Brian Moore: It's time to include Japan among Rugby's elite

After a surreal week for the sport of Rugby Union, Brian Moore is joined in studio by World Cup winner Maggie Alphonsi to reflect on the highs and lows both on and off the pitch. The pair begin by paying tribute to everyone involved with helping Japan's final Pool A game with Scotland go ahead amidst the chaos of Typhoon Hagibis. As for the match itself, it was another scintillating performance from the hosts who topped their pool with a 100% record and now go on the play old rivals South Africa in the quarter finals. The defeat means Scotland are on their way back home early having failed to make it out of the Pool stage and pressure is mounting on head coach Gregor Townsend. Former Scotland international Craig Chalmers says it's not time to panic just yet, and he's backing Townsend to turn things around in the new year during the Six Nations. Ireland qualified at Scotlands expense, despite spending more than half the game with 14 men they eased past Samoa and now have the prospect of facing tournament favourites New Zealand in the quarter finals. Mike McCarthy played against the All Blacks during his time as a player for Ireland and he joins the show to make a case for his former side. Wales finished their Pool phase in unconvincing fashion with a win over Uruguay. They now take on France in the quarter finals and former Ospreys coach Sean Holley believes they have got themselves a favourable draw as they target 240 minuets to win the tournament. As for England, they had the benefit of a week off thanks to Typhoon Hagibis, next up for them is a clash with Australia which both Brian and Maggie believe will cause fireworks due to the short tempered nature of both coaches, Eddie Jones and Micheal Cheika. And as the three year funding deal for the Tyrell's Premier 5's begins its final year Maggie explains how the Women's game is only going to continue to get bigger and bigger. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info . Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.