Now the World Cup gets serious

By Wednesday evening, three sides will have earned the right to join group winners Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Wales and France in the last eight.

England, fresh from running up a century against Tonga, tackle another Pacific island nation, Fiji, at Twickenham. Scotland host Samoa, who upset Wales in their last match, at Murrayfield, and Ireland play Argentina in Lens, France.

England will be strongly favoured to beat Fiji, although the Fijians are angry after a series of doubtful decisions by New Zealand referee Paddy O8217;Brien cost them victory against France in Toulouse at the weekend.

8220;We were disappointed that we could not win in France. The boys who played thought that we should have won,8221; said fly-half Waisale Servei, who watched that game from the bench.

Fiji Coach Brad Johnstone has worked hard to combine a hard-nosed pragmatism with the instinctive flair the islanders possess 8211; and Clive Woodward8217;s England side will need to be on their guard.

8220;France discovered that our pack has teeth and England will discover the same,8221; warned Fiji prop Greg Smith.

The two remaining play-off fixtures 8212; Ireland v Argentina and Scotland v Samoa 8212; are matches which could go either way.

Manu Samoa will certainly provide Scotland with a tougher challenge than when they met in 1991 World Cup, when the Scots won 28-6.

This time, the Samoans are bubbling with confidence. 8220;We will certainly relish the challenge,8221; said fly-half Stephen Bachop.

8220;There is an air of confidence about us at the moment after the Wales8217; win, and if we perform as well as I know we are capable of, then we8217;ve got every chance.8221;

The Scottish task will be to prevent the Samoans from gaining enough possession with which to launch their devastating attacks.

Scottish coach Jim Telfer pulled off a surprise when Jamie Mayer was preferred to experienced Alan Tait in the centres for the match.

Tait has scored 17 touchdowns in 26 appearances for his country and was an integral part of the side which clinched the Five Nations championship last season but Telfer insisted: 8220;We8217;ve picked this team on merit.

8220;The players we have chosen represent the strongest centre combination at our disposal and we can still use Alan from the bench. His try-scoring record is good but there are other things which need to be taken into consideration, such as defence, taking the ball up and work rate.8221;

In another surprise move, veteran Doddie Weir has been included in the second row at the expense of Stuart Grimes, who was named alongside Tait among the replacements.

8220;It is horses for courses and this is the team we believe will win this game,8221; said Telfer.

History is on Ireland8217;s side against the Pumas. The Irish have made it to the last eight of all three previous World Cups, while Argentina have made it past the group stage for the first time.

The Irish believe that if they can dominate the scrum, they can dominate the Argentines. 8220;Argentina have a good, but not outstanding, scrum and we are going to put all our strength into that area,8221; said coach Warren Gatland.

The Irish have selected David Humphreys at fly-half ahead of Eric Elwood, who was outstanding in their win over Romania at the weekend.

8220;Humphreys is and remains our number one,8221; said team manager Lenihan, who must be hopng the inconsistent Humphreys packs his kicking boots.

Argentina, in contrast, boast the the automoton-like Gonzalo Quesada, who rarely missed a strike at goal. The 8220;get tough8221; campaign by tournament officials continued on Monday when South African centre Brendan Venter was banned for three weeks for stamping on flanker Martin Panizza during his side8217;s win over Uruguay last Friday.

Venter8217;s ban effectively rules him out of the rest of the tournament although an appeal will be heard on Wednesday.

Two more players, French forwards Fabien Pelous and Christian Califano, will both appear before a disciplinary panel at Twickenham on Tuesday.

The pair have been cited for incidents in their team8217;s win over Fiji in Toulouse on Saturday. Califano has been cited for head-butting, while Pelous has been accused of stomping.