Without a doubt this was the most surprising weekend in international rugby i have ever experienced. Each match went as unpredictable as a hand in a poker table, you just can’t tell when a team’s gonna wilt and succumb to the pressure and bluffing their counterparts are giving. When someone bumped, the other makes sure they bumped back…harder. Classic rugby!”

Australia- England:
Final score Aus- 10 ENG- 12
Most people thought that the Australians would send England packing. However it was not to be. England’s forward pack found a gear that didn’t seem to have the whole tournament so far and gave us a winning performance. Simon Shaw and Andrew Sheridan were out standing. Australia seemed extremly slow at the breakdown and paid the ultimate price. The only try came from massive winger Tuqiri however Johnny Wilkinson slotted 4 penalties that gave the English the win.

France - New Zealand
Final score: FR-20 NZ-18
The fact that the French were playing their Quarter Final match against the top rated team in the world away from their home crowd made me believe that it could in fact be the end of their campaign. However with 2 tries and 2 penalties a piece it all came down to a missed conversion. France had a amazing tackle count of 178 and showed amazing discipline. A lot of talk is going around about a possible forward pass that lead to a French try, however it doesn’t matter anymore because the try was awarded and the French turned the Rugby World on it head.

South Africa - Fiji
Final Score RSA- 37 Fiji-20
South Africa was expected to walk all over the Fijian team with their structured play and beefy forwards. The World Cup of the underdog showed through in the second half when the score board showed 20-20 with 20mins to go. South Africa seemed to find their structure and grinded away at the Fijians in the forwards and kept it tight. This did not allow Fiji to play their free flowing game and got the critical points while the starved the fast paced Fiji back line of the ball. The score seems a little flattering to the Springboks, but that doesn’t matter they are through. Well done on a great performance Fiji.

Argentina Scotland
Final Score Arg- 19 Scot- 13
Argentina were the strong favorites in this game due to their recent performances against the French and Ireland. Scotland seemed to be their own worst enemy in this game. Handling errors and choosing to chip kick the ball in the dieing mins of the game when a converted try would have put them ahead. Argentina didn’t seem to have the form that they showed against the Irish or French however they pulled off the win with all of Argentina watching. The Argentinian football derby was moved a few hours earlier so that the Argentinians could watch their beloved “Los Pumas” in action.