KEY POINTS:
LONDON - Sound and fury will abound in the World Cup group stages kicking off at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday (NZ time) with the opening clash between hosts France and Argentina.
But prior to the knockout stages in a month's time, only a handful
of matches will have any real significance and the majority of the 20 teams who assemble in France this week have no hope of reaching the final on October 21.
The statistics in five World Cups show rugby union's claims to be a truly global sport are flawed despite the growing number of countries playing the game.
At the initial World Cup in 1987 co-hosts New Zealand and Australia were joined by France and Wales in the semi-finals. The first three were there again in the final four at the last tournament in Australia, with eventual champions England taking the last place.
Only two other countries, 1995 champions South Africa and Scotland, have also reached the semis.
Saturday's contest is one of the few pool matches likely to have any bearing on the competition as a whole.
Combining consistency with the imagination and skills which make French rugby so exciting has been the thankless task of a succession of French coaches. The man in charge for the final time on home soil is Bernard Laporte, who will join President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet after the Cup as minister of youth and sport.
The demands of professional rugby have cleaned up the French game's notorious violence and the performances in warm-up games against England and Wales showed the European champions have quality in depth. Their unpredictability can even be a virtue with none of their opponents ever sure what will be in store on any given day.
Argentina, an increasingly impressive team with away victories against France and England, have been badly treated by the sport's administrators.
Despite repeated pleas, they have failed to win a place in either the Six or Tri-Nations competitions. They have also been placed in the toughest group, Pool D, which includes an Irish team who are potentially the best of the home nations.
If France continue to show the form of champions and win all their group games, the September 30 game between Ireland and Argentina will be the most significant of the pool stages.
On Friday week, England meet the powerful South African Springboks in a Pool A match which will decide the group winners. The group is the most physical at the tournament since it also includes the rugged Pacific Island sides Samoa and Tonga. The United States are the fifth team in the mix.
Pool B's key match features Wales on home ground against Australia at the Millennium Stadium on September 15 and the big game in Pool C will be Italy against Scotland on September 29 to decide second place behind Cup favourites New Zealand.
Neither Scotland or Italy have ever beaten the All Blacks whose game against debutants Portugal on September 15 is likely to be one of the biggest mismatches of all time.
The quarter-finals are scheduled for October 7 and 8 and the semi-finals on October 14 and 15.
- REUTERS