THE All Blacks stroll to victory. The Southern Hemisphere dominates the tournament and only France had a chance from the Six Nations and that was only because of home advantage.

 

Well, that was what was supposed to happen but in an astonishing turn of events last weekend any reference to the form book proved futile in predicting the way the quarter finals in the Rugby World Cup would go.

 

First up was England in a repeat of the 2003 final against Australia. England’s form going into the World Cup had been poor and the matches played in France had been no better so it was very difficult to make a case for them against a team who had been developing steadily and put in some impressive performances in the group stages. In fact, when considering that England have played 45 times since the 2003 triumph and only won on 19 occasions it is remarkable they won at all.

 

But win they did and no one can have any complaints because they deserved to and if Sterling Morlocks penalty kick had gone over in the 77th minute it would have been a travesty.

 

Never has such a high-profile game been dominated by a front row and in Andrew Sheridan they had the man of the match.

 

Australia’s scrum was in tatters from the beginning and it was not just in the set pieces that they excelled but in the breakdown also. They were immense; there is no other way to describe it.

 

 Due to this domination Gomarshall outplayed Gregan and Wilkinson outplayed Barnes. Mortlock and company were starved of good ball and the Australian game plan was no where to be seen.

 

England’s coach Brian Ashton had been insisting that a ‘big performance’ was in their grasp prior to this game but few could envisage it happening not least this non believer.

 

Maybe the two ‘must win’ group games against Samoa and Tonga proved crucial, preparing them for the winner takes all knock out atmosphere of a World Cup quarter final.

 

Or maybe they are just a better team than they have been given credit for. We will only know the answer to this after their next match against France where either this victory will be remembered as a great one off performance or the first signs of a world cup winning side.

 

If this was an upset it was difficult to know what to make of the evening game when a French side banished to Cardiff as a result of a poor game against Argentina took on the All Blacks, comfortably the best side in the world over the past four years. Without home advantage the task looked impossible. But yet again a team that had battled its way through the group stages out performed a team who had cruised through when the match became tight.

 

When Michalac broke through the New Zealand defence and lay on the pass for Jauzion to score, another unexpected drama was unfolding.

 

The All Blacks dominated the first half but were unable to put enough distance between themselves and the French team and once Carter went off in the second half the momentum shifted. Whilst all credit goes to France, New Zealanders everywhere must wonder how this on earth had happened.

 

Their team again had failed at the World Cup and until they win it again, something they have not done since 1987, they will not lose their tag of ‘bottling’ the big games.

 

Meanwhile, Sunday’s games restored a modicum of calmness with both favourites coming through their games, South Africa over Fiji and Argentina over Scotland.

 

This does not tell the whole story though as South Africa’s 37-20 victory margin was a lot more than they deserved.

 

If Fiji had managed to ground the ball for a try and take a last quarter lead then the end result may have been very different but the Springboks having witnessed Saturday’s events with a wry smile must now consider themselves as favourites for this tournament.

 

It was left to Argentina to frank the form book which they did, although they made hard work of it in the end, but they have with out doubt been the most consistent side in France and will not fear South Africa in the pack, kicking game or any where else for that matter.

 

They are no longer dark horses but main contenders for a World Cup that has been blown wide open by an extraordinary weekend.

 

It is probably best to leave the last words to Phil Vickery when he said: “Some very strange things happen in sport and you write people off at your peril. On any given day, anybody can beat anybody and one should never lose sight of that.”

 

Very true Phil, very true indeed.