If Australia needed anything to boost their collective ego, they got it when they beat New Zealand 20-15 in June with a thrilling second-half comeback in their tri-nations match in Melbourne. They also needed a comeback to beat weakened South Africa 25-17.

The Wallabies have been sulking ever since Jonny Wilkinson kicked them to defeat in the 2003 final in Sydney, but they are back and they can be expected to be a major force in France.

With their first win over their Kiwi rivals for three years, the Aussies will consider they now have the bragging rights, and that result and performance will do their World Cup hopes no harm at all.

They should have few problems against Canada and Japan, but playing Wales in Cardiff won’t be as easy as playing them in Paris, while the match against Fiji might pose problems.

Veteran scrum-half George Gregan, the world’s most capped player, played against Wales in Cardiff in the 1999 tournament, scoring two tries as the Aussies won 24-9, and of course they went on to win the competition, beating France in the final.

POOL MATCHES

Japan in Lyon, Sept 8

Wales in Cardiff, Sept 15

Fiji in Montpellier, Sept 23

Canada in Bordeaux, Sept 29

Wales have come on leaps and bounds in recent seasons, now they’ll find out if their improvement on the European stage means anything in world rugby.

With world class fly-half James Hook heading a list of players making their marks on the international scene, they have every right to feel confident going into the World Cup, and with two of their pool games being played in Cardiff, that won’t do their prospects any harm either.

Their toughest pool game, against Australia, will be at the Millennium Stadium, and that will give them a better chance of springing a surprise. Matches against Canada, Japan and Fiji won’t be as difficult and Wales have every right to expect to make the quarter-finals.

Apart from finishing fourth in 1987 and reaching the quarter-finals in 1991, their World Cup record is not a good one, but the chances are that will improve this time round. They lost twice in Australia in June, of course, but they fielded a weakened team in both games and will surely put up a better show in front of their own fans in Cardiff.

POOL MATCHES

Canada in Nantes, Sept 9

Australia in Cardiff, Sept 15

Japan in Cardiff, Sept 20

Fiji in Nantes, Sept 29

Fiji are one of three Pacific nations to make it to France from an Oceania qualifying competition that began way back in June, 2005.

They made it through, alongside Samoa and Tonga, as teams from places like the Solomon Islands and Niue (population 2,000) fell by the wayside.

Renowned for producing huge athletes who handle the ball like basketball players and run like Olympic track stars, Fiji can generally be guaranteed to entertain and to leave a few bruises behind them, no matter who they play.

With Australia favourites in Pool B, they will be the main threat to Wales’s chances of qualifying for the quarter-finals, and will be glad they don’t have to go to Cardiff for a game which could be the decider.

In June, after losing to Australia in Perth and the Junior All Blacks in Suva, Fiji also lost 21-15 to Tonga in the Pacific Nations Cup, and that result more than any other shows that they are vulnerable.

POOL MATCHES

Japan in Toulouse, Sept 12

Canada in Cardiff, Sept 16

Australia in Montpellier, Sept 23

Wales in Nantes, Sept 29

Canada, who reached the World Cup quarter finals in 1991, can’t be dismissed as also-rans. They won’t win the competition (you heard it here first), but they might spring a surprise or two.

They’ll target Japan for a group win, but could also cause problems for Wales and Fiji.

Winger James Pritchard scored a hat trick of tries and 36 points as Canada hammered USA 56-7 in the qualifying competition. He had previously scored 31 against Barbados to break Gareth Rees’s national record.

Canada had no problems in getting to France, and while they’ll obviously face some when the tournament starts, they will be nobody’s pushovers, as they proved with a stout performance in defeat against New Zealand in June this year.

POOL MATCHES

Wales in Nantes, Sept 9

Fiji in Cardiff, Sept 16

Japan in Bordeaux, Sept 25

Australia in Bordeaux, Sept 29

The trouble with Japanese rugby is that they are basically not very big … the Japanese, that is.

In the modern game, with centres as big as second-rows used to be, it’s all about pace and power, and while the Japanese may have the former, they tend to fall short on the latter.

They may produce sumo wrestlers, but men that big don’t tend to possess a lot of the speed and agility needed in rugby.

Japan topped their Asian qualifying group, as they had been expected to, after easy wins over the Arabian Gulf and Korea.

World Cup winner John Kirwan is the coach and he led them to wins over Hong Kong 52-3 and Korea 54-0, when winger Daisuke Ohata scored a hat trick of tries to extend his lead as the world Test try-scoring record holder.

Pool matches:

Australia in Lyon, Sept 8

Fiji in Toulouse, Sept 12

Wales in Cardiff, Sept 20

Canada in Bordeaux, Sept 25