Ireland must shut down powerhouse Mathieu Bastareaud to beat France and avoid New Zealand in the World Cup quarter-finals, according to Sean O’Brien.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt was philosophical about the yellow card that saw Peter O’Mahony sent to the sin bin in the closing stages of Ireland’s win against Italy.

Check out this video gallery of images captured by Irish Examiner photographer Dan Linehan, before, during and after Ireland’s victory over the Azurri on Sunday.

Wales survived a second-half scare to beat Fiji 23-13 in Cardiff and move to the top of Pool A.

Philippe Saint-Andre hailed him as “a lion” and yet France prop Eddy Ben Arous has still admitted trepidation at taking on Canada enforcer Jamie Cudmore.

The pros of standing out as the World Cup’s tallest player shine through when Devin Toner leads Ireland’s lineout, but the 6ft 11in lock felt the cons at Alton Towers.

Italy captain Sergio Parisse is expected to train with the squad tomorrow ahead of the Azzurri’s Pool D game against Ireland this Sunday.

There is good news on the injury front regarding Ireland full-back Rob Kearney.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has acknowledged “everything rests” on the outcome of Saturday’s World Cup clash with Australia.

Ireland expect Sergio Parisse to return from injury and crank up the challenge and the pressure against Italy on Sunday.

Ireland’s Jamie Heaslip insists he would be delighted to get the opportunity to play every match of the World Cup and said all the Ireland players felt the same way.

Congratulations to Wales!

He told ITV1: “Unbelievable. I’m gutted (because) we’ve lost Jon Davies, Rhys Webb, Leigh Halfpenny, Cory Allen, and a couple of others go off then and hopefully they’re okay."

England’s World Cup hopes were dealt a crushing blow as Wales pulled off a remarkable second-half fight-back to beat the hosts 28-25 at Twickenham.

Italy coach Jacques Brunel admitted his team had again failed to deliver after squeaking to a 23-18 victory against Canada and predicted a hammering against Ireland if this performance was repeated next weekend.

What came over him?

Jamie Heaslip can't wait to see the crowds of Irish fans at the game against Romania.

JP Pietersen scored a hat-trick of tries as South Africa bounced back from their shock loss to Japan with a 46-6 six-try, bonus-point victory over Samoa at Villa Park.

We managed to track down fans from Galway, Kerry and Limerick.

Ireland second row, Devin Toner, was in a relaxed mood today before their Rugby World Cup game against Romania at Wembley tomorrow.

Italy squeaked past a determined and inventive Canada 23-18 to keep alive their World Cup quarter-final hopes.

As expected, the English media were concentrating on tonight's game between England and Wales.

Jamie Heaslip insists rugby has no drugs problem, as World Rugby heralds ’Keep Rugby Clean Day’.

Argentina 54 Georgia 9: Argentina are at that stage of development where they are potentially both giants and giant-killers at this World Cup, and, having come up short in their attempts to stun the All Blacks last Sunday, the key objective for them in Gloucester yesterday was not to become the victims of shock.

Hallam Amos has received a 21st birthday present to savour by being named in the Wales starting line-up for Saturday’s World Cup clash against England at Twickenham.

England have selected Owen Farrell at fly-half and Sam Burgess at inside centre for Saturday’s crunch World Cup showdown with Wales at Twickenham.

Unfortunately Scotland took an early lead, but everyone reassured themselves it was just a blip.

Scotland got their World Cup campaign off to a perfect start with a 45-10 win over Japan in Gloucester – but only after Eddie Jones’ charges threatened to cause another upset.

Eddie Jones insists his Japan side are fitter than Scotland – and warned Vern Cotter his team are ready to run the Dark Blues “off their feet”.

Freddie Michalak will approach his revival as France’s playmaker for the World Cup by treating every minute on the pitch as his last.

Japan coach Eddie Jones says he will never forget the emotional aftermath of his side’s remarkable last-gasp win over South Africa on Saturday.

A momentous day for the 2015 Rugby World Cup ended on a forgettable enough note tonight with France claiming a comfortable victory in Ireland’s Pool D against an Italian side that never came close to beating their neighbours for the third time in six attempts.

So you think the Japanese fans went mad at their side's win over South Africa today?

Relive Ireland's dominant performance against the Canucks.

The Irish fans were happy after seeing their side beat Canada 50-7 in Cardiff today, but there were some worries too.

What a game!

Japan pulled off the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history with a stunning 34-32 win over South Africa at the Amex Stadium in Brighton.

Johnny Sexton may have been chosen as the official man-of-the-match, but we thought otherwise.

Needless to say, it was an enjoyable day for the Irish fans in Cardiff today.

It looks encouraging for Joe Schmidt's men after their comfortable victory.

From confused Canadians to One Direction members complaining about commentary, here’s how Twitter reacted in its own very unique way.

It was a dominant performance from the men in green who scored seven tries against the Canucks.

Ireland captain Paul O'Connell has described how the excitement is just as massive as his first World Cup, with the squad behaving as if they were "on a school tour".

Makeshift inside centre Luke Fitzgerald can add a new dimension to Ireland’s backline in Saturday’s World Cup opener against Canada, according to Conor Murray.