After four weeks and 44 games, the Rugby World Cup will be whittled down to four teams from its original 20 by the end of the weekend.
The big question is which teams were preparing for their final matches of the tournament:
PHOTO: AP
-- New Zealand, which plays South Africa in one quarterfinal at Melbourne on Saturday, and which looked so vulnerable at times in its uninspiring win over Wales last weekend? Or the Springboks, who lost to England in its second pool game, condemning them to the toughest possible quarterfinal against an All Blacks team they have lost to six times in a row?
-- Defending champion Australia, even less convincing in its one-point win over Ireland, and which could be accused of thinking their quarterfinal opponents Scotland at Brisbane might be easybeats because of their poor record in pool play? Or the Scots, which scored only half as many tries as it has in any other World Cup and had to fend off accusations that it left most of its fight on the training ground, unfortunately among teammates?
With Saturday out of the way and two teams gone, that will leave France's battle with Ireland at Melbourne and England's quarterfinal against Wales in Brisbane to send two more teams packing.
-- Will France, the class of the tournament so far, continue its unimpeded and worry-free run to the semifinals? Or will Ireland, which has won three of its last four matches against Les Bleus, come up big on the day?
-- And will England, anointed tournament co-favorite with the All Blacks and the No. 1-ranked team in the world, play better than it did against Samoa but not let complacency set in against a weaker Wales team? Or will Wales, confident after its performance against the All Blacks, rise to another level and prevent England yet again from claiming its first World Cup?
South Africa and Scotland answered a few questions When they named their quarterfinal teams yesterday, with Springboks coach Rudolph Straeuli opting for to have injured flanker Joe van Niekerk replaced by Danie Rossouw.
Van Niekerk damaged knee ligaments in South Africa's last match against Samoa and is out of the tournament. Experienced flyhalf Louis Koen remained on the bench for the third straight match, allowing 20-year-old Derick Hougaard to start.
"The selection is our strongest possible and is close to the teams we fielded against England and Samoa," said Straeuli.
Scotland backrower Jason White, meanwhile, regained his starting place in the only change to the Scotland XV for Saturday's quarterfinal against Australia.
Cameron Mather, flown in as replacement cover for injured openside flanker Andrew Mower, will start his third consecutive game for Scotland, while Chris Paterson was retained at flyhalf in the lineup announced Thursday by coach Ian McGeechan.
McGeechan said White would add a stronger dimension to Scotland's attack on the fringes of rucks and mauls.
"We want ball carriers. [White] played very well when he came on last week and we decided we wanted him back in there,'' he said. Ross Beattie was dropped from the 22-man squad to make room for White.
Goalkicker Paterson moved off the wing into the No. 10 jersey after Scotland's 51-9 loss to France on Oct. 25 and McGeechan said he showed enough positive signs in the 22-20 win over Fiji to warrant retaining at flyhalf.
While England coach Clive Woodward is adamant that the bigger the game and the more pressure, the better England plays, his Scottish counterpart believes anything is possible.
"Every team, except France, has had a fright on the preliminary rounds -- it's made it a more vibrant tournament," he said. "There's a lot to come from all the sides that are left."
The Australian Rugby Union has launched an investigation after its team for Saturday's World Cup quarterfinal against Scotland was leaked to a newspaper a day early.
National daily The Australian published the surprise decision to replace long-serving winger Joe Roff with rugby league convert Lote Tuqiri before Wednesday's team announcement.
Coach Eddie Jones said the leak was "unacceptable and we need to find out the person who's doing it."
"We're trying to find out as quickly as we can why it's happening, why it's happening with one newspaper," Jones said. "We've got a fair idea what the connection is and we're trying to source that out."
Jones said he believed he and the two other selectors, former Test representatives Brett Robinson and Roger Gould, were the only people who knew the full lineup before the day of official announcement.
Australia arrived in Brisbane on Thursday, two days ahead of the quarterfinal.
Jones on wales
While Sydney's Olympic Stadium rang with a chorus of Welsh singing Sunday as Wales almost pulled off the upset of the World Cup against the All Blacks, one man in the stands had mixed feelings.
Winger Mark Jones was rested ahead of the New Zealand match after playing an integral part of the Welsh team's previous three lineups.
"I'm not a very good watcher of rugby at the best of times, but I was fortunate enough to play in the first three games," Jones said.
"It will probably go down as one of Wales' best performances so far and it would have been nice to have been involved in that," he said. "But the coaching staff have made it quite clear that it's a squad of players that will hold us in good stead this tournament, so I think everyone involved in the squad of 30 could take something out of that last game."
Jones will be hoping for a recall to the Wales lineup on Friday when coach Steve Hansen names his team to take on England in Sunday's quarterfinal clash.
Worsley's arrogance
Joe Worsley had paid his penance for his unsporting gestures during the 111-13 win over Uruguay and deserved his place on the side of the scrum for the quarterfinal against Wales, says England coach Clive Woodward.
Worsley, yellow-carded for a high tackle, raised his hands and applauded fans sarcastically as he left the field -- while the Uruguayan player was still being treated.
Woodward was angry at the 28-year-old Worsley's actions, which followed accusations of arrogance by the world's top-ranked team.
Asked if he'd considered leaving Worsley out of the starting lineup as a punishment, Woodward said he'd never entertained the idea.
"Not at all. It's well documented I gave him both barrels," Woodward said. "He apologized publicly and he apologized to the team privately.
"He made an error, a bad error. But no more than that. There was no need for me to go further than what's been said already."
England was also fined for having an extra player on the field late in the previous win over Samoa and had a fitness trainer banned from the sideline for his part in that incident in the days leading up to the Uruguay match.
"A lot of things happened last week. I think we can draw a line under it," said Woodward. Besides, he added, Worsley "has learned a big lesson and I don't believe it will happen again."
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