Last quarter finals

We so nearly had another upset. If Fiji had been a touch luckier either of the two tries they missed could have been scored, both scored and they'd certainly have won. One scored, would the Boks have come back? The luckier team won, and there's various saying around sport about how the better side, the harder working side make themselves luckier. I would say I'm not so sure in this case, I think the Fijian did themselves proud and got unlucky, but these things happen in sport.

Argentina v Scotland went, pretty much, to the form book. The Pumas looked tired though, content to sit back. Against Scotland they can get away with that. A side that only twice looked like scoring a try (and did once) defending a 6 point lead may be nerve-wracking, but relatively safe when your defence has been so dominant for the rest of the game.

We're guaranteed a North v South final now of course. France, will they crash and burn after their heroics against the All Blacks, à la 1999? But, beating the English in France is a different matter to beating the Australians in England. England could do it, of course, but the smart money has to be on France. The other side - you'd have to say the smart money would be on South Africa, but a contest between what will, I think, be the second and fourth placed teams in the IRB rankings (they've not updated as I write) is always going to be a battle. The Boks may have the better 30, but it's about 22 - and Argentina's 22 is pretty damn good. The Boks seem to be breaking props too, NOT a good move against the Pumas.

The Boks, against the USA, then against Fiji have shown a tendency to go AWOL for 20+ minutes. The Argentinians have shown doggedness in defence, an ability to take the points, and moments of flair as well, flair to rival the French. My heart says Argentina will win and set up an Argentina v France rematch. My head says this is possible too, although it does say that the opposite results could occur in both matches and
perhaps my head says France v South Africa is the more likely outcome.