Pool A of the 2019 Rugby World Cup began on 20 September 2019. The pool included hosts Japan, and previous 2015 Rugby World Cup quarter-finalists Ireland and Scotland. They were joined by the European qualifier, Russia, and Samoa, the winner of the European-Oceania Cross-Regional play-off.

Japan won all four of their matches, including surprise victories over both Ireland and Scotland, to finish top of the pool and become the first Asian nation to reach a Rugby World Cup quarter-final. Ireland picked up a bonus point in each of their matches, and their victory over Scotland in their opening pool match proved the difference between the two sides in the hunt for second place. Samoa finished in fourth place, their only win coming against bottom-placed Russia.

The opening match of the 2019 Rugby World Cup was played in Pool A with Japan scoring a 30–10 win over Russia. Kotaro Matsushima became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup. For the Russian side, Kirill Golosnitsky scored the first try of the tournament after four minutes – the fastest try ever scored in the opening match of a World Cup.^[1] Two days later, Ireland defeated Scotland 27–3.^[2] On 24 September, Samoa played their first match against Russia in Kumagaya. Despite Samoa's being reduced to 13 men after Rey Lee-Lo and Motu Matu'u were sin-binned within two minutes of each other, Russia could not capitalise on their advantage and Samoa went on to win 34–9.^[3] Four days later, hosts Japan defeated Ireland 19–12, scoring four out of six penalties. While it was an upset win for Japan, World Rugby later admitted three of the four offside penalties were incorrectly awarded to Japan.^[4][5] Kenki Fukuoka scored a try in the 58th minute to give Japan a two-point lead after Ireland's Garry Ringrose and Rob Kearney had scored the opening two tries. Yu Tamura's conversion and fourth successful penalty kick sealed the result for Japan.^[6] Scotland recorded their first victory of the World Cup with a 34–0 whitewash victory over Samoa in muggy conditions in Kobe, with Samoan captain Jack Lam stating that the rugby ball was "a bar of soap."^[7]

Three days later, Kobe Misaki Stadium held another match in Pool A – this time it was Ireland, who would whitewash their opponents (Russia) in a 35–0 victory with five different players getting tries for the Irish. The Irish though, did not have everything go right with Jordi Murphy being subbed off in the 27th minute due to a possible rib injury, which added to the Irish back row pain after losing Jack Conan earlier in the tournament.^[8] Japan recorded their third victory over Samoa in Toyota with a 85th minute try from Kotaro Matsushima sealing the Japanese a 38–19 bonus point victory.^[9] Russia in the final match of the tournament was hammered by Scotland 61–0 with George Horne scoring a hat-trick as the Scots became the first team in World Cup history to not concede a point from two World Cup matches.^[10] A red card to Bundee Aki in the 29th minute forced Ireland to go down to 14 men but that was the only blemish with Ireland winning 47–5 over Samoa in Fukuoka. Johnny Sexton scoring two tries for the Irish.^[11] Typhoon Hagibis saw the Japan–Scotland match under threat with the Scottish Rugby Union demanding legal action if it was cancelled.^[12] But after an inspection deemed the match to go ahead,^[13] Japan held their nerve against a fast-finishing Scotland to take home a 28–21 victory with Kenki Fukuoka scoring two tries. The win saw Japan become the first Tier 2 team to qualify since 2007, as they topped the group while Ireland finished in second place.^[14]

All times are local Japan Standard Time (UTC+09)

Japan vs Russia

20 September 2019 19:45 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Japan	30–10	Russia
Try: Matsushima (3) 12' m, 39' c, 69' c Labuschagné 47' m Con: Tamura (1/3) 40' Matsuda (1/1) 71' Pen: Tamura (2/2) 44', 64'	Report	Try: Golosnitski 5' c Con: Kushnarev (1/1) 6' Pen: Kushnarev (1/1) 61'

Tokyo Stadium, Chōfu Attendance: 45,745 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Japan

