Meanwhile, Australia will start their World Cup against Fiji at 3.45am tomorrow morning (NZ time) at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, and France will take on Romania at 7am at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. From there it is another four days straight of brilliant international rugby - here's hoping this weekend is just as good as the last one.
2. All Blacks - Sam Cane will lead his first captain's run at 8.30pm tonight (NZ time). The All Blacks will also hold their last press conference overnight, at 2am (NZ time), before Friday morning's game against Namibia. Visit nzherald.co.nz tomorrow morning for photos and updates from both events.
3. England v. Wales
- Tension continues to build for this upcoming blockbuster between the two hosts at Twickenham on Sunday morning (NZ time). To make things even more exciting a number of injuries are transforming the two sides, with British newspapers reporting two huge changes to the England team today. The Telegraph, going even further from yesterday's story on Sam Burgess possibly starting, reported that
the former league player will be replacing an injured Jonathan Joseph
(see below for more details on that injury). The newspaper, as well as others, also said Owen Farrell is set to replace an "axed" George Ford at first five. There's mention of No 8 Ben Morgan, who has a minor knee injury, being replaced by Billy Vunipola. I will be keeping an eye on this over the next couple of days. The TAB odds remain the same as yesterday for the game - England paying $1.27 for the win and Wales paying $3.50.
4. Injury report
- *Jerome Kaino has been rested for the All Blacks game against Namibia after suffering a small hamstring injury against Argentina on Monday morning. Coach Steve Hansen said
Kaino could have played
if it was an important game.
*There are reports that English centre Jonathan Joseph is in doubt for the much-anticipated game against Wales on the weekend due to a chest injury. Most British newspapers, including
this report from the Guardian
, are also reporting that England No 8 Ben Morgan did not train on Monday due to a minor knee injury. The two players have not yet been ruled out, however, and an official team announcement is expected to be made on Thursday (UK time). The Welsh have their own list of injury troubles going into the Twickenham clash on Sunday morning at 8am (NZ time).
*French winger Yoann Huget has been ruled out for the rest of the World Cup with a torn cruciate ligament. He sustained the injury during France's 32-10 win over Italy on the weekend.
*Italian veteran Andrea Masi is also out for the rest of the tournament after he ruptured an Achilles tendon during the same game. Two possible replacement centres for Italy, Gonzalo Garcia and Tommaso Benvenuti, are trying to overcome minor injuries in time for the game against Canada on Sunday morning (NZ time).
5. Burger dreams of first win - Namibia's captain Jacques Burger, on the verge of retirement, has revealed his ambition for this World Cup - to go home with at least one win. Burger admitted the single victory, which would be Namibia's first in a World Cup, probably won't be against the All Blacks but he hopes Friday morning's test will ready the team for the likes of Georgia and Tonga. "Let's say we keep them out for 10 minutes on our goal line, or we put together a couple of sets of play, or we can break the line and score a great try. And knowing you can do that against the best team in the world will be very important to us going into the second, third and fourth matches," he told the Daily Telegraph. Namibia is currently ranked 20th in the World and is the lowest ranked side at this World Cup. Friday morning's game - 7am (NZ time) - against the All Blacks will be held at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London. Read more coverage on Burger's comments in the Herald tomorrow.
6. Player and team rankings
Team rankings
7. A recap of the standings going into this next round of games
Standings
EXTRA TIME - Has anyone else seen the really strange vlogs by Australian rugby player James O'Connor? Not picked in the Wallabies Rugby World Cup squad, O'Connor has resorted to posting short videos containing his predictions and reactions to each of the matches, but there's something very odd about the way they are put together. He says the videos, which are in association with global sports media content business KICCA, are his 2015 Rugby World Cup "unfiltered" thoughts and opinions. See some of them below. You can watch more of his videos on his Twitter handle here: @JamesOConnor832
