RWC 2007 Quarterfinals: A big surprise and a huge upset

England have done it again. They beat Australia. Though this it wasn't the final and they weren't going to extra time. Still it needed all Johnny Wilkinson had to offer as he booted all 12 of England's points. Australia never looked like they were going anywhere with their defense. They had a little glimpse of hope shortly before the interval when Tuqiri scored his try (6:10), but after the change it was all England. "Swing low, sweet chariot" was thundering through the Stade Velodrome in Marseille and the English lines were never ever looking like they were crumbling. Wilkinson put England back on top and from there on the game was done. Mortlock missed a crucial kick shortly before the final whistle and that was it. The Wallabies will now look for fresh faces with players like Mortlock, Gregan or Larkham surely thinking of retiring.

But that was absolutely nothing compared to what happened in Cardiff this evening. France completely upset the All Blacks beating them 20:18. A thrilling match between two teams who really met on level grounds. Although this didn't look like it at the end of the first half. New Zealand were storming through the French lines and were quickly up 10:0 with France struggling to organize their offense. The result at halftime was 13:3 and Les Bleues were lucky to not having to concede more points. It all changed after the interval. They had a penalty and slowly crept into All Blacks territory. A really stupid yellow card to McAllister then gave them the chance to equalize with a try by Dusautoir (13:13). There was a quick response by New Zealand (Try: So'oialo), but McAllister missed the kick. Maybe that was the key to the All Black's loss. They had to replace Carter in the 2nd half and Kelleher also had to come off the pitch. To replace your fly half and your scrum half must hurt any team. With Michalak on the field things turned around pretty quickly. Jauzion drove forward, passed to Michalak who gained a lot of ground with his running effort, then back to Jauzion - try for France! With the conversion t was 20:18 and there were 10 minutes to go. Unfortunately even Les Bleues will admit that the pass from Jauzion to Michalak was a forward pass.
But that didn't stop the thriller in Cardiff. The All Blacks were rolling wave after wave on the French defensive lines and the lost the ball only inches away from the line a couple of times.
This is the 2nd time New Zealand lost to France in a World Cup knock out match and it's the worst campaign the All Blacks ever had in World Cup history. Still France really earned this victory and they have every right to be proud of what they achieved tonight. They will now face England, and, oh boy, after today I won't even try to guess what the outcome might be. I'm just looking forward to another day of great rugby!