World Cup rugby

[MichaelZZ]

Can someone please explain why if England lose to Scotland tomorrow by 9 points or more they will not qualify for the quarter finals.
By my reckoning, England have scored 121 points and only conceded 22 (a difference of 99) so far. Scotland have scored 61 and conceded 43 (a difference of 18). Even if Scotland win 40 - 0, England will still have a better points ratio. What am I missing?

[boxtops]

Does this help (from Wiki)?
The teams finishing in the top two of each pool will advance to the quarterfinals. The top three teams of each pool will receive automatic qualification to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

If two or more teams are tied on match points, the following tiebreakers apply:
1.The winner of the match between the two teams (does not apply if more than two teams are tied);
2.Difference between points scored for and points scored against in all pool matches;
3.Difference between tries scored for and tries scored against in all its pool matches;
4.Points scored in all its pool matches;
5.Most tries scored in all pool matches;
6.Official IRB World Rankings as of 3 October 2011.[26]

[Milvus]

While points difference can come into it, there are bonus points awarded that go to the main points total before points difference come into it. Like this : A win is 4 points, a draw worth 2. Loss worth 0 (obv.) score 4 tries and over is worth an extra point and also if you lose by less than 7 points you'll get a point for that too. So as these points count first before points difference.
The BBC gave this permutation:
If Scotland lose to England without a losing bonus point they are out of the World Cup
If Scotland lose to England with a losing bonus point and Argentina lose against Georgia, Scotland go through
If Scotland draw with England, they need Argentina to lose against Georgia
If Scotland and Argentina both win without a bonus point, it will come down to points difference between the three teams, though England are way out in front
If Scotland and Argentina win with bonus points, and England do not earn a losing bonus point, England are out.
It used to be a lot simpler when I was still playing Rugby :(

[New Judge]

The complex rules are needed because of the ridiculous formats of competitions of this type.

Just twelve matches are needed to reduce twenty teams down to eight for the quarter-finals. The Rugby World Cup needs forty matches to do so in the format they have chosen and by splitting the competing teams into such small groups ties are almost inevitable.

[MichaelZZ]

Thank you for all your answers. It's (fairly) clear now. I'll be in front of the box tomorrow morning and let Mrs ZZ go to Morrisons.

[Milvus]

I'll be watching it too. Could Mrs ZZ pick up a few bits for me while she's out?

[Haggis]

Its gonna be painful to watch, Scotland picking up the bonus point and England greeting into their porridge!