Russia

FB 15 Will Tupou  71' RW 14 Kotaro Matsushima OC 13 Timothy Lafaele IC 12 Ryoto Nakamura LW 11 Lomano Lemeki FH 10 Yu Tamura  67' SH 9 Yutaka Nagare  61' N8 8 Kazuki Himeno OF 7 Lappies Labuschagné BF 6 Michael Leitch (c)  71' RL 5 James Moore LL 4 Wimpie van der Walt  61' TP 3 Asaeli Ai Valu  55' HK 2 Shota Horie  75' LP 1 Keita Inagaki  55' Replacements: HK 16 Atsushi Sakate  75' PR 17 Isileli Nakajima  55' PR 18 Koo Ji-won  55' LK 19 Luke Thompson  60' FL 20 Hendrik Tui  71' SH 21 Fumiaki Tanaka  61' FH 22 Rikiya Matsuda  67' FB 23 Ryohei Yamanaka  71' Coach: Jamie Joseph

FB 15 Vasily Artemyev (c) RW 14 German Davydov OC 13 Vladimir Ostroushko IC 12 Dmitry Gerasimov  68' LW 11 Kirill Golosnitsky FH 10 Yuri Kushnarev  65' SH 9 Vasily Dorofeev  33'  42'  74' N8 8 Nikita Vavilin OF 7 Tagir Gadzhiev BF 6 Vitaly Zhivatov  65' RL 5 Bogdan Fedotko  61' LL 4 Andrei Ostrikov TP 3 Kirill Gotovtsev  68' HK 2 Stanislav Sel'skiy  65' LP 1 Valery Morozov  65' Replacements: HK 16 Evgeny Matveev  65' PR 17 Andrei Polivalov  65' PR 18 Azamat Bitiev  68' LK 19 Andrey Garbuzov  62' FL 20 Anton Sychev  65' SH 21 Dmitry Perov  33'  42'  74' FH 22 Ramil Gaisin  65' WG 23 Vladislav Sozonov  68' Coach: Lyn Jones

Player of the Match: Kotaro Matsushima (Japan) Assistant referees: Nic Berry (Australia) Matthew Carley (England) Television match official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

• This was the first Rugby World Cup opener not to feature a Tier 1 nation.
• Kotaro Matsushima (Japan) became the first Japanese player to score a hat-trick at a World Cup, and the first player to score one in a Rugby World Cup opener.
• Russia's try was the fastest to be scored in an opening match of a Rugby World Cup.

Ireland vs Scotland

22 September 2019 16:45 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Ireland	27–3	Scotland
Try: Ja. Ryan 6' c Best 14' m Furlong 25' c Conway 56' m Con: Sexton (1/2) 8' Murray (1/2) 27' Pen: Carty (1/1) 68'	Report	Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 21'

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Attendance: 63,731[15] Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Ireland

Scotland

FB 15 Jordan Larmour RW 14 Andrew Conway OC 13 Garry Ringrose IC 12 Bundee Aki  21' LW 11 Jacob Stockdale FH 10 Johnny Sexton  58' SH 9 Conor Murray  58' N8 8 CJ Stander OF 7 Josh van der Flier 14' to 22'  74' BF 6 Peter O'Mahony  27' RL 5 James Ryan LL 4 Iain Henderson  58' TP 3 Tadhg Furlong  50' HK 2 Rory Best (c) LP 1 Cian Healy  50' Replacements: HK 16 Niall Scannell  74' PR 17 Dave Kilcoyne  50' PR 18 Andrew Porter  50' LK 19 Tadhg Beirne  70'  58' FL 20 Jack Conan  14'  22'  27' SH 21 Luke McGrath  58' FH 22 Jack Carty  58' CE 23 Chris Farrell  21' Coach: Joe Schmidt

