Donal Lenihan assesses the starting XV to play the All Blacks on Saturday

Four years on from that famous defeat in Brighton, and South Africa are again playing second-fiddle to Japan.

Herring has won eight caps for Ireland and was part of Joe Schmidt's training squad ahead of the tournament.

And that includes World Rugby, the sport’s governing body, which has been stunned by the huge numbers being racked up in terms of television viewers and social media engagements as well as the good old-fashioned barometer of jersey sales.

Donal Lenihan picks his best XV of the Rugby World Cup pool stage ahead of this weekend's quarter-finals

Irish Examiner rugby writers Brendan O'Brien and Simon Lewis look ahead to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Sergio Parisse has hit out at World Rugby’s “ridiculous” decision to cancel Italy’s World Cup match against New Zealand.

A friend texted me Wednesday night indicating France’s final World Cup Pool C game against England was going to fall victim to the typhoon hammering Japan.

In his daily dispatch, Donal talks about the wider repercussions of game cancellations in the face of typhoon Hagibis.

‘The Shock of Shizuoka’, as it became known around the world, was alluded to by a number of Japanese media outlets in the build up to last Saturday.

Your round-up of the stories behind the headlines from Day 14 of #RWC2019

As Ireland hunkers down for the arrival Thursday of Hurricane Lorenzo (has a weather event ever sounded as masculine?), over in Japan the boys in green are slowly moving on from the wreckage of last Saturday’s storm in Shizuoka.

Well, well, well. There was a buzz around the Springbok camp with the news that Japan had beaten Ireland 19-12 just before South Africa were due to kick-off against Namibia.

So that’s nearly Tuesday wrapped up.

The answer to whether the Springboks are Rugby World Cup 2019 contenders remains a strong ‘yes’ after Saturday’s epic battle against the All Blacks in Yokohama.

CAPE TOWN - After years of inane platitudes from All Black coach Steve Hansen about the rivalry with the Boks after his side racked up record scores against their old foes, things changed this week.

So that’s nearly Friday wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Had a thought this morning. If Joe Schmidt was offered a pass on tomorrow’s final World Cup warm-up game against Warren Gatland’s Wales in Dublin, would he take it?

Former Ireland international and Munster coach Felix Jones has joined South Africa's Rugby World Cup coaching ticket.

It wasn’t the choice of venue for this season’s Guinness PRO14 final that caught me by surprise when it was announced last week

“The 10 thought about finding grass, but instead chose to offload to a one-out runner..."

New Zealand remain hopeful that Brodie Retallick will be available for Rugby World Cup selection after the lock dislocated his shoulder during the Rugby Championship clash against South Africa on Saturday.

The long road starts here as the race to make Ireland’s World Cup squad for Japan this September ramped up, after Joe Schmidt named a 44-player training squad.

So that’s Friday nearly wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Robin McBryde, the Wales forwards coach, will join Leinster after the Rugby World Cup, replacing Ireland-bound John Fogarty.

A legal dispute which has "serious implications" for preparations by the Pacific Island nation of Tonga for this year's Rugby World Cup has come before the High Court.

Ronan O'Gara has said he believes that Joe Schmidt will return to coaching in New Zealand at some stage in the future.

The Irish boss rejected an offer to join Steve Hansen's backroom staff.

Ireland captain Ciara Griffin will lead her team into the 2018 Women’s Six Nations determined that her team will shed the baggage of last year’s disappointing World Cup campaign and face firmly into the future.

Catch up on this morning's headlines...

Michael Moynihan reports back from after the 2023 Rugby World Cup and tells us missing out was no bad thing. 

Well, we got our backsides handed to us, and then some.

Yesterday’s report by World Rugby’s Technical Review Group was fulsome in its praise for three “outstanding candidate submissions” and the IRFU was particularly keen to cling on to the remark that all of them could host a “successful” tournament.

A “desperately slow” process to redevelop Belfast’s Casement Park won’t speed up should Ireland’s 2023 Rugby World Cup bid fail.

Philip Browne doesn’t do extremes of emotion or hyperbole.

All’s fair in love and war and, it seems, the bidding process for major sporting events.

You’d imagine the Irish management will be hoping for a tougher test from Japan in the concluding test in Tokyo next Saturday as there will be little to be gained from another landslide win.

The Ireland Women’s management team has confirmed a 48-strong training panel to prepare for the Women’s Rugby World Cup in Dublin and Belfast in August. 

Must the debate and exploration really stop at: Well, one is amateur and one is professional, writes Ronan O’Gara