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Crazy Bernie: Giving his 'Saturday smile'
What a day! Would anyone have picked those results? Would anyone, before this tournament, have said there would be semi-finals without Australia or New Zealand?
As a brief aside, it wasn't just in France and Wales; in New Zealand, Air New Zealand Cup holders Waikato were stunned by Hawke's Bay. In England, Leicester lost at home for only the second time in over 40 matches. Everything's gone barking mad!
A fortnight ago, the sensible money would have been on an all-southern hemisphere line-up in the World Cup semi-finals. Now, we have the very real prospect that the only southern hemisphere team to make it that far will be the winners of the all-south clash between SA and Fiji! Who said rugby was predictable?!
Saturday's quarter-final results had meaning for so many nations though: let's have a closer look at what they meant.
For England: Not two weeks ago a spot in the final was the sort of dream scenario painted on the walls of institutional inmate's walls, heavily adorned with swarms of warbling cuckoos. But what forward power! England have beaten semi-final opponents France this year already though, and now they have the finest proven scrum in the world, confidence, and tactical nous all behind them...
For France: 'Crazy Bernie' got it right! An utterly idiosyncratic tactic of playing so awfully for the first half-hour that New Zealand could not help but be sucked into the mire, and then raising their game at just the right moments. What tactical tricks does he now have up his sleeve? Getting his team to play a game with no scrums against England? Anything is possible. The hosts live on at their wonderful World Cup, which really is now theirs for the taking...
For Argentina: Maybe Agustin Pichot will meet his destiny after all! Forward power is, apparently, the way forward at this World Cup, and in the trio of Roncero, Ledesma, and Scelzo, the Pumas have three of the finest at the front to start with - the list of quality behind is too long! South Africa's front row has been eviscerated by injury and no longer looks so invincible on paper, and if Argentina can just keep their discipline and keep Habana shackled in the likely semi-final...
For Scotland: The tackle stats from France's win: France 178 tackles, New Zealand 36. Tackles win matches too. That's just Scotland's game, and they have the finest goal-kicker in the world in Chris Paterson. It won't happen at this tournament, but the Scots are not done yet...
For South Africa: The two biggest obstacles in their way are removed in one fell swoop. Of all the teams left, South Africa had the game to beat their Tri-Nations fellows, now you have to ask: who has the game to beat the Boks...
For Ireland: Eddie O'Sullivan's vain bleatings about the timing of the tournament being all wrong for northern teams are thus rendered a total non-sequitur. England and France are through, and considering how many of Argentina's players play in the north, you could count them as a northern team too. Three out of four? Not bad for teams that wouldn't be able to peak quickly enough. Ireland need to look elsewhere for excuses...
For New Zealand: Humble pie being force-fed, egg being pelted at faces, grapes already soured and the milk bottle running a torrent all over the floor, much as the tears are running down the faces. But were they overdone or underdone? Graham Henry's costly re-conditioning camp that ruined the Super 14, the 400-odd kilos of extra baggage flown over to France, the shameless lambasting by Kiwis everywhere of South Africa coach Jake White's resting of players during the Tri-Nations, etc etc - it all seems a little futile now...
For Australia: A lean period is about to begin. A generation of Aussie legends has departed, and there is not all that much coming to take its place. No more Gregan, Larkham, Latham, Mortlock, Lyons, Waugh at the next World Cup, and there never was much of a tight five to begin with, improvement since 2005 or not...
For Wales: The Welsh, already wondering where to start rebuilding, might like to consider what Australia's scrum did to theirs, and then consider what England's scrum did to Australia's. It's a long road back for Wales already, and the first thing they ought to do is excavate some gritty props from their coal-faces...
For Everyone here and everyone else: Hope! With the two heavyweight bouncers gone, the World Cup door is wide open, and anyone could step through it now! Those already out can also take consolation from the way in which rugby's playing field is clearly levelling... and look forward to 2011!
By Danny Stephens