FB 15 Stuart Hogg RW 14 Tommy Seymour  58' OC 13 Duncan Taylor  65' IC 12 Sam Johnson LW 11 Sean Maitland FH 10 Finn Russell SH 9 Greig Laidlaw  62' N8 8 Ryan Wilson OF 7 Hamish Watson  38' BF 6 John Barclay  53' RL 5 Jonny Gray  65' LL 4 Grant Gilchrist TP 3 WP Nel  53' HK 2 Stuart McInally (c) LP 1 Allan Dell  62' Replacements: HK 16 Fraser Brown  38' PR 17 Gordon Reid  62' PR 18 Simon Berghan  53' LK 19 Scott Cummings  65' FL 20 Blade Thomson  53' SH 21 Ali Price  62' CE 22 Chris Harris  65' WG 23 Darcy Graham  58' Coach: Gregor Townsend

Player of the Match: CJ Stander (Ireland) Assistant referees: Pascal Gaüzère (France) Alexandre Ruiz (France) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

• This was the first meeting between the two nations at a neutral venue.

Russia vs Samoa

24 September 2019 19:15 JST (UTC+09)

Russia	9–34	Samoa (1 BP)
Pen: Kushnarev (2/2) 19', 26' Drop: Kushnarev (1/1) 48'	Report	Try: Leiua (2) 16' m, 80' m Amosa 45' m Fidow (2) 49' c, 53' c Lee-Lo 63' m Con: Pisi (2/5) 50', 54'

Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, Kumagaya Attendance: 22,564 Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Russia

Samoa

FB 15 Vasily Artemyev (c) RW 14 German Davydov OC 13 Vladimir Ostroushko IC 12 Dmitry Gerasimov  65' LW 11 Kirill Golosnitsky FH 10 Yuri Kushnarev  55' SH 9 Vasily Dorofeev  55' N8 8 Nikita Vavilin  65' OF 7 Tagir Gadzhiev BF 6 Vitaly Zhivatov RL 5 Bogdan Fedotko LL 4 Andrei Ostrikov  65' TP 3 Kirill Gotovtsev  47'  71' HK 2 Stanislav Sel'skiy  57' LP 1 Valery Morozov  59' Replacements: HK 16 Evgeny Matveev  57' PR 17 Andrey Polivalov  59' PR 18 Azamat Bitiev  71' LK 19 Andrey Garbuzov  65' FL 20 Anton Sychev  21' SH 21 Dmitry Perov  22' FH 22 Ramil Gaisin  55' WG 23 Vladislav Sozonov  65' Coach: Lyn Jones

FB 15 Tim Nanai-Williams  65' RW 14 Alapati Leiua OC 13 Rey Lee-Lo  29' IC 12 Henry Taefu LW 11 Ed Fidow FH 10 Tusi Pisi  65' SH 9 Dwayne Polataivao  40' N8 8 Afa Amosa  33'  40'  46' OF 7 TJ Ioane BF 6 Chris Vui (c) RL 5 Kane Le'aupepe LL 4 Filo Paulo  65' TP 3 Michael Ala'alatoa  55' HK 2 Motu Matu'u  31'  40' LP 1 Logovi'i Mulipola  51' Replacements: HK 16 Ray Niuia  33' PR 17 Paul Alo-Emile  55' PR 18 Jordan Lay  51' LK 19 Senio Toleafoa  65' LK 20 Josh Tyrell  46' SH 21 Melani Matavao  40' FH 22 AJ Alatimu  65' FH 23 UJ Seuteni  65' Coach: Steve Jackson

Player of the Match: Alapati Leiua (Samoa) Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France) Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

• This was the first meeting between the two nations.
• Ahsee Tuala was due to start the game, but was replaced with Henry Taefu following injury ahead of kick off.

