RWC 2019

The bonus point was secured before halftime and although there might be concern at yellow cards shown to Nepo Laulala and Ofa Tuungafasi for high tackles, the All Blacks look in ominous form heading into their last pool match against Italy.

Outstanding centre Anton Lienert-Brown, flying winger Sevu Reece and fullback Ben Smith all scored two tries and utility Jordie Barrett, starting at five eighth in a Test for the first time, also crossed and kicked eight conversions.

For the briefest of moments Namibia could enjoy the feeling of being ahead of New Zealand at 3-0, and the score remained close throughout the first half.

It was this half of the match that Namibia fans chose to dwell on, including the captain, Johan Deysel's family, who were among the crowd.

"We've got a fantastic first half, we are quite proud about our first half and our boys put their bodies on the line", said Johan senior. "We are not a professional team, they've got a lot of amateurs and we knew that the second half they [NZ] were going to be tough."

The Springboks are third in Pool B, behind leaders Italy and New Zealand after losing to the All Blacks in their first match of the tournament.

South Africa responded to their loss to the defending champions by thumping Namibia 57-3 and will be expected to get the better of an Azzurri side who have taken maximum points from their two matches.

The 26 year old received two yellow cards, resulting in a red card, during the second half of Samoa's 34-0 defeat in Kobe.

The first came 16 minutes after half-time, when he was penalised for illegal entry in the side of a maul, which resulted in a penalty try.

Fidow was then given his marching orders six minutes from full-time after receiving a second yellow card for a dangerous tackle, where he slid knee-first into the outstretched Sean Maitland as he dived for the try-line.

Beauden Barrett, Jordie Barrett and Scott Barrett became the first siblings to play in the same All Blacks side in a World Cup and they all made their mark in a nine-try drubbing.

All three brothers touched down along with Sonny Bill Williams, Rieko Ioane, Shannon Frizell and Brad Weber (two) after New Zealand were awarded an early penalty try.

The last time the two teams met at the Rugby World Cup was in 2011 and Canada were on the wrong side of a thrashing from the hosts and eventual winners, with New Zealand winning 79-15 at Westpac Stadium, Wellington.

Canada captain Tyler Ardron is relishing the opportunity to measure themselves against the best tonight, despite many expecting the All Blacks to flog them, including their own fans.

"We're at the World Cup to play against the best there is. And we get that today."

Kriel suffered a hamstring injury in the team's opening Pool B defeat to New Zealand and it has now been deemed he will not recover to feature in the group stage, prompting a switch with Willemse.

Director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said: "Damian would have been more involved with us this year but for injury. He is familiar with our systems and should have no problem slotting in."

He added: "I feel for Jesse. He has been in the matchday 23 for almost every match since I took over and is a model professional. He was a key member of the squad."

Townsend's men had endured an awful start to their campaign in a heavy opening defeat to Ireland, while hosts Japan's shock win against the Irish dealt a further blow to Scotland's hopes of advancing from Pool A.

But where Scotland had been poor from the off against Ireland, they were much improved on Monday and led 20-0 at the break.

Samoa's Ed Fidow then received two yellow cards and was dismissed for conceding a pair of penalty tries to hand Scotland a commanding 34-0 bonus-point win that brings them back into contention.

The 32 year-old was cited for a dangerous high tackle in Samoa's Rugby World Cup opener against Russia last week.

He was yellow carded on the field and subsequently suspended for three matches by an independent judicial committee, which ruled that because he was concussed in the incident Samoa's second pool match against Scotland did not count towards the ban.

The appeal committee dismissed his appeal on Tuesday, ruling that the judicial committee was entitled on the evidence to rule that the incident met the threshold for a red card offence.

The All Blacks began their campaign with victory over South Africa, in the process taking a huge early step towards the knockout stages of the tournament.

Their next outing is against Canada; while it is expected to be a more straightforward affair, Hansen has still named a strong New Zealand side.

Included in the XV are brothers Beauden, Jordie and Scott Barrett, becoming just the second trio of siblings to start together in a World Cup match - after Tonga's Vunipola brothers in 2015.