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This one we are bringing you in collaboration with the Rugby United Podcast. 

It would be difficult to just pick a single team as there were some mammoth performances, but this would have been our team of the quarter-finals: 

1. Steven Kitshoff – in combination with Frans Malherbe they were able to dominate against a very strong French scrum. Steven also picked up a couple of meters on the run and was solid in defense and in rucks.
   
2. Peato Mauvaku – one of the most dynamic hookers I have seen in recent years. Accurate at lineouts and he runs like a center. He scored a brilliant try for France.
   
3. Frans Malherbe – the rock on which South Africa’s scrums are built. It is difficult to find a better tight head globally and he showed over the weekend that this is where his prowess starts and then he combined it with a high work rate in rucks and tackles.
   
4. Eben Etzebeth – he is probably the top lock in the world at the moment and put in another immense performance for South Africa. He was a great ball carrier and put in massive hits throughout the game.
   
5. Tadhg Beirne – one of the many great performers in a losing cause for Ireland, worked tirelessly on the less spectacular but badly needed parts of the game. He performed well at lineout time but put in the tireless tackles around rucks and probably was at the top of the list of all the number of rucks he attended.
   
6. Ben Earl – was one of the standout players for England. He played his heart out and had a massive impact with the ball in hand. There was no contest he shied away from and was a constant pest at the rucks, helping to disrupt Fiji’s momentum.
   
7. Marcos Kremer – he brought brutality to all collisions and made it extremely difficult for the Welsh team to get any momentum in the game. He carried strongly and put in a number of positive tackles.
   
8. Ardie Savea – put in an absolute classic performance. His passion drove a lot of the results for his team and he outshone the rest of the forward pack with his work rate with and without the ball.
   
9. Antoine Dupont – coming back from a fracture and playing your heart out for your country like that has to be commended. There wasn’t a minute where he didn’t give his all to try and help France win. His box kicks and passing were precise and he helped to give his team the best possible chance of a win.
   
10. Richie Mo’unga – one commentator said that he has always been amazing for the Crusaders but has never put in a game-changing performance for the All Blacks. In this game, he DEFINITELY put in that performance. Solid on the kicking tee, creative in putting away players outside him, and crafting the line break that was the difference between the two teams.
    
11. Cheslin Kolbe – it would not be possible to ask more of a winger. He defended valiantly, had a number of telling runs, and scored an epic try. His charge down of the Ramos conversion was however a testament to his willingness to never give up.
    
12. Garry Ringrose – was able to outshine his spectacular center partner Bundee Aki in this game. He barely put a foot wrong and helped to give shape to a number of ferocious Irish attacks. He defended bravely and organized the Irish backline very well throughout the game.
    
13. Jesse Kriel – gave absolutely everything! It was probably his best performance in a Springbok jersey to date. He tackled, ran with the ball, and put through the kick for Kolbe which resulted in his try. You could just look at the photos of his face after the game to see what effort he put in.
    
14. Will Jordan – there are few finishers in the world more lethal than Will Jordan and he just showed it once again when it counted. If you see him outside you, just get the ball to him. He will do the rest.
    
15. Marcus Smith – another display that is best explained when looking at his various blood-soaked and battered images throughout the game. Despite being dominated in a number of contact situations by the mammoth Fijians, he never backed down. There were some good flashes of brilliance on attack but that display of dedication to defend the line for his team gives him the nod.
    

There are a number of other players who had massive games and should also be mentioned. They include Bundee Aki, Sam Cane, Alex Mitchell, Franco Mostert, Levani Botia, Johnny Sexton, and Tyrell Lomax.

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This past weekend’s quarter-final matches were some of the most intense games I have seen in years! There were unexpected results, joy, and heartbreak all around. 

It was the end of an era for a number of legends of the game most notably Johnny Sexton (Ireland) and Dan Biggar (Wales). The victories were hard-fought and set up two incredible semi-finals.

