Wales kept England at arm's length

But with England trailing the All Blacks by 16 points in the overall standings, Sunday's Millennium Stadium showdown in the penultimate round of this year's event could go a long way towards deciding the title.

England had to overcome Russia and France after opening with an unexpected 26-14 reverse against the hosts.

Wales led their arch-rivals 19-0 at half-time thanks to early tries from Tal Selley, Jason Forster and Ben Breeze.

Ugo Monye and Mark Cueto both touched down to put the English back in the hunt, but Gareth Williams' try at the posts kept Wales out of reach.

England then brushed aside the Russians but had to dig deep to edge out France 19-12 and claim a place in the last eight.

Rob Thirlby's early try was cancelled out by Lauren Diaz and although Cueto then gave his side a 12-7 lead at the break, Nicolas Carmona cashed in on some English mistakes to level the scores again.

However, an excellent solo try from Harlequins' Ben Gollings, saw England through.

Wales assured themselves top spot in Pool B with a 35-19 win over Russia featuring a hat-trick for Kevin James.

They now face Argentina in the quarter-finals after the Pumas lost 28-10 to New Zealand in Pool A.

England will need to improve to beat the series leaders on Sunday, but are at least able to give their title chances a massive boost if they can knock out the Kiwis at this comparatively early stage.

With quarter-final losers not earning any ranking points in this 16-team tournament, and 20 available to the Cardiff winners, both teams have the incentive of being able to to take a giant stride towards the title.

Scotland, meanwhile, struggled to make an impact at the Arms Park and followed a creditable draw against Australia with a 33-5 hiding at the hands of South Africa and a humbling 24-21 defeat by minnows Italy.