Having followed England's stuttering build-up, I had turned to France and Ireland to try to ensure that the Web Ellis Cup remained north of the Equator. But teams from the Southern Hemisphere appear to be in much better shape.

England managed just three tries in their victory over the United States - the world champions could not convincingly put away the side ranked 15th in the world. On this evidence, the South Africans will be a challenge too far next weekend (I just hope it's not embarrassing), whilst the Samoans will be a real threat and could prevent England progressing from the group.

In Pool B, Wales were down at half-time against Canada - another of the supposed minnows. Although the Welsh, boosted by the inspiring arrival of replacements Stephen Jones and Gareth Thomas -  showed resolve to fightback and ultimately win comfortably, they looked scrappy, shapeless and made too many mistakes. If they make as many errors against Australia, they could be on the end of a drubbing.

'The Tri-nations teams looked sharper, more aggressive and more clinical - and most importantly demonstrated a far greater desire to win than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts'

The Scots scored a half-century of points against World Cup debutants Portugal, and were possibly the pick of the European nations. They scored eight tries and always looked in control against a brave Portuguese challenge, but were still not particularly clinical against probably the weakest team in the tournament.

And then there's the 'Pool of Death', where Argentina ruined the hosts' party on the opening night and put a huge dent in the chances of the third favourites. The other match in this pool saw Ireland looking nervous and clueless as they staggered to a 32-17 win over Namibia - the side that claims the record for the heaviest defeat at a World Cup (142-0 against Australia in 2003).

In contrast, the big three Southern Hemisphere teams were ruthless and unsympathetic in their thumping victories over lesser nations. New Zealand destroyed Italy (a far stronger team than Namibia, Portugal and USA), Australia amassed 13 tries against Japan, and South Africa dispatched Samoa 59-7. All three teams looked sharper, more aggressive and more clinical - and most importantly demonstrated a far greater desire to win than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts.