Vern Cotter has named his first Scottish team of the World Cup for what promises to be an enormously interesting game at Kingsholm on Wednesday with giant-killers Japan lined up as opponents. Cotter has taken no chances and named a very strong lineup to face the Brave Blossoms. Grant Gilchrist …

John McKee has offered his team a vote of confidence ahead of their match against Australia on Wednesday, making only four changes to the side that never quite got going against England on Friday. The changes all come up front, with one enforced after Dominiko Waqaniburotu was suspended for a …

French Head Coach Phillipe Saint-André has made thirteen changes to his team that faced Italy on Saturday. Only no8 Louis Picamoles and left winger Noa Nakaitaci remain from the side which sees veteran hooker Dimitri Szarzewski named as captain. Szarzewski will join the Belgium born Vincent Debaty and New Zealand …

For some teams the second round of Rugby World Cup matches will begin on Wednesday and Thursday while for others these days will mark their first fixtures. Such is the complication of having pools of five teams that one team per pool must begin last. Those to do so on Wednesday …

Wallabies head Coach Michael Cheika has named a powerful lineup to face Fiji in Cardiff on Wednesday. The Pool A fixture will be Australia’s first appearance in the tournament and Fiji’s second after the Pacific Islanders faced England in the tournament opener on Friday evening. Captain Stephen Moore will be …

The Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week. UP Japan A spectacular, brilliant, unforgettable win against all odds by the world’s leading Asian nation over the best from Africa was …

Four members of Daniel Hourcade’s 31-man roster are undergoing evaluations to determine their availability for Los Pumas’ second Rugby World Cup fixture. The South Americans will take-on Georgia in Gloucester on Friday. Confirmed out of the match is back-rower Leonardo Senatore. The 31 year old was replaced by specialist hooker …

A world record crowd was witness to a superb game of rugby this afternoon in which the number one ranked side from the Americas, Argentina, started their Rugby World Cup campaign this afternoon with a strong performance against the 2011 world champions, New Zealand. The 26-16 final score saw the …

Uncapped Castres winger Rémy Grosso has been called up by France to replace the injured Yoann Huget. With speedster Teddy Thomas and veteran Maxime Médard also options, Philippe Saint-André has instead opted for the in-form Grosso, whose physical profile more closely resembles that of Huget. Despite having great success first …

Samoa got their World Cup campaign off to a good start with a less than thrilling 25-16 victory over the USA. Samoa, as expected, came after the Eagles with a punishing attack plan. The assault forced the USA into a stunning 29 missed tackles and kept the Eagles on their …