The Arrogant to play the Complacent

Well another couple of cracking matches today saw South Africa overcome Fiji, but not without a huge scare - while Argentina saw off Scotland without finding 3rd Gear and yet could have lost in the last two minutes.

What is it about the underdogs in this World Cup? The refusal to lie down and take a beating has been a feature of the whole tournament and the quarter finals in particular.

Did anyone predict the semi-final line up? Not me, I freely admit I was looking for a bookmaker to take a bet on the 4 big Southern Hemisphere nations contesting the Semis - and thank god I couldn't find a bookie to take the bet.

It is a popular fallacy that the English are really arrogant, but has anyone listened to the Boks recently? They really are unpleasant. Apparently the centre Jaque Fourie said the team did not respect Fiji and expected to win easily.

Well, but for a terrific cover tackle from a coloured player (which we all know hurts many Bok fans) they would have joined the Kiwis and the convicts on the plane south. I know they scored twice afterwards, but the tackle in-goal was the turning point. But a big hand to the Fijians, for getting both Wales and South Africa to be drawn into a big game of sevens , and we all know who is the best at that game.

And I was disappointed with the Argies tonight too. Lets not kid ourselves, they are a very good side and they can win the tournament. In fact any of the remaining 4 now could and might win. But the Argies let themselves down with a limited game plan. As the offloading between their forwards shows, they are better than just relying on a strong kicking and pressing game.

As for the sweaties, well they made way to many mistakes to deserve anything from the game, but they did come close, battering away 5 metres out with 2 mins left on the clock. They didn't look like scoring but you never know, a little more precision and they could have sneaked it.

So roll on next week. After Saturday, I am too shy to make any more predictions, but wouldn't it be great for the South Africans to get a bloody nose from the Argies and go out. It would be one in the eye for the Tri-Nations for refusing the Argies to join in their party.