Wales vs. Argentina – if I were a betting man, I would immediately have gone for Wales, but there were a couple of things that clearly went wrong in this game and I feel Wales didn’t do themselves any favors in their team selections. 

When Dan Biggar and Liam Williams are in good nick, they are both game-changers for Wales. They were, quite clearly not playing at their best and not yet back to full fitness, despite their valiant efforts. One could see that they weren’t able to play at the required level. 

The first half contained a lot of chaos with a constantly changing momentum. Argentina grew in strength and confidence as the game wore on and when their own legend, Augustine Creevy, stepped onto the field, things finally just went one way. 

Ireland vs. New Zealand – the game was an amazing game of test match rugby. The Irish team displayed their technical and well-disciplined brilliance. New Zealand displayed their match-breaking prowess. For the vast majority of the game, there was absolutely nothing in it. 

The only difference for me was the one moment where Ireland’s defense left a gap and Mo’unga split them open and put Will Jordan up for his try. 

It showed just how little New Zealand needs to pull off a match-winning play. 

The Irish team deserved to be in a semi-final at least and to have equaled the 18-match winning streak. Sadly, the cruelness of the draw left them with yet another quarter-final exit.

England vs. Fiji – I do have a lot of criticism for some of the things that England did during the game that I feel wasn’t done in the spirit of the game and I stand by that. 

That being said, they faced an absolute onslaught from Fiji and they found a way not only to weather the storm but put the needed points on the board to get them through to a semi-final. 

Fiji played brilliantly at times but when it mattered they lost their structure. Had they been able to stick with it the outcome might have been different. It was clear that this way of playing is still not ingrained in them and a clear indication of the lack of high-level test matches for this team. I hope this changes in years to come. 

England were able to pull off the win and made the right decisions at the right time. The Farrell drop goal to make it 27-24 was a pivotal moment and put the scoreboard pressure on the Fijians. 

You only needed to look at Marcus Smith’s face during and after the game to clearly see how much this English team wanted it

France vs South Africa – If ever there was a game of inches, this was it. 

The South African team played a hard-hitting game with moments of finesse weaved in between. This variation was a bit surprising to see as was the 5/3 split on the bench.

The French matched the South African team and clearly outplayed them with some of their deft touches. 

The French carried the weight of a nation on their shoulders and I think Dupont unfairly carried most of that. Although he was on the field, he wasn’t his usual confident and game-dominating self. 

In retrospect, the difference was a charge-down conversion attempt by Cheslin Kolbe, which set up a juice semi-final encounter between the 2019 finalists. 

Losers of the Weekend

Inconsistent officiating. 

Officiating in test matches has to be extremely hard because you know you will get heat from somewhere. Doing so at a World Cup during quarter-final matches, especially ones as close as we saw, even more so. 

Not passing judgment on any of these calls but definitely something that needs to be looked at moving forward.

Aaron Smith got a yellow card for his deliberate knockdown, while Farrell didn’t.

In the Wales vs Argentina game there were two head contact incidents that were sensibly not turned into yellow cards for Habosi and Etzebeth where it could have been adjudigated differently. 

Yet, no sanction for Tom Curry for his no-arms chop tackle, which could have been a career-ender for Tuisova. Tuisova also landed on his head and neck. 

That left there. We need consistency!

The second loser of the week is the pool draws. The draw was done in 2020 already resulting in the top 5 teams located in 2 Pools. 

Based on recent form, Scotland should have been in a quarterfinal and the semis should have been contested between New Zealand, France, Ireland, and South Africa. 

This needs to be relooked. 

Winners of the weekend

In terms of winners, I am not going to highlight teams as every team gave their all. I am going to mention 3 players that I feel were exceptional. 

In third place, I have to mention Cheslin Kolbe. He put in everything into every play where he could possibly be involved in. He made his tackles and made some telling runs to go over 120 running meters for the game. His try was a beautiful one but he showed a hunger for absolutely every opportunity to influence the game. 

