All right so we've got the tedious part of the tournament over and get into the good stuff. We had a few upsets during the course of the last thee weeks; Tonga beating Samoa, Fiji beating Wales, and, though it wasn't really a huge upset, Argentina beating France in the very first game.

We also had some great performances from the 'minnows'; the USA, Canada, Japan and Georgia can all hold their heads up really high after showing some promise in their games.

But we also had some absolute shockers; England getting whipped by South Africa, Australia leading Canada by just 3 points to nil after around 25 minutes are the ones that immediately spring to mind...though the form of the Northern Hemisphere powerhouses have not been as flash as many people thought, me included, whch has been quite surprising.

However, that is all behind us and we move into the sudden death part of the competition. The matchups will see Argentina against Scotland, Australia up against England in a rematch of the 2003 final, New Zealand playing France (in Cardiff...strange I know but that's what it says) and South Africa play Fiji.

On paper, the best matches appears to be Australia v England and New Zealand v France...but as I said, the NH teams haven't been playing that great so you'd expect both the Aussies and Kiwis to go through.

But things aren't as easy as that. Australia have lost their flyhalf, Stephen Larkham, to yet another injury and will be relying on a rookie, Berrick Barnes, to steer them around. As good as Barnes may one day be, up against Johnny Wilkinson, he's not in the same class. I expect Australia to win, but it will be a lot tougher than some reckon.

Same with NZ and France. France were in the 'group of death' (with Ireland and Argentina) so they've had tough matches under their belt going into this...something New Zealand have not. The Kiwis have stuck with their rotation policy which leaves me asking if their 'first 15' combinations will be up to scratch. Certainly they have the better lineup, but there's a few players under scrutiny (including Dan Carter who didn't play their final match against Romania due to a calf injury) and others that don't have much game time in them this year. France are unpredictable at the best of times and one must wonder if playing away from home will be an advantage for them as the last few times they've played NZ in France they've been thumped. Still, NZ should win this...might be scary for a while though.

Argentina verses Scotland...not really expected to be a contest and Argentina should easily go through to the semis. Scotland played well to beat Italy, but that was their final, as against the Pumas, they'll get knocked out.

South Africa and Fiji...not who we were expecting to have playing. Well, SA were expected, but not Fiji. However, they've played might well to get here but I can't see them troubling the Springboks next weekend.

Ok, so if my predictions are right, we'll be having all Southern hemisphere semi-finals as South Africa face off against Argentina while we'll be treated to a final Bledisloe Cup match between Australia and New Zealand...and I reckon both those games can go either way.

I'll post again next week once the final four teams have been decided.