Looking forward to next week-end and the Semis.

My personal prediction is that NZ will beat Australia and that England will beat France.

To date in this competition France have not been up against any rated opposition and some of those they did come up against held them for the first half. They will have to play against a team that will not fold in the second half. England's biggest problem will be overcoming their tendency to "choke" when faced with the prospect of winning (example: Their lost "Grand Slam" titles over the past few years against sides that they should have completely steam-rollered).

People shouldn't be too hard on England or Johnny Wilkinson - the French have won a few of their games courtesy of their kicker puting them in an unassailable position before the tries came. England and France past records tend to favour an England win, as does the tally of penalties conceeded by each team in this competition.

Biggest drawback if the above prediction is true and they then go on to win the final - we will all have to sit round and listen to it being endlessly referred to for the next forty-odd years.