Ireland ripped apart Scotland in an impressive 36-14 win to finish top of their group at the Rugby World Cup on Saturday while England survived a scare to beat Samoa by a point.
England, the ony northern hemisphere team to have won rugby’s biggest prize, squeezed past the Pacific Islanders 18-17 in Lille thanks to a late Danny Care try.
But in their demolition of the Scots at the Stade de France, building on their defeat of South Africa, the Irish underlined they have what it takes to become the second world champions from the northern hemisphere.
The Irish will now face three-time champions New Zealand in the last eight next Saturday seeking to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup for the first time in their history.
Ireland though will not want to dwell on their heavy defeat to the All Blacks in the quarter-finals four years ago.
James Lowe scored the first Irish try as they tore into the stunned Scots with a devastating first-half performance.
In a blow, Scotland lost captain Jamie Ritchie after a crushing tackle.
Hugo Keenan grabbed two more, either side of Iain Henderson touching down and Ireland led by 26-0 at half-time.
Dan Sheehan and Garry Ringrose completed Ireland’s six-try haul that guaranteed a bonus point.
It was only when Ireland decreased the intensity in the second half that Scotland grabbed two consolation tries through Ewan Ashman and Ali Price.
Ireland captain Johnny Sexton said his side had made light of potentially the toughest group of the tournament.
“We’re delighted to win the pool and we know this is where we want to be now. We’re in the quarter-finals against the toughest opposition we could get,” Sexton said.
“The way the draw was made three years ago turned out to be a bit unfair but it’s the hand that we were dealt and we have to be ready for New Zealand next week.”
Scotland have now failed to make the quarter-finals in three of the last four World Cups.
“Ireland were excellent tonight, perhaps the best I’ve seen,” Scotland coach Gregor Townsend said.
Farrell beats Wilkinson
England, who were already guaranteed to finish top of Group D after three wins, opened brightly in Lille with a try by lock Ollie Chessum and a penalty from Owen Farrell, which took the captain past Jonny Wilkinson’s points record for England.
“What a player he is,” said a relieved England coach Steve Borthwick, whose side are likely to face another Pacific Islands team, Fiji, in the quarter-finals.
“I know everyone is going to talk about kicking the points but what a phenomenal player and leader.
“He was integral today leading this team through a very difficult (game) through a performance that was very scrappy to get a win.”
Samoa, who have sputtered through the tournament with defeats by Japan and Argentina, sparked into life in this game, with two thrilling tries from wing Nigel Ah-Wong.
Playing with real passion and power, the Samoans might have had a third try but Duncan Paia’aua’s effort was ruled out by the TMO for a knock-on in the build-up.
Leading 14-8 at half-time, Samoa dominated the start of the second half, Paia’aua again denied, this time by George Ford’s cover tackle.
Lima Sopoaga stretched the lead with a penalty before England fought back.
Farrell, who passed Wilkinson’s England points record of 1,179 with his first penalty, pulled another back.
England were trailing 17-11 when replacement scrum-half Care nipped through for a try seven minutes from time.
‘Job done’ for Wales
The Welsh, whose pre-tournament form barely suggested they would go on to win all four group games, now play the winners of Sunday’s showdown between Argentina and Japan in the quarter-finals in Marseille next weekend.
Victory came at a price though with emblematic No 8 Taulupe Faletau suffering a broken arm.
“It’s a big loss for us,” said Wales coach Warren Gatland who also has an anxious wait over fly-half Gareth Anscombe who injured his groin in the pre-match warm-up.
Louis Rees-Zammit scored a second-half hat-trick of tries and Sam Costelow, a last-minute stand-in for Anscombe, booted 13 points to settle Welsh nerves against a game Georgia.
“Even though we weren’t at our best, we got the job done. We’ll now focus on next weekend,” Gatland said.
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