Even though there s a huge disparity in quality between Wales, Argentina, England and Fiji on the one hand, and Ireland, New Zealand,South Africa and France on the other, the actual parings are quite evenly matched. World rankings in brackets:

Wales (7) vs. Argentina (8)
Ireland (1) vs. New Zealand (4)
England (6) vs Fiji (10)
France (2) vs. South Africa(3)

It is a travesty that Scotland, the World's 5th. ranked side was eliminated by by (1) and (3) While 6,7,8,and 10 get through without ever having to play a top 5 team.

That said, I would expect the rankings to hold, with Wales, Ireland, England and France getting through after some tight matches.

We could even have an upset in the Semi finals with Ireland and France or whoever wins those match-ups being truly knackered after their quarter final exertions while much inferior teams have it relatively easy.

But ultimately,my money is on an Ireland France final although I would much prefer to face SA as that would effectively be a home match for Ireland.


Index of Frank's Diaries