Japan vs Ireland

28 September 2019 16:15 JST (UTC+09)

Japan	19–12	Ireland (1 BP)
Try: Fukuoka 59' c Con: Tamura (1/1) 61' Pen: Tamura (4/6) 18', 34', 40', 72'	Report	Try: Ringrose 14' m Kearney 21' c Con: Carty (1/2) 22'

Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Fukuroi Attendance: 47,813 Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)

Japan

Ireland

FB 15 Ryohei Yamanaka  50' RW 14 Kotaro Matsushima OC 13 Timothy Lafaele IC 12 Ryoto Nakamura LW 11 Lomano Lemeki FH 10 Yu Tamura SH 9 Yutaka Nagare  56' N8 8 Amanaki Mafi  31' OF 7 Lappies Labuschagné (c) BF 6 Kazuki Himeno RL 5 James Moore LL 4 Luke Thompson  64' TP 3 Koo Ji-won  54' HK 2 Shota Horie LP 1 Keita Inagaki  64' Replacements: HK 16 Atsushi Sakate PR 17 Isileli Nakajima  64' PR 18 Asaeli Ai Valu  54' LK 19 Wimpie van der Walt  64' FL 20 Michael Leitch  31' SH 21 Fumiaki Tanaka  57' FH 22 Rikiya Matsuda WG 23 Kenki Fukuoka  50' Coach: Jamie Joseph

FB 15 Rob Kearney  68' RW 14 Keith Earls OC 13 Garry Ringrose IC 12 Chris Farrell  61' LW 11 Jacob Stockdale FH 10 Jack Carty  61' SH 9 Conor Murray N8 8 CJ Stander OF 7 Josh van der Flier BF 6 Peter O'Mahony  55' RL 5 James Ryan LL 4 Iain Henderson  66' TP 3 Tadhg Furlong  61' HK 2 Rory Best (c)  61' LP 1 Cian Healy  46' Replacements: HK 16 Seán Cronin  61' PR 17 Dave Kilcoyne  46' PR 18 Andrew Porter  61' LK 19 Tadhg Beirne  66' FL 20 Rhys Ruddock  53' SH 21 Luke McGrath  66' FH 22 Joey Carbery  61' FB 23 Jordan Larmour  61' Coach: Joe Schmidt

Player of the Match: Shota Horie (Japan) Assistant referees: Jérôme Garcès (France) Matthew Carley (England) Television match official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

• Will Tupou was due to start the game, but was replaced by Lomano Lemeki due to injury ahead of kick off.
• Iain Henderson (Ireland) earned his 50th test cap.
• This is Japan's first victory over Ireland.
• This is Ireland's first Rugby World Cup pool stage loss since losing 30–15 to Argentina during the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
• This is Ireland's first loss to a Tier 2 nation since losing 40–25 to Samoa in 1996.
• This is the first time that Ireland has failed to score any points in the second half of a match since their match against France in the 2016 Six Nations Championship.

Scotland vs Samoa

30 September 2019 19:15 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Scotland	34–0	Samoa
Try: Maitland 30' c Laidlaw 34' c Penalty try (2) 57', 75' Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 31', 36' Pen: Laidlaw (1/1) 9' Drop: Hogg (1/1) 38'	Report

Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe Attendance: 27,586 Referee: Pascal Gaüzère (France)

Scotland

Samoa

FB 15 Stuart Hogg RW 14 Darcy Graham OC 13 Chris Harris IC 12 Sam Johnson  64' LW 11 Sean Maitland FH 10 Finn Russell  75' SH 9 Greig Laidlaw  64' N8 8 Blade Thomson OF 7 Jamie Ritchie BF 6 Magnus Bradbury  73' RL 5 Jonny Gray LL 4 Grant Gilchrist  52' TP 3 WP Nel  58' HK 2 Stuart McInally (c)  52' LP 1 Allan Dell  13' Replacements: HK 16 Fraser Brown  52' PR 17 Gordon Reid  13' PR 18 Zander Fagerson  58' LK 19 Scott Cummings  52' N8 20 Ryan Wilson  73' SH 21 George Horne  64' FH 22 Adam Hastings  75' CE 23 Duncan Taylor  64' Coach: Gregor Townsend

