NEW WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS

England now lie 9th in world rankings following defeat to Wales...behind Scotland in 8th!

ENGLAND HAVE TO WIN

Despite Fiji denying Wales a bonus point last night, England simply have to win tomorrow against Australia. If they lose they are out. Australia can afford to lose to England as if they beat Wales they will still qualify. Likewise if Scotland lose to SA they will still qualify if they beat Samoa next weekend. And if England do win it will only be Uruguay standing between them and winning the group.

ALL CHANGE

Rumours circulating that Jonathan Joseph will be fit on Saturday to face the Aussies, so Brad Barritt will move to inside centre pushing Burgess to the bench. With Billy Vuinopla out of the tournament with injury, Ben Morgan will replace him, and with Courtney Lawes also a doubt in second row, Joe Launchbury is set to make his RWC 2015 starting debut. Ben Youngs is expected to be fit to continue at scrum half, with rest of team unchanged. Oz has lost Palu and Skelton from the pack, but neither would have started on Saturday as Australia will want a fast, loose game to run the big English forwards around the park.

SA TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR SCOTLAND GAME

The South African squad has been announced for the Scotland game in Newcastle on Saturday at 1645hrs. There is no de Villiers and Matfield, both injured, but the bench includes Ruan Pienaar, Willem Alberts, Pat Lambie and other superstars of the Super 15. It looks an old squad doesn't it, and they have already lost to Japan and scraped past Samoa;)

Starting XV: Willie le Roux; JP Pietersen, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana; Handre Pollard, Fourie du Preez (captain); Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis; Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager; Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Frans Malherbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Willem Alberts, Ruan Pienaar, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein.

WALES FIJI GAME ON ENGLAND'S MINDS

England is currently 3 points behind Australia and Wales with an inferior points difference. If they win their last two games with a bonus point against Uruguay they will then have 15 points, which will be enough for them to qualify. Australia has to play England and Wales, and can afford to lose to England if they beat Wales. The first and most important game for Wales (and the other teams) is their contest tomorrow against Fiji. If they win with a bonus point, they will put all the pressure back on England in particular, although winning the group to avoid SA in the QF may not be necessary as Scotland might replace them. The prospect of three teams trying to finish second in the group is unlikely as NZ await in the SF in that half of the draw. Phew, calculators at the ready...

OATH * OF THE FUTURE

My star of the future award last week goes to the young Australian back rower, Sean McMahon, who was the standout player in an Australian team who put Uruguay to the sword. Sean is 21 years of age, plays for Melbourne Rebels and weighs 100kg. Unfortunately, he is competing for a starting spot against England in an Oz back row that already contains Fardy, McCalman and Pooper (Pocock and Hooper combined). Respect young man, you have a bright future.

Mind you it could be worse, he could play out wide and be competing against the best set of three quarters in the history of the game - Folau, Tomane, Mitchell, Speight, Giteau, Ashley Cooper, Foley, Genia, Phipps, Cooper, Kuridrani, Horne, Toomua and Beale (did I miss any?)

Let's hope England don't let Australia have quick ball on Saturday!

CASUALTY LIST MOUNTS

As predicted in OATH a week ago, following a mounting casualty list in most teams, the balance of power starts to swing towards the bigger teams, as replacements are called up to fill holes left by injured first picks.

In terms of minnows, Wales have lost Scott Williams and Hallam Amos for the tournament, who have been replaced by fringe squad players Gareth Anscombe and James Hook (I rate him). They may also lose Liam Williams, who was knocked clean out on Saturday by Tom Wood's careless boot. You have to feel the decision to not cite Wood for such a reckless act smacks a bit "homie" (suspciously favourable to the hosts), but maybe it has been trumped by the decision to ban Nemani Nadolo of Fiji for two weeks for a tip tackle against Australia (taking him out of Wales game, not good news for England). I was at the Australia Fiji game and that tackle was not reckless. This is rugby, not netball.

Liam Williams in better health

Scotland have already lost Grant "Lazarus" Gilchrist for the tournament, who has been as unlucky with injuries as anyone, with no replacement announced as yet (they are still looking), although I vote for "Big" Jim Hamilton, but I have a suspicion he retired when not originally selected. Hopefully they will not also lose Finn Russell, who has been Scotland's best fly half since Gregor Townsend.

In terms of giants, in contrast to minnows, despite England losing Billy "Marlowpola" (his Dad coaches there), they have been able to call up Nick "The Rock" Easter, who has a million caps to his name (I exaggerate, but he is very experienced). However, South Africa may have worse problems, as not only did they lost their captain, Jean de Villiers (who has now retired from the game), in that brutal clash with Samoa, but also had their two other centres injured, De Allende and Kriel. If neither recover, SA could field Habana or Pietersen in the centre against Scotland, or even their young fly half, Pollard. Last but not least, Ireland have doubts over Rob Kearney.

Two games in and RWC 2015 already looks like Rorkes Drift (without weapons).