World Cup favourites New Zealand are trying to look on the bright side after suffering a shock defeat at the hands of old rivals Australia in the Bledisloe Cup.
The All Blacks went down 20-15 in Melbourne, their first defeat at the hands of the Wallabies since 2004, and coach Graham Henry said: "Obviously we're disappointed. But it could be a good thing in a couple of respects.
"It makes us think, and hopefully it will be character-building and motivational for us. It is better to lose now than in the World Cup in October. This side does not lose very often and hopefully we will learn from this."
He didn’t add that the result will give teams like Australia hope that the World Cup will not be the All Black walkover predicted by many observers.
All Black consistency can be expected to be in place when the tournament starts, and with quarter-final qualification looking like a formality in Pool C, they will clearly remain favourites whatever happens before then.

POOL MATCHES

Italy in Marseilles, Sept 8
Portugal in Lyon, Sept 15
Scotland in Edinburgh, Sept 23
Romania in Toulouse, Sept 9.

Like the other teams in Pool C, Scotland appear to be playing for runners-up spot, so narrow are the odds against New Zealand sweeping all before them.

The All Blacks may have had a hiccup against Australia, but most observers believe that in the long-term it will do them more good than harm by reminding them that while they may be good, they are not unbeatable.

Scotland reached the last eight four years ago, losing to Australia, and have been knocked out at the quarter-final stages three times by New Zealand. But their build-up has been worrying and they’ll have to beat Italy if they are to maintain their record of never having failed to reach the knockout stages.

Italy won 37-17 at Murrayfield in this year’s Six Nations, and the margin of that victory, their second in four meetings, was worrying for Scotland, who must wish the game was at Murrayfield instead of St Etienne.

Qualifying from Pool C will be regarded as a vital step in the right direction  by the Scots.

POOL MATCHES

Portugal in St Etienne, Sept 9

Romania in Edinburgh, Sept 18

New Zealand in Edinburgh, Sept 23

Italy in St Etienne, Sept 29

After their best ever Six Nations earlier this year, Italy cross the Alps looking to do better than ever before in the World Cup.

They are in the same pool as the mighty All Blacks yet again, the only time they have not had that dubious honour being in 1995.

But having beaten Scotland and Wales this year, Italy are on a roll and will fancy their chances of pipping the Scots to second place behind New Zealand.

The game is growing fast as the national team continues to improve and with many of their players in the professional game in France and Britain, Italy have proved that the decision to bring them into what was the five nations was the right one, and qualifying for the World Cup quarter-finals would help them maintain their recent momentum.

POOL MATCHES

New Zealand in Marseilles, Sept 8

Romania in Marseilles, Sept 12

Portugal in Paris, Sept 19

Scotland in St Etienne, Sept 29

Romania will remember their last game against Italy fondly, winning 25-24 in Bucharest in 2004. However, their best chance of Pool C victory will be against Portugal.

They beat Georgia and Spain in the final stages of a lengthy and complicated qualification process in Europe to make it to France, where they will be hoping for at least one win and a handful of brave defeats as their progress as a rugby nation continues.

They are arguably the strongest side in Europe outside the Six Nations, and will hope to live up to their nickname, The Oaks, in their matches. They have produced many good results in the past, the best in the 1980s when they beat Wales and France twice and Scotland once.

During the same decade they lost 14-6 to New Zealand, but had two tries disallowed, and while they won’t expect to go as close again this time, they can live in hope …

POOL MATCHES

Italy in Marseilles, Sept 12

Scotland in Edinburgh, Sept 18

Portugal in Toulouse, Sept 25

New Zealand in Toulouse, Sept 29

Portugal are in the finals for the first time after ending their European qualifying competition with a two-leg winner-takes-all tie against Georgia, who won 17-3 at home and drew 11-11 in Lisbon.

That meant the Portuguese had to rely on the repechage, in which they beat Morocco 10-5 and 16-15 to qualify for two long-distance games against Uruguay, who had beaten them at the same stage in 1999.

Portugal won the home leg 12-5 and went to Montevideo in March for the 192nd and last qualifying game.

The hosts had a player sent off early on and though they won 18-12, Portugal triumphed 24-23 on aggregate. In case you think rugby is a minority sport in countries like Uruguay, by the way, there was a crowd of 10,000 for the game.

Portugal have lost all three of their previous games with Romania and were hammered 83-0 by Italy in the early qualifiers, but they expect to continue their progress as they learn more about the game at international level in France.

POOL MATCHES

Scotland in St Etienne, Sept 9

New Zealand in Lyon, Sept 15

Italy in Paris, Sept 19

Romania in Toulouse, Sept 25