Barring a Scottish ambush, Saturday night’s victor will avoid a quarter-final against France in their capital citadel. Instead, they will expect to run into the unconvincing All Blacks.

The more experts the game appoints to ensure justice is not only done but seen to be done, the more confusing it becomes.

Two factors set Namibia apart: one, their capacity for absorbing beatings on a fearful scale and two, their unfailing ability to recover and keep coming back for more

Lightning French and Springbok wingers, a wrecking ball at six for the All Blacks, the giant Will Skelton and Wallaby Scot determined to drive Ireland's pool ambitions into touch

A weekend of historic dimension has set the tectonic plates of the old game spinning as never before.

For the second week running, an elite referee opted out of giving a straight red for what appeared to be an open-and-shut case

Up in the glass box, O’Gara rummaged through the debris hoping to find a reason to believe it wasn't as bad as it looked, in the way a drowning man clutches at any old straw

The Grand Slam gods have played some dirty tricks in their time but never quite as many as they rained down on Ireland at Murrayfield.

If Andy Farrell's side manage a clean sweep, it'll hit the other nations in the pocket as well. 

The showdown between the game's top two teams had it all on Saturday.