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This post was published on Sunday 7 October 2007.

So after my last post on rugby it seems that the ‘consistently good sides’ of Australia and New Zealand failed to live up to their potential. England’s forwards hammered the Wallabies in spectacular fashion, and the Kiwis never really got going against Les Bleus. Northern Hemisphere rugby is perhaps not in such dire straits after all!

It did get me wondering. Australia and (especially) New Zealand each had straightforward group matches. England and France had to fight for their positions in the quarter-finals, and each were the underdog in their respective games. Did Australia and New Zealand expect their quarter-finals to be as easy as their group games? I suspect it was a combination of that, and sheer grit and determination from England and France.

So today it’s the turn of Fiji and Scotland to upset the bookies!