Nations Cup: England take the title

With one round of games still to go, England have retained the Nations Cup. The bonus point in their 25-0 win over South Africa, and Canada's dramatic last minute 15-10 loss to the USA, mean that they cannot be caught.

• England match report (RFUW)
• England match report (Rugby Canada)
• Canada v USA report (Rugby Canada)
• Canada v USA report (USA rugby)
• IRB report

Position	Nation	Games				Points		Bonus points[2]		Table points
		played	won	drawn	lost	for	against	Tries	Losing
1	England	3	3	0	0	104	15	3	0	15
2	United States	3	2	0	1	61	46	1	0	9
3	Canada	3	1	0	2	52	44	1	2	7
4	France	3	1	1	1	37	67	0	0	6
5	South Africa	4	0	1	3	34	116	0	0	2

Next games: France vs USA, Canada v England

Accounts from the games suggest that fatigue is getting at all the players - but they had better get used to it as next year they'll be playing five games in roughly the same amount of time. This suggests that success will go not so much to the best XV, but the best squad as a whole - and that which players a team manager rests when could make all the difference. Get it wrong and even the top teams can be upset - the absence of half-a-dozen players for England's game against Wales last year certainly contributed to that defeat (and their return resulted in some big wins).