Rugby World Cup

So the pool stage is over and the minnows have had their day of the sun. Whilst Portugal, Namibia, the United States and the like had long since booked their flights home, Wales and Ireland, teams you would expect to make the quarter finals both crashed at the hands of Fiji and Argentina respectively.

I will admit that I do not really follow Welsh rugby too much, so I can't really comment too much on their exit, but I will say that the Fiji game was one of the best I have ever seen. Real end-to-end stuff and with a thrilling finish to boot (even Fiji seemed to get caught up in the moment, seemingly forgetting to kick the ball out when the 80 minutes were up, almost giving Wales a reprieve). Fiji seemed to have evolved from the team that only squeaked past perennial table-proppers Japan to KO one of the more fancied nations (the last side to win a grand slam in the six nations, lest we forget) and probably give South Africa an easy route to the semis. Fair play to them though.

Argentina have probably been the side to have grown most in the last four years and remained the perennial thorn in the Irish side by beating them convincingly in Paris. A more significant result (maybe) was their victory over France on the opening night in Saint-Denis, where they looked like a side that had been winning things for years. Ireland, meanwhile never really got going. Laboured wins over the whipping boys weren't encouraging, and they were feeble against the French in game three. The lack of bonus points (I'm still not convinced on the benefits of the bonus point system) meant that Ireland needed to beat Argentina by more than 7 points, scoring four tries, and conceding less than four tries in the process. Such a restriction in the manner of victory was redundant however, as the only surrender monkeys in France that evening were wearing Green, going down 30-15. France didn't like this result much either, as they had to head to Cardiff to play New Zealand in the last eight.

Tonga gave England a run for their money in pool A, but fell away at the end of their decider, brought about because South Africa had walloped England 36-0 earlier on, a result which effectively put paid to any hopes of retaining the trophy. In group C, only Portugal seemed to make an effort against New Zealand, scoring a try in a 108-13 defeat. The decider was between Scotland and Italy, won by virtue of an immense Chris Paterson kicking display 18-16.

So the quarter final line-up is as follows:
Australia v England
New Zealand v France
South Africa v Fiji
Argentina v Scotland

It looks to me like itcould be the first all Southern Hemisphere line-up for the semi-finals, although I am hopeful that Scotland can exact some kind of Keltic revenge against Argentina (I spell it with a k to avoid confusion with the football club). But for me, this is where the tournament begins and every game will be worth watching. I think it will be tight, but I think South Africa may well sneak it. Just a hunch though.