With Pollard’s kick to make it 29-25 from halfway, He chased down the kick all the way until it landed just in case. The charge down of Ramos’ conversion attempt was the 1-point difference the Springboks needed. 

In second place, have to mention Ardie Savea. He was an absolute behemoth for the All Blacks. The whole team was impressive but no one came close to him. 

He put in the tackles, made his bullocking piercing runs, and scored spectacularly. He also competed fiercely and accurately at a number of rucks to force the turnovers. In many respects, his performance drove the New Zealand team to victory.

In the first place, I have to put Ben Earl. In England’s first game of the World Cup against Argentina, he was immense. I was shocked to hear that he wasn’t going to make it into the squad originally! 

When you look at how he played that game and how he performed against Fiji, you have to wonder why. 

He was an absolute rockstar loose forward on Saturday. 

England was taking a physical beating at ruck time from Fiji but he stood strong turning the ball over a couple of times and securing it for his team at other times. 

He was a ball of energy on attack and defense with repeated tackles and impressive carries. 

Overall, just an amazing weekend of rugby, and I for one salute all the teams.

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What better way to end the weekend with the hosts facing the reigning World Cup Champions! 

Every quarter-final match offers its own unique exciting match but this one is going to be the most brutal of the lot. 

South Africa came into the game not firing on all cylinders. At times they have shown that they can bully around the opposition but were far from flawless in their execution. 

When you get to the knockout rounds you can’t be anything less than at your absolute best. 

The Springbok team will need to go into this game with unwavering self-belief and focus after putting in a lot of effort during the week to execute at a high level for 80 minutes. 

Random moments of great rugby mixed in with random moments of lower-quality rugby just won’t do.

 

The French have a lot going in their favor. They have the homefield advantage and it has been clear to see the passion and support of their home fans and how it has fueled them.

They have also not had any real missteps during the pool rounds. They played a physical game when needed and played with their signature flair when needed. 

They have however been most effective in creating scoring opportunities from unstructured play. Adding some magic into a counterattack or a turnover takes a massive amount of skill and chemistry between players. 

This is not something that France lacks. 

They also have their talismanic captain, Dupont, returning after suffering a facial fracture against Namibia. A true Phoenix moment right there. 

This one is going to be very tough to call. France has everything going for them but the weight of the occasion might get to them. South Africa will be out to prove why they deserve to be the World Cup champions. 

My brain says France, while my heart says South Africa. 

I am going with my heart on this one.

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The England vs Fiji game promises to be a very interesting game for a number of reasons. 

The first one is that it might be considered a revenge match for England after their historic loss to Fiji in the warm-up games.

The second is that it feels like a changing of the guard. Out with the old and in with the new.

The third one is that both of these teams have been erratic in their lead-up to the World Cup and during the Pool games. 

Let’s start with England;

They started out brightly with their win against Argentina and one can hardly be blamed for thinking “England was back!” even if just for a while. They were better than they had been for some time but not great. 

They have improved steadily as the tournament wore on and there were some standout performances from a number of their players. It looked like they were getting better as a team with every game and up until the Samoa game you had to think “Here we go again…”

Then Samoa humbled them in a big way and a lot of the momentum built up and the structure that had started to get back into the England side started falling apart under the pressure. They came away with the narrow win but it could have easily gone the other way. 

Fiji on the other hand were spectacular in their games against Wales and Australia putting them in a prime position to get to the quarter-finals. They won over a lot of rugby fans with the way they played and their clear love and passion for the game. 

From there it looked like they were just hoping to coast the rest of the way a bit. 

Georgia pushed them really hard all the way for a hard-fought victory that could have ended in Fiji losing that game at the death. They were lucky to come away with the win on the day! 

They weren’t that lucky the 2nd time around. A hard-fought historic victory went Portugal’s way in the last round of the Pool games. 

Fiji did however let their whole squad get in game time for these last two games, which was probably wise but it might have hurt them a little on the mental side of things. 

