England have displaced South Africa from the third position in the World Rugby Rankings after their historic 39-28 victory over Australia in Brisbane last weekend.
If defending champions Police are going to prevail at this year's Bayley's Fiji Coral Coast Sevens - held next week - then they are going to have their work cut out.
The world watched last week as the All Blacks made the 2,000 mile journey to Apia, Samoa, where they took part in a historic test against a nation which has had such a prolific bearing on the fortunes of New Zealand rugby.
There is plenty of rugby union for fans around the world to debate this coming weekend. Talking Rugby Union have shared several articles this week, centred on Stuart Lancaster and his England team.
In stark contrast to Round 1, there are ten games in the November Internationals 2014 Round 2 and if you get through this round with a 100 per cent record then as Fitzy used to say, "full credit".
The November Autumn Rugby Internationals Round 4 features ten mouth-watering matches including the All Blacks vs Ireland match which is sure to see history made
Rugby is often referred to as a global game, implying its tentacles stretch into every continent. In fact, it is global in appeal but it is far from globally competitive.
Tonga proved too strong for an error-strewn Japan and recorded their first victory of Rugby World Cup 2011 with a solid 31-18 win on Wednesday night in Whangerai.
For Tonga the tie with Japan is the last real chance the team has to gain a win in Pool A after the dissatisfaction of defeat to the Canucks and with France last up on October 1 in Wellington.