Samoa still in RWC quarter-final contention despite last night's hiding from Scotland

Both Manu Samoa and Scotland can still make the quarter-finals as Pool A continues to thrill at this year's Rugby World Cup, says 1 NEWS Sport reporter Dewi Preece.

Despite Scotland beating Samoa 34-0 last in Kobe, Pool A is no clearer as to which two teams will qualify but Ireland and Japan currently holding the two top spots in the pool.

However, with Samoa and Scotland joining Ireland with both one win and one loss apiece, the final games of the group should be ones to watch.

Speaking from Kobe, Preece broke down both what we saw from Samoa in last night's match, as well as what to expect from future matches.

"[It] wasn't easy viewing for the most part," Preece began.

"To be fair to both sides, it was the conditions - that was completely out of their hands.

"[To] start with Samoa, every team has a bad day at the office, it's just so disappointing that it's come at this stage. They had a real opportunity to make back to back statements, go two-from-two at this World Cup against a Scotland side that was always going to bounce back.

"To get a zero on the board is quite demoralising, I think, going forward. They attacked quite a lot at Scotland throughout the game to absolutely no avail. More often than not they were their own worst enemies."

"The toughest part of it for Samoa now is a four-day turnaround before they face arguably the most intimidating team left in that pool, which is Japan in front of a home crowd.

"They've just got to pick themselves up and dust themselves off, because theoretically, they are not out of his pool. They can still go out with their destiny in their own hands, bonus points and things may happen, [but] the odds are certainly stacking against Samoa now."

Scotland meanwhile did everything they needed to in order to keep their chances of a quarter-final alive, but will now find themselves needing to upset their hosts to potentially advance.

"They've certainly helped their cause, and the bonus point was an absolute must.

"The good news out of all of it, is that it's lining up Japan vs Scotland, the last game of the whole group stage of the tournament, that could prove to be who goes through, winner takes all as the last game of the group, and the Rugby World Cup could not ask for a better way to finish the group stages.

"Pool A continues to be the pool that keeps on giving."

Samoa are next up in an effective must-win encounter with Japan in Toyota on October 5, while Scotland find themselves against Russia in Shizuoka on October 9.