Rugby World Cup 2015: Winners and Losers from Wednesday’s Two Games

The Scotland hooker’s love of the oval ball is such that he didn’t even bother tuning into the Hampden heartache on Thursday night. They are a very proud nation and will want to restore a few pride in the jersey by finishing on a high.

Eddie Jones and his Japan rugby team’s exploits at the World Cup have proved the country will be worthy hosts of the showpiece event in 2019, Japan’s ambassador to Britain, Keiichi Hayashi, said Friday.

As our future at England 2015 goes on the line at Newcastle’s St James’ Park this afternoon the 31-year-old insists success is as much about mental strength and being switched on to the finish as it is about ability.

“I didn’t see the game but I heard Scotland were maybe unlucky with the last-gasp goal”.

“I suppose it’s a chance to get people smiling again”, he said. That’s the thing, it can be all those little things, it’s more about being proactive rather than reactive.

Should Samoa beat Scotland, then a win for Japan would see the courageous Blosssoms make the quarter-finals.

Scotland’s two bonus points mean they will claim second place in the pool with a win over the Samoans on Saturday, sending the courageous Blossoms home whatever the result of the final match of the opening round.

“Sometimes we tend to exert ourselves when we need to, and that is how it is”. We gave ourselves a bit of momentum after the first game in this tournament.

“It’s the last game of the group, and we need to win it to get to the quarter-finals so it couldn’t really be any more clear-cut for us”.

But Ford doesn’t believe anything was pre-ordained going into the tournament.

“I must say we showed a lot of character to come back after the Japan loss”. We beat Japan and the United States of America, and that allowed us to go into the South Africa game knowing we would have been through if we’d won.

“We don’t train to go out there and hurt people”. It is always nice coming into the ground with everybody cheering you. We just have to be careful that we don’t get carried up and swept away in it.

“That would be the major reason, because I don’t think anyone, based on their performances so far, could underestimate the Argentinian team, and not just the personnel they’ve got but the collective they’ve demonstrated on the pitch”.

“Then there something about closing your eyes and remembering sentences… all that guff”. At the moment it’s great for me but it was a different story during the Six Nations: it’s swings-and-roundabouts! “It certainly won’t be going on the mantelpiece, that’s for sure”.

Jacob said he was still confident the All Blacks will win the world cup.

“We are aware of the threats they bring”. You can hear them during the game, and last weekend it was great to hear Flower of Scotland being sung in the stands. “We have to boss it up front for that to happen”.

The experience was a traumatic one, and with a large number of survivors having retained their place for this tournament, it will provide a powerful source of inspiration ahead of this afternoon’s game.