2015 Rugby World Cup Pool B

Pool B of the 2015 Rugby World Cup began on 19 September and was completed on 11 October 2015.^[1] The pool was composed of South Africa, Samoa and Scotland – who all qualified automatically for the tournament due to finishing in the top three positions in their pools in 2011 – joined by the top Asian qualifier, Japan, and the second American qualifier, United States. South Africa and Scotland qualified for the quarter-finals.^[2]

Standings

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Matches

All times are local United Kingdom time (UTC+01)

South Africa vs Japan

Notes:

• Fumiaki Tanaka earned his 50th test cap for Japan.^[3]
• This was the first ever match between these nations.^{[citation needed]}
• This was South Africa's first ever loss to a Tier 2 nation.^[4]
• This was Japan's second ever win over one of the SANZAAR nations.^[5]
• This match is known as "The Brighton Miracle" and is featured in the film of the same name.

Samoa vs United States

Scotland vs Japan

Notes:

• Josh Strauss made his international debut for Scotland.^[6]

South Africa vs Samoa

Notes:

• Adriaan Strauss earned his 50th test cap for South Africa.
• Census Johnston earned his 50th test cap for Samoa.
• George, Ken and Tusi Pisi became the first set of three brothers to represent and play for one team in one XV, in a Rugby World Cup match.^[7]

Scotland vs United States

Samoa vs Japan

Notes:

• This was Japan's largest winning margin over Samoa, surpassing their 19-point winning margin set in 2014.
• Atsushi Hiwasa earned his 50th test cap for Japan.

South Africa vs Scotland

Notes:

• Alasdair Dickinson earned his 50th test cap for Scotland.

South Africa vs United States

Notes:

• Rudy Paige made his international debut for South Africa.^[8]
• Joe Taufete'e made his international debut for the United States.^{[citation needed]}
• Bryan Habana equaled Jonah Lomu's World Cup record of 15 tries scored in the tournament.^[9]

Samoa vs Scotland

Notes:

• Richie Gray earned his 50th test cap for Scotland.^{[citation needed]}
• Sean Lamont became the second Scottish player to earn 100 caps for Scotland.^[10]

United States vs Japan

Notes:

• With this win, Japan became the first team to win three pool games and still fail to advance to the knockout stage.^[11][12]

References

1. "World Cup 2015 schedule". BBC Sport. 2 May 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2013.
2. "Rugby World Cup 2015: fixtures, results and standings". BBC Sport. 23 April 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
3. "South Africa 32-34 Japan". Guardian. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
4. "Japan pull off greatest shock in World Cup history". ESPN. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
5. "Rugby World Cup 2015: South Africa 32-34 Japan". BBC Sport. 19 September 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
6. "Scotland exploit Japan's quick turnaround to run riot at World Cup". Guardian. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
7. "South Africa 46 Samoa 6, match report: Boks bounce back from Japan hurt to thrash Pacific Islanders at Villa Park". Daily Telegraph. 26 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
8. "South Africa 64 USA 0 - Springboks through to World Cup quarter-finals as Bryan Habana scores hat-trick". Daily Telegraphl. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
9. "Rugby World Cup 2015: South Africa 64-0 USA". BBC Sportl. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
10. "Rugby World Cup 2015: Samoa 33-36 Scotland". BBC Sport. 10 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
11. "Japan sign off with third win of the tournament by beating the USA". Guardian. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
12. "Rugby World Cup 2015: Japan beat USA in final pool game". BBC Sport. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 13 October 2015.

External links

• Official RWC 2015 Site