Rugby World Cup: Northern Hemisphere Woes

So the opening weekend of rugger has been played in the world's best tournament and with it, a few surprises along the way.  The French dropped the ball against a fired up Argentina.  Namibia took it to Ireland and gave everyone in the Emerald Isles a reason to chew their nails to the quick.  Wales got caught out by the Canucks before coming back in the second half to take control of the match and the Italians were trounced by the All Blacks.  It seems that of the Big Six of the north, only Scotland (downing Portugal) and England (a bit dismal) were the two teams that lived up to any pre-match hype.

This shouldn't take away from the passion of the minnows that have come to the World Cup and played blinders.  The Namibians especially have really lifted the tournament's glut of predictability and it will be great to see how they approach the French and Los Pumas in their remaining pool matches.  But the million dollar question remains: of the Six Nations teams, who will make it to the semis?  Was it just a bad day at the office or are there further problems on the rocky road to rugby immortality.