4 days to recover from their match with Russia. Looking atIreland when they were playing Japan they struggled slightly.

Then having a four day turn around against Russia,yes, they won by 35 points, but it wasn’t the Ireland we seen in the first gameagain Scotland.

Japan will be rubbing their hands together, andwouldn’t it be fantastic to see the host nation win 4 out of 4 in the groupstages of a Rugby World Cup!  

I do think Scotland can win this, but they need to play a fast, loose game and go tip for tap with the Japanese. This could be dangerous for some players. Their back row is where the bigger nations would target. But they have held their own in the scrum and mauls. 

I think the Japanese are getting behind their team and are going to win this one and Scotland to be dumped out. 

Ireland v Samoa  

The weather doesn’t seem to be on our side, but Ithink World Rugby will do everything in their power to make this game go ahead.

If the game does, I feel Ireland can get the bonuspoint win they need. But Samoa have a lot of fight in them. They are bighitters with a lot of physicality. However, I don’t think they have the sameskill, game management or continuity that Ireland have.

I think Ireland are far more superior in thoseareas.  Ireland need to get Johnny Sexton playing more than 40minutes and get a full-strength team out.

They have had 10 days off to prepare to hit the groundrunning. I am expecting a similar level of intensity as we witnessed againstScotland in the first game. I fancy Ireland to run out a 30-40-point winagain.  

Namibia v Canada

The game I am most looking forward to watching this weekend is Namibia v Canada as these two teams may not make it into the next World Cup.

I used to play alongside Peter Nelson forUlster who has only recently joined the Canadian team, so I reallyhope it goes well for my old pal.  

Here’sto another exciting weekend from the Rugby World Cup! I will be back next weekwith more exclusive content on my Ladbrokes blog.

Stephen