I do however feel that this loss would fuel the Fijian side going into their quarter-final match with England. 

Fiji has their best chance ever to reach an historic semi-final for the first time, while England are fighting to get back to their best. 

Overall I do however feel that Fiji will take this one. It will be a brutal clash and there will be a lot of physicality between these two teams. It isn’t likely going to be pretty but it is going to be a massive match to watch.

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Ireland vs New Zealand… what a mouthwatering clash! 

It feels like this is a real watershed moment, almost like the proverbial passing of the baton. 

If Ireland wins this game, they would equal the record-setting 18-game winning streak held by New Zealand and England and go past the 17-game winning streak that was South Africa’s best. 

Let’s start with the All Blacks for this one. 

Someone commented that we aren’t seeing the All Blacks in this World Cup but just New Zealand, and to some extent that has been true. 

The All Blacks are real-life rugby legends and one the most successful top-level teams in any sport in the world. Unfortunately, this mythical group of superheroes has not yet pitched up at full strength during this World Cup. 

France beat them in spectacular fashion in the opener just a few weekends after the Springboks also demolished them. 

Since then the All Blacks have steadily improved and have put up some vintage displays of attacking rugby. They have played a number of combinations as their tried and tested combinations have not been at their best in recent weeks. 

They were definitely impressive on attack… and that is the problem. They were only impressive on the attack. When their defense was really tested by France, they faltered. 

Ireland on the other hand has shown that they can perform both on attack and defense. The physical nature of the game against South Africa and then again Scotland this last weekend was a testament to how good this team really is. 

The South Africans were very physical both on attack and defense but Ireland kept their calm and got over the line to keep their unbeaten record intact. Scotland absolutely dominated in terms of the running meters, territory, and possession but Ireland still beat them by 22 points. 

Ireland stays calm under pressure, absorbs the continued attacks of opposing teams, and then creates success from their chances. They don’t need many chances to pull off a win and are extremely effective in converting chances into points. 

The All Blacks will not come into this game with anything less than their best and their undeniable World Cup pedigree. But they will be up against the most technically proficient team in world rugby at the moment. 

I will be shocked if this one doesn’t go Ireland’s way.

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The Wales vs Argentina game is going to be a dogfight. 

Out of the 4 quarter-finals, this one is likely going to be the biggest scrap. If at times the rugby is chaotic and unpredictable it is exactly what you should expect from this game. 

Wales have had a good couple of group games and only looked vulnerable against Fiji. The display they put up against Fiji to come away with the win was really a showcase of resilience and a good old never-say-die attitude. 

The Welsh players were literally bloodied and bruised but at the end of the game, the scoreboard was in their favor. 

They moved past the other 3 times with a lot more comfort. The win against the Wallabies looked like a simple formality and despite some early resistance earlier on in the game, there wasn’t any real resistance. 

The biggest worry for Wales in this game is injury-related. They have a couple of players who are not match-fit at the moment, including Dan Bigger who suffered a pectoral injury. If they don’t pitch up with a full-strength side, then Argentina might take this one. 

Argentina has been blowing hot and cold in this World Cup so far. I fully expected that they would beat England in that first game but they were absolutely demolished by the English side.

Since then they have slowly improved and ended strongly against Japan to secure their quarter-final spot. 

But there does seem to be something missing from this Argentina side at the moment and it is difficult to put my finger on it. 

I don’t believe it is a lack of personnel. They have some world-class players on the team and they are a fiercely passionate group of players. 

But it does seem like something is missing in terms of their mentality and self-belief. 

My prediction for this one is that it is going to be a win for the Welsh. They have been warriors and have gotten the job done and this is just such a situation again. Despite injuries, they have shown that they will pitch up in a big way. Results from the 6 Nations are a distant memory…

Argentina are just a little off the pace at present and if they manage to conjure up something out of nothing and come away with the win, it would be very special indeed. 

It is the World Cup though and from here on in, it doesn’t matter how that win comes, as long as it comes!