Fiji’s famous win over the Wallabies has put the cat amongst the pigeons in Pool C.

Fiji produced the result of the Rugby World Cup so far, beating Australia in Saint-Etienne to put the cat amongst the pigeons in Pool C.

Simon Raiwalui’s men bounced back from defeat to Wales in Bordeaux last weekend, putting Australia to the sword 22-15 in a match that has direct ramifications for Wales.

Having secured 10 points from a possible 10, Wales are sitting pretty at the top of Pool C with their fate totally in their hands. But Australia v Fiji was always going to affect what Wales could get away with in their remaining fixtures, against the Aussies and Georgia.

From a Welsh perspective, an Australian win over Fiji would, in a way, have made things more straightforward. Had Fiji lost in Saint-Etienne, then Wales would have known that a victory over Georgia would have been enough for a quarter-final place, taking some of the pressure off next week’s clash with the Wallabies.

As it turns out, the Fijian victory means that there is still a three-way shootout at the top of Pool C unfolding. Wales now knows they need something against Australia and Georgia in their final two games.

Ideally for Wales, Fiji’s win saw only the Wallabies claim a bonus point, meaning there is still a bit of a buffer between them and the other sides in terms of the pool table.

Currently, Wales sit top of the pool with 10 points and the other two trailing on six. Because Fiji won the match over Australia, they currently sit in second place.

Now, if Wales beats Australia next week, then it’s all good. The Wallabies will be out in the pool stages with defeat next week.

But were Warren Gatland’s side to lose to the Wallabies in Lyon, then you could have a situation where each of the top three teams – Wales, Fiji and Australia – will be heading into the final round of matches having lost one match each, making things very interesting.

If we get to that point, the fact that the Wallabies aren’t playing on the final weekend of the pool stage could either be a help or a hindrance to them. They play Portugal the week before in their final pool-stage match.

And if the three teams finish level on points after all matches are completed, the following criteria decide what happens next.

Whoever finishes higher is determined by the below criteria (in order of importance):

• Whoever won the match between the two tied teams
• The team with the best points difference
• The team with the best difference between tries scored and tries conceded
• The team with the highest amount of points scored
• The team with the highest amount of tries scored

In the unlikely event that two teams are still totally tied after considering all of the above factors, the official World Rugby rankings will be taken into account and whoever is ranked highest will be determined as the one to proceed to the next stage/finish higher.

SOURCE – Wales Online