Quarter-final previews

South Africa v Fiji
The Fijians will come into this game with nothing to lose. They will be proud of their achievements already and will do no more then give this their all. But the Boks have already experienced one scare from a Pacific Island team this world cup so they will be playing the game pretty safely. The Fijians will be wanting to play their natural fast-paced running game right from the start, but the South Africans will be looking to play it a bit more upfront. If we are going to see any sort of contest here the Islanders must start with a bang. I am tipping the South Africans to play a safe but sure game going for the win and progressing to the Quarter-finals by 25-30 points.

New Zealand v france
The All Blacks are yet to face any sort of challenge so far this tournament, they have easily won their pool as expected but they now must overwhelm a desperate French side in order to keep alive the hopes of a nation. Since an early hiccup, the hosts they have looked a much better side, they outclassed the Irish to claim second spot in their pool which now sees them playing away from home. I think this game will be won in the loose forwards, with both sides fielding world class players in that area who will be desperate to secure quality ball for their talented backlines. The All Blacks have the likes of Richie McCaw and Jerry Collins, not to mention the forgotten soldier, Rodney So’oialo. The French have caveman Sebastien Chabal to go with the talents of Julien Bonnaire and Serge Betson. The New Zealanders have been forced to wear their silver jerseys, a result off a loss in a toss midweek. Another intriguing battle will be that of five eights Dan Carter and Lionel Beauxis. We all know the class that Carter can reach, whether he will reach his potential is a different story. Beauxis is a relative newcomer in this team but has shown great promise early is his career, a bold move to start him ahead of Frediric Michalak. The Kiwis will come into this one as hot favourites but will have to get the evil monkey of ’99 off their backs.

Australia v England
The rematch of the famous 2003 final, but things are so, so different this time around. England have been a struggling team recently and hinge a lot on a couple of key players. The Australians look a solid team this world cup and will come into this one as hot favourites. This match sees the return of one key back for each side, Stirling Mortlock for the Wallabies and Jason Robinson for the English. Expect the poms to have a dominant scrum but that will be just about all that they dominate. The aussie lineout looks too strong and they will have too much firepower in the centres and outside backs. This will be a huge test for rookie fly-half Berrick Barnes as he comes up against the masterclass of Johnny Wilkinson. I cant see the English backs scoring to many tries themselves so if we are to see a closs one it will be a penalty scoring affair. I think the aussies will come hoe comfortably with a 15-20 point victory.

Argentina v Scotland
The Pumas have been the surprise pick in this tournament, winning the pool of death. But by no means was this a fluke. The Argentines actually look a quality outfit and have a very strong defence that has only conceded two tries so far in the tournament. They are a capable attacking side, strong off fast broken play. The Scottish attack looks incapable of breaking the Pumas defence. They were try less against the All Blacks and the Italians and relied on the boot of Chris Paterson to scrape home against the Italians. They do have a gutsy defence at times but I doubt they will be able to keep it up for the full eighty minutes. The Argentineans have too much class all across the park and a defence that the Scottish just can’t match. Expect a comfortable victory for the Pumas as they advance to their first ever world cup semi-finals.