Pool Stages: South Africa defeat the Aussies
In Pool A we had hosts South Africa and former Champions Australia who outclassed Canada and Romania to progress to the knock-out stage.
Pool B was a closely contested group , with Australia, Western Samoa, Italy and Argentina all in the running. However- Australia and Western Samoa eventually came out tops.
New Zealand and Ireland sent Wales and Japan packing.
While in Pool D, France and Scotland outclassed Tonga and Ivory Coast.
South Africa had sent out a strong message to New Zealand when they defeated Australia 27-18 in the opening game.
The All Blacks showed why they were favourites when they demolished Japan 145-17 and was the highest winning margin at the World Cup.
Scotland captain, Gavin Hastings had scored four tries- slotted over nine conversions and two penalties to help his side crush Ivory Coast 89-0.
Japan had conceded the most points in the pool stages, followed by new comers Ivory Coast and Romania.
The same point system that was used in the 1991 World Cup (three points for a win,two points for a draw and one point for playing) has been used again.
