Another All Black, No. 8 Sione Lauaki, came back into contention on Thursday after winning an appeal against a two-week suspension imposed for an alleged dangerous tackle on Romania wing Gabriel Brezoianu during the All Blacks' 85-8 victory in Toulouse. The appeal panel's decision means he's available for the remainder of the championship even though he was not named either in the starting lineup or reserves for the game against France.
While the winners of today's games in Marseille and Cardiff meet in one semi-final, the other is shaping up to be South Africa against Argentina.
The Springboks, who won the title in 1995 on home turf and are looking strong here, are expected to beat Fiji in Marseille tomorrow while Argentina, who have also won all four games so far, face a Scotland team they have beaten in their last five meetings.
"People think that we are already in the semi-finals and that the match against Scotland is just a formality, but that's not true," said Argentina fullback Ignacio Corleto. "They didn't play their best match against Italy, but they are growing."
Scotland captain Jason White is happy that most people don't expect his team to win.
"Historically we prefer to be the underdogs," said White, whose team edged Italy 18-16 to reach the knockout phase.
"If we can play to our potential we have a great chance of winning this game, and of doing something special. For me it is about producing a big performance when it matters and on Sunday it definitely matters," he said.
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