Japan

With the two sides tied on points and goals heading into their final matches, each required only a point to be sure of a place in the next round.

In bizarre circumstances, though, Japan went down 1-0 to already eliminated Poland as Senegal lost by the same scoreline to Colombia.

With Colombia climbing to the top of the group, yellow card rankings were required and Japan came out on top, having only been cautioned four times to Senegal's six.

Japan, knowing this outcome, opted not to attack in the closing stages and instead gambled on Senegal not scoring in Samara.

After winning their opening games, three points for either side would have made them outright Group H leaders and put them in pole position for a last-16 berth.

As it is, they will have to endure an anxious wait for the result of Poland and Colombia's clash later on Sunday to know what they need to do in the final round of fixtures on Thursday.

The Group H favourites suffered a nightmarish start to their campaign when Sanchez blocked Shinji Kagawa's shot with his arm after just two minutes and 56 seconds, prompting the referee to brandish the first straight red card for handball at a World Cup since Luis Suarez was sent off against Ghana in 2010.

Kagawa then put Japan ahead from the penalty spot but even with 10 men Jose Pekerman was able to make his side competitive and Juan Fernando Quintero levelled with a free-kick six minutes before half-time.

The Pacific Island Leaders Meeting, known as PALM, is held in Japan every three years.

Japan's government hosts the PALM summits as a way to share its assistance programme with Pacific Island Forum countries.

Ahead of this summit, Tokyo said measures to help Pacific countries enforce maritime law within their maritime jurisdictions would be included in a joint statement for the eighth PALM meeting.

Pacific Island countries struggle to adequately police their exclusive economic zones which have become subject to regular incursions by so-called Vietnamese blue boats.

The flanker has featured in four matches this season, and was named on the bench last weekend but wasn't injected into their clash with the Rebels.

Fakaosilea's contract was supposed to run until the end of the 2018 season, but the Brumbies agreed to release him.

He has struggled to make a consistent mark in his two seasons in Canberra, with injuries and a growing depth in the backrow limiting his chances.

Japanese ambassador to Fiji Masahiro Omura said the meeting was held once in every three years since 1997.

“This is an important meeting where leaders of 14 Pacific Island countries get together and we are hoping they all will participate again come next year,” he said.

Omura said Japan was also promoting various forms of exchange programmes for Fiji.

The announcement by Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera comes amid regular missile tests by North Korea and increased tensions between the nations.

The missiles will be deployed on Japan's fleet of fighter jets and have a range of up to 1,000km (621 miles).

The move is likely to be controversial, as Japan limits its military to self-defence.

But conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pushed in recent months to loosen the country's military restrictions, imposed in the wake of World War Two.

A record war chest of more than £120 million (NZ$233.5m) is to be invested in the professional game over the next two years and the RFU has given the green light to the "detailed and comprehensive plans" of Jones for the build-up to the tournament in Japan.

Expenditure on professional rugby in England soared last year by over 50 per cent to a record £63.7 million ($124 million). Investment going into the 2015 World Cup was £44.3 million ($86.2 million).

France have won just three of their 11 tests in 2017 and were fortunate not to suffer their most humbling reverse yet as flyhalf Tamura lined up a 74th minute conversion with the scores level.

The kick was just to the left of the posts, one that Tamura would expect to make comfortably, but the miss allowed the home side to escape with a draw as they managed to survive more pressure from the visitors in the remaining minutes.

The result, though, was set to still intensify the unwelcome spotlight on coach Guy Noves two years out from the Rugby World Cup.

In a case that has enthralled Japan and dominated news headlines for a week, a 33-year-old grand sumo champion, a Mongolian called Harumafuji, is accused of assaulting a younger wrestler, a 27-year-old Mongolian called Takanoiwa, with items possibly including a beer bottle, an ice pick, an ashtray, a microphone and a karaoke remote control.

Harumafuji, who holds the top rank of yokozuna, says he used only his bare hands, and a contentious investigation is now going on. Still, he's expected to be forced out.