KEY POINTS:
Today we will know if the All Blacks are on their way to another semifinal and we will, mercifully, have got past the match that should never have been - the quarter-final between the host nation and tournament favourites.
Whoever loses the match between the All Blacks and
France can feel aggrieved. Fans can feel aggrieved too - because the tournament will have been unnecessarily weakened.
The seedings for this tournament have been daft. The fact that France, Argentina and Ireland were all in the same pool was just stupid. Argentina are ranked fourth in the world.
It was the arrogance of the IRB, holding up two fingers to Argentina and saying: 'Well, you are not really fourth in the world, are you?'
The seedings should have been done better, taking latest form into account - and not based on the tournament four years ago. It's a joke and no wonder Argentina have been so fiery and full of passion in this World Cup. Outside of the All Blacks, they are probably my favourite team, as I tipped them some time back to cause problems for the big boys.
I am not sure I can see them beating the Boks in the semifinals (Scotland and Fiji permitting, of course) but if anyone can do it from that side of the draw, it's them.
In my TV work over here, a programme I am attached to ran a piece with Eddie O'Sullivan, Brian O'Driscoll and Ronan O'Gara all commenting about their tournament. Frankly, I couldn't believe what was coming out of their mouths. These guys have their heads so far in the sand, they must be able to hear the waves breaking on Bondi Beach.
They are living in the past and they haven't - not yet anyway - made the adjustments the modern game requires. They were talking like the Irish hadn't done anything wrong and that the other sides had simply prepared better.
Sorry, wrong. The Pumas are better because they are more professional. They are more professional, ironically, because more of their players are competing in the UK and France. Ireland have been Triple Crown champions three of the last four years but they looked a bit like the 1991 All Blacks who didn't front up and then Alex Wyllie and John Hart copped the backlash.
Rugby blames the coach these days but the All Blacks had about 10 senior players - and I include myself in that - who took things for granted. So did the Irish. They were deficient in most phases of the game and didn't seem to have the ability to string together attacking movements with some of the basic skill sets.
The Argentinians, on the other hand, were superb. They have made it abundantly clear that they are not just here to make the quarter-finals but to win it or at least announce their arrival on the big stage. They have some good backs and there is much to admire about their skills and the way they ruthlessly and efficiently carry out their game plan.
The off-beam seedings, the poor scheduling and treatment of the 'smaller' rugby countries and silly kerfuffles like the clashing jerseys business just go to show how much the IRB are out of touch. Yet their biggest challenge will remain long after this World Cup. The 'minnows' - Fiji, Tonga, Georgia and to a lesser extent Samoa (Argentina are not minnows, not any more) - need more time on the big stage.
But will they get it? Doubtful, very doubtful. In England, the RFU has agreed to hand over about $30 million to the Premiership clubs to compensate them for taking England players for international rugby.
Good, that's England sorted then. Now what about the Argentinians, Fijians, Tongans, Samoans, Georgians and others who play in Europe? Their national rugby bodies don't have $30 million.
So the IRB presides over a global environment where the 'old boys' are able to re-adjust their swelling bellies at rugby's top table. The countries that might grow rugby into a more global game, meanwhile, have to face up to a scenario where their players become better trained - but they do not have a big stage on which to perform; no freed players and no competitions to play in. The IRB need to fix this. Fast.
Which is why I say: C'monLos Pumas.
