Jimmy Greaves said that football was a funny old game. After last weekend, you wouldn’t be blamed for saying the same thing about rugby - although I doubt if the All Black and Wallaby supporters were saying it. They’d have been too stunned.

So back to the England v Australia game. Expecting Brian Ashton's team to go crashing out as my beloved Wales had the week before, I watched with some trepidation – as did my English husband. It looked like it was going to be another gloomy weekend.

But what was this? England doing things right, showing some determination and the will to win? Their forwards winning everything, defeating the best that Australia had to offer. Even with Jonny Wilkinson failing with some attempts at goal, they were in the lead. They won.

'I’m married to an Englishman, and much as it goes against my heart flow, I have to cheer them on'


How? How could the team that has been such a miserable sight to watch practically since the last World Cup suddenly come good and beat one of the favourites for the title? Cynics might say that it was arrogance. When they didn’t need to excel they didn’t bother (though some might have thought that the South African game would have been a place to excel). Those of a more generous spirit might say that something finally clicked. We shall see.
New Zealand against France, the game that had been foreseen by many as the final, was equally unsettling. The All Blacks just didn’t look like the side that would win. And I was cheering them on, they were the team I wanted to see lifting the trophy. True, they hadn’t had to face real opposition in the pool, unlike France who had suffered the humiliation of defeat by Argentina, but that shouldn’t have mattered.

When the game ended, I sat for some moments in front of the television, in stunned silence. And if I felt that bad, how did the All Black players feel being the first New Zealand team to fail to reach the semi-finals?

After the excitement of Saturday, Sunday’s games were almost lacklustre. They went to plan. The Southern Hemisphere beat the Northern and the big boys beat the small.

South Africa and Argentina will meet this weekend in what should be the Springboks’ game, while France take on England in Paris viewing their opponents as a stepping-stone to next week’s final.

I’d like to see an Argentina v England final. The Pumas have consistently played entertaining and exciting rugby. The opening game of the tournament was one of the best. And England? Well, I’m married to an Englishman, and much as it goes against my heart flow, I have to cheer them on. At least out loud.

But what I really want to see in the semi-finals and the final is good rugby, loose, expansive, running rugby, try-scoring rugby. That’s what it’s about.

What do you remember about the 2003 World Cup Final? That it was won by a drop goal from  Wilkinson. A side can win by kicking but that’s not rugby. The coach, the players, the supporters can say: '‘It’s the winning that counts'’, but it’s not. No, no, of course the winning is the thing that counts, but how much more exalted will the team be that plays with fervour and energy, power and speed, dynamism and verve?

The games that include those qualities will be the ones that linger in the memory. Let’s hope this weekend - and the following one - we’ll see some.

Which teams do you think will contest the final - and more important, who will win the World Cup? Post a comment below or submit an article to Sportingo.