FB 15 Tim Nanai-Williams RW 14 Belgium Tuatagaloa  45' OC 13 Alapati Leiua IC 12 Henry Taefu LW 11 Ed Fidow  57'  75' FH 10 Tusi Pisi  54' SH 9 Melani Matavao  71' N8 8 Jack Lam (c)  3'  14' OF 7 TJ Ioane  66' BF 6 Chris Vui RL 5 Kane Le'aupepe LL 4 Filo Paulo  51'  79' TP 3 Michael Ala'alatoa  44' HK 2 Ray Niuia  54' LP 1 Logovi'i Mulipola  44' Replacements: HK 16 Seilala Lam  54' PR 17 Paul Alo-Emile  47' PR 18 Jordan Lay  44' FL 19 Piula Fa'asalele  51'  79' LK 20 Josh Tyrell  4'  14'  66' SH 21 Pele Cowley  71' FH 22 UJ Seuteni  54' CE 23 Kieron Fonotia  45' Coach: Steve Jackson

Player of the Match: Jonny Gray (Scotland) Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales) Federico Anselmi (Argentina) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

• This is the first time since beating Italy 29–0 in 2017 that Scotland have kept their opponents scoreless, and the first time ever against Samoa. The last time they did so at a Rugby World Cup was in 2007, when they beat Romania 42–0.
• This is the first time that Samoa has failed to score any points in a Rugby World Cup match.

Ireland vs Russia

3 October 2019 19:15 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Ireland	35–0	Russia
Try: Kearney 2' c O'Mahony 13' c Ruddock 35' c Conway 62' c Ringrose 76' c Con: Sexton (3/3) 4', 15', 37' Carty (2/2) 63', 77'	Report

Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe Attendance: 26,856 Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)

Ireland

Russia

FB 15 Rob Kearney  50' RW 14 Andrew Conway OC 13 Garry Ringrose IC 12 Bundee Aki LW 11 Keith Earls FH 10 Johnny Sexton (c)  40' SH 9 Luke McGrath N8 8 Jordi Murphy  27' OF 7 Peter O'Mahony BF 6 Rhys Ruddock RL 5 Jean Kleyn  61' LL 4 Tadhg Beirne TP 3 John Ryan  58' HK 2 Niall Scannell  58' LP 1 Dave Kilcoyne  58' Replacements: HK 16 Seán Cronin  58' PR 17 Andrew Porter  58' PR 18 Tadhg Furlong  58' LK 19 Iain Henderson  61' N8 20 CJ Stander  27' SH 21 Conor Murray FH 22 Jack Carty  40' FB 23 Jordan Larmour  50' Coach: Joe Schmidt

FB 15 Vasily Artemyev (c) RW 14 German Davydov OC 13 Igor Galinovskiy IC 12 Kirill Golosnitsky  15' LW 11 Denis Simplikevich  71' FH 10 Ramil Gaisin SH 9 Dmitry Perov N8 8 Victor Gresev OF 7 Tagir Gadzhiev BF 6 Anton Sychev  70' RL 5 Bogdan Fedotko  34'  64' LL 4 Andrey Garbuzov  50' TP 3 Kirill Gotovtsev  68' HK 2 Evgeny Matveev  40' LP 1 Andrey Polivalov  40' Replacements: HK 16 Stanislav Sel'skiy  40' PR 17 Valery Morozov  40' PR 18 Vladimir Podrezov  68' LK 19 Andrei Ostrikov  51'  50' LK 20 Evgeny Elgin  64' FH 21 Sergey Yanyushkin  71' FL 22 Roman Khodin  70' CE 23 Vladimir Ostroushko  15' Coach: Lyn Jones

Player of the Match: Rhys Ruddock (Ireland) Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (France) Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Television match official: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)

Notes:

• Igor Galinovskiy (Russia) earned his 50th test cap.

Japan vs Samoa

5 October 2019 19:30 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Japan	38–19	Samoa
Try: Lafaele 28' c Himeno 53' c Fukuoka 76' m Matsushima 80+5' c Con: Tamura (3/4) 29', 55', 80+7' Pen: Tamura (4/5) 3', 8', 24', 51'	Report	Try: Taefu 73' c Con: Taefu (1/1) 74' Pen: Taefu (4/5) 10', 15', 34', 45'

City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota Attendance: 39,695 Referee: Jaco Peyper (South Africa)

Japan

Samoa

FB 15 Ryohei Yamanaka  57' RW 14 Kotaro Matsushima OC 13 Timothy Lafaele IC 12 Ryoto Nakamura  70' LW 11 Lomano Lemeki FH 10 Yu Tamura SH 9 Yutaka Nagare  63' N8 8 Kazuki Himeno OF 7 Lappies Labuschagné (c) BF 6 Michael Leitch  64' RL 5 James Moore LL 4 Wimpie van der Walt  68' TP 3 Koo Ji-won  52' HK 2 Atsushi Sakate  40' LP 1 Keita Inagaki  52' Replacements: HK 16 Shota Horie  40' PR 17 Isileli Nakajima  52' PR 18 Asaeli Ai Valu  52' LK 19 Uwe Helu  68' FL 20 Hendrik Tui  64' SH 21 Fumiaki Tanaka  63' FH 22 Rikiya Matsuda  70' WG 23 Kenki Fukuoka  57' Coach: Jamie Joseph

FB 15 Tim Nanai-Williams  40' RW 14 Ahsee Tuala  55' OC 13 Alapati Leiua IC 12 Henry Taefu LW 11 Ed Fidow FH 10 UJ Seuteni SH 9 Dwayne Polataivao  66' N8 8 Jack Lam (c) OF 7 TJ Ioane  25'  70' BF 6 Chris Vui RL 5 Kane Le'aupepe LL 4 Piula Fa'asalele  61' TP 3 Michael Ala'alatoa  56' HK 2 Seilala Lam  56' LP 1 Jordan Lay  66' Replacements: HK 16 Ray Niuia  56' PR 17 Paul Alo-Emile  66' PR 18 James Lay  56' LK 19 Senio Toleafoa  61' LK 20 Josh Tyrell  70' SH 21 Pele Cowley  66' FH 22 Tusi Pisi  55' CE 23 Kieron Fonotia  40' Coach: Steve Jackson

Player of the Match: Lomano Lemeki (Japan) Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia) Federico Anselmi (Argentina) Television match official: Graham Hughes (England)

Notes:

• Ben O'Keeffe was due to be part of the officiating team for this game, but swapped with Angus Gardner's appointment between England and Argentina.

Scotland vs Russia

9 October 2019 16:15 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Scotland	61–0	Russia
Try: Hastings (2) 14' c, 18' c G. Horne (3) 22' c, 45' c, 59' m Turner 51' c Seymour 56' c Barclay 75' c McInally 78' c Con: Hastings (8/9) 15', 20', 24', 46', 53', 57', 76', 80'	Report

Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa, Fukuroi Attendance: 44,123 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Scotland

Russia

FB 15 Blair Kinghorn RW 14 Tommy Seymour OC 13 Duncan Taylor IC 12 Peter Horne LW 11 Darcy Graham  47' FH 10 Adam Hastings SH 9 George Horne  65' N8 8 Ryan Wilson OF 7 Fraser Brown  31' BF 6 John Barclay (c) RL 5 Ben Toolis LL 4 Scott Cummings  61' TP 3 Zander Fagerson  40' HK 2 George Turner  65' LP 1 Gordon Reid  61' Replacements: HK 16 Stuart McInally  65' PR 17 Simon Berghan  40' PR 18 W. P. Nel  61' LK 19 Grant Gilchrist  61' FL 20 Magnus Bradbury  31' FL 21 Jamie Ritchie SH 22 Henry Pyrgos  47' CE 23 Chris Harris  65' Coach: Gregor Townsend

FB 15 Vasily Artemyev (c)  61' RW 14 German Davydov OC 13 Vladimir Ostroushko  38'  40' IC 12 Dmitry Gerasimov LW 11 Vladislav Sozonov FH 10 Ramil Gaisin  65' SH 9 Dmitry Perov N8 8 Nikita Vavilin  58' OF 7 Tagir Gadzhiev BF 6 Vitaly Zhivatov RL 5 Evgeny Elgin  50' LL 4 Andrei Ostrikov  69' TP 3 Kirill Gotovtsev  61' HK 2 Stanislav Sel'skiy  61' LP 1 Valery Morozov  61' Replacements: HK 16 Sergey Chernyshev  61' PR 17 Azamat Bitiev  61' PR 18 Vladimir Podrezov  61' LK 19 Bogdan Fedotko  50' LK 20 Andrey Garbuzov  69' FH 21 Sergey Yanyushkin  65' N8 22 Anton Sychev  58' FH 23 Yuri Kushnarev  38'  40'  61' Coach: Lyn Jones

Player of the Match: Adam Hastings (Scotland) Assistant referees: Alexandre Ruiz (France) Federico Anselmi (Argentina) Television match official: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Notes:

• This is the first meeting between the two nations.
• Vladimir Ostroushko (Russia) earned his 50th test cap.
• Scotland became the first team to hold their opponents to nil points more than once in a single World Cup campaign.
• Mathieu Raynal was due to referee this game but withdrew ahead of kick off due to illness – Wayne Barnes stepped up from assistant with Alexandre Ruiz covering the assistant role.

Ireland vs Samoa

12 October 2019 19:45 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Ireland	47–5	Samoa
Try: Best 4' c Furlong 10' c Sexton (2) 21' c, 39' m Larmour 48' c Stander 65' c Conway 70' c Con: Sexton (4/5) 5', 11', 23', 50 Carbery (2/2) 67', 72'	Report	Try: J. Lam 26' m

Fukuoka Hakatanomori Stadium, Fukuoka Attendance: 17,967 Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)

Ireland

Samoa

FB 15 Jordan Larmour RW 14 Keith Earls OC 13 Robbie Henshaw  62' IC 12 Bundee Aki  29' LW 11 Jacob Stockdale FH 10 Johnny Sexton  51' SH 9 Conor Murray  53' N8 8 CJ Stander OF 7 Josh van der Flier BF 6 Tadhg Beirne  60' RL 5 James Ryan  57' LL 4 Iain Henderson TP 3 Tadhg Furlong  45' HK 2 Rory Best (c)  50' LP 1 Cian Healy  57' Replacements: HK 16 Niall Scannell  50' PR 17 Dave Kilcoyne  57' PR 18 Andrew Porter  45' LK 19 Jean Kleyn  57' FL 20 Peter O'Mahony  60' SH 21 Luke McGrath  53' FH 22 Joey Carbery  51' WG 23 Andrew Conway  62' Coach: Joe Schmidt

FB 15 Tim Nanai-Williams RW 14 Ahsee Tuala OC 13 Alapati Leiua IC 12 Henry Taefu LW 11 Ed Fidow  50' FH 10 UJ Seuteni  29' SH 9 Dwayne Polataivao  70' N8 8 Jack Lam (c) OF 7 TJ Ioane  59'  70' BF 6 Chris Vui RL 5 Kane Le'aupepe LL 4 Filo Paulo  14'  17'  54' TP 3 Michael Ala'alatoa  54' HK 2 Seilala Lam  6'  47' LP 1 Logovi'i Mulipola  47' Replacements: HK 16 Ray Niuia  14'  17'  47' PR 17 Paul Alo-Emile  47' PR 18 Jordan Lay  54' FL 19 Piula Faʻasalele  54' LK 20 Josh Tyrell  70' SH 21 Pele Cowley  70' FH 22 Tusi Pisi  29' CE 23 Kieron Fonotia  50' Coach: Steve Jackson

