KEY POINTS:
South Africa looked ominously good to me against England.
Some of you will recall I predicted they were the team most likely to be in the final against the All Blacks, and I definitely haven't changed my mind.
You can talk about England's deficiencies - and there were
plenty - but the plain fact was the Boks played well. I thought they made a statement in the same way as the All Blacks did against Italy.
The most ominous thing is, they did this without Schalk Burger who is so important for them. His replacement, Wikus van Heerden, is a good player too but Burger is so crucial at the breakdown and turnovers.
The other dimension is that Jean de Villiers has gone home injured and Francois Steyn came into second five-eighths, which worked surprisingly well.
I had doubts about Butch James at first five-eighths but Steyn offers an optional kicking game outside James and that worked well. He's also dangerous with the ball in hand and with those big dropkicks.
So even the things supposed to weaken them made them stronger.
The other thing that makes the Boks ominous is that they have gone about their business quietly.
They have grown depth quietly. They have improved their running and passing game quietly - it wasn't so long ago we were saying they didn't have the skills but they look to have them now - and coach Jake White has spelled and rotated his players pretty quietly. There's been no overt fuss.
That lineout is also ominous. They completely outshone England who, if nothing else, are a big side well-drilled in the tight phases.
Elsewhere, England had few options other than Jason Robinson so they kicked. They had to keep the ball in - but, it seemed, at every opportunity they kicked it out and Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield were waiting.
Juan Smith and Danie Roussouw are also good jumpers so that lineout is a huge obstacle for any opposition.
They put the English under pressure as soon as the game started - and I think the English were shell-shocked and stayed that way.
England are also in danger of losing to Samoa next Sunday.
All we have heard up here was the crunch game on September 14. It's what England supposedly set themselves for.
I didn't think they would do so badly. I had a bet with [former Boks skipper] Francois Pienaar - he backed South Africa to win by 18 points or more. On the flip side, I had a bet with another mate who said England would get within 10 points.
I fancied winning on both counts - but never foresaw a 36-0 result.
To have come second quite so poorly will be a big hurdle for England.
They'll have to refocus somehow and Samoa will give it a real go. They'll be backing themselves to beat England.
