Fourie du Preez will lead the Springboks for the first time in a test match, taking over the captaincy from Jean de Villiers after the centre was forced to drop out of the tournament with a broken jaw. Heyneke Meyer has made only three changes from the side that beat …

Milton Haig has named a much-changed Georgian side to play the All Blacks on Friday, opting to rest some first choice players but in doing so fielding the most experienced Lelo side ever in test rugby. Captain Mamuka Gorgodze is the only starting forward remaining from the disappointing 54-9 loss …

The All Blacks will roll out their big guns to face Georgia in Cardiff on Friday. After playing a reserve side against Namibia, Steve Hansen has reverted to virtually the same lineup that he selected for the Argentina match, with four exceptions – one enforced. Four players – Liam Messam, …

Two weeks in and the casualties are mounting in the World Cup. More than half of the teams (11 in total) have been forced to replace at least one player, three more if you count players who were originally named in the 31-man squad but were forced to withdraw before …

Tonga came away winners over Namibia by a 35-21 score in a very entertaining match at Sandy Park in Exeter on Tuesday. The Tongans outscored their opponents by five tries to two, but some wayward kicking and discipline issues kept the Namibians in the match. Telusa Veainu was a late …

Kieran Crowley has chopped and changed his lineup to face France on Thursday, with seven switches in total from the team that ran Italy desperately close at Elland Road. Canada will need to manage their resources with another game on the horizon against Romania on Tuesday. Aaron Carpenter and Brett …

France have retained only two of the starting side that faced Romania, reverting to their first strength team for the match against Canada at Milton Keynes on Thursday. Only Wesley Fofana and Brice Dulin continue, as Philippe Saint-André opts not to take any chances against a team that gave Italy …

Both teams have been named for Thursday’s crucial Pool A match between Wales and Fiji at the Millenium Stadium. With Wales now on the ascendency thanks to a famous upset over England, they must beat Fiji to keep their quarter-final prospects alive, and do so on just four days rest. …

Hard to believe we’re already into week 3! The games are getting tougher, attrition is starting to become more of a factor, and a couple wild upsets have us all second guessing our picks. We’re splitting up the week once again, with our midweek choices up now and the weekend …

The Up and Under is a weekly feature on Americas Rugby News which reviews the best and worst from games involving the Americas teams over the previous week. UP Argentina Possibly the best half of rugby of any team in the tournament thus far was that produced in the second …