Player of the Match: Jordan Larmour (Ireland) Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France) Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand) Television match official: Rowan Kitt (England)

Japan vs Scotland

13 October 2019 19:45 JST (UTC+09)

(1 BP) Japan	28–21	Scotland (1 BP)
Try: Matsushima 18' c Inagaki 26' c Fukuoka (2) 40' c, 43' c Con: Tamura (4/4) 20', 27', 40+2', 44'	Report	Try: Russell 7' c Nel 50' c Fagerson 55' c Con: Laidlaw (2/2) 8', 51' Russell (1/1) 56'

International Stadium Yokohama, Yokohama Attendance: 67,666 Referee: Ben O'Keeffe (New Zealand)

Japan

Scotland

FB 15 Will Tupou  51' RW 14 Kotaro Matsushima OC 13 Timothy Lafaele IC 12 Ryoto Nakamura  75' LW 11 Kenki Fukuoka FH 10 Yu Tamura SH 9 Yutaka Nagare  51' N8 8 Kazuki Himeno OF 7 Lappies Labuschagné BF 6 Michael Leitch (c)  73' RL 5 James Moore  52' LL 4 Luke Thompson TP 3 Koo Ji-won  22' HK 2 Shota Horie  73' LP 1 Keita Inagaki  57' Replacements: HK 16 Atsushi Sakate  73' PR 17 Isileli Nakajima  57' PR 18 Asaeli Ai Valu  22' LK 19 Uwe Helu  52' FL 20 Hendrik Tui  73' SH 21 Fumiaki Tanaka  51' FH 22 Rikiya Matsuda  75' FB 23 Ryohei Yamanaka  51' Coach: Jamie Joseph

FB 15 Stuart Hogg RW 14 Tommy Seymour  52' OC 13 Chris Harris IC 12 Sam Johnson LW 11 Darcy Graham  60' FH 10 Finn Russell SH 9 Greig Laidlaw (c)  52' N8 8 Blade Thomson OF 7 Jamie Ritchie BF 6 Magnus Bradbury  66' RL 5 Jonny Gray LL 4 Grant Gilchrist  52' TP 3 WP Nel  52' HK 2 Fraser Brown  52' LP 1 Allan Dell  52' Replacements: HK 16 Stuart McInally  52' PR 17 Gordon Reid  52' PR 18 Zander Fagerson  52' LK 19 Scott Cummings  52' N8 20 Ryan Wilson  66' SH 21 George Horne  52' CE 22 Peter Horne  61' FB 23 Blair Kinghorn  52' Coach: Gregor Townsend

Player of the Match: Kenki Fukuoka (Japan) Assistant referees: Mathieu Raynal (France) Matthew Carley (England) Television match official: Marius Jonker (South Africa)

Notes:

• This was Scotland's 700th test match.
• This was Japan's first win over Scotland.
• This was the first time that a Tier 2 nation had defeated two Tier 1 nations in a single World Cup tournament.
• With this win, Japan topped the pool and advanced to the quarter-finals for the first time – the first Asian side to do so.
• Japan became the first Tier 2 nation since Fiji in 2007, and the fourth ever, to advance to the quarter-finals.
• Japan became the first Tier 2 nation to top their pool and win all of their pool games.
• The game was at risk of cancellation due to the after effects of Typhoon Hagibis the previous night. There was a lot of determination that, of all games, this one would be played. During the early hours of that morning a clean up operation was carried out by a large number of local residents. After an appeal put out by stadium management, they had spent the night in the stadium to be sure of being there as soon as the worst of the typhoon had passed. To get the venue match-ready mud had to be cleaned up and the entire pitch was dried by hand with towels. It was passed safe by 1100 and the game went ahead.