Upset Saturday

Well, not exactly like last week in college football. The sad looking England squad that had been ritually humiliated by the South Africans over the summer and then having the Springboks lay a 36-0 slapdown on them in the World Cup group stage. The same England that looked anemic against the pushover United States rugby team. That England beat Australia today 12-10. After defeating Australia in Australia to claim the World Cup in 20003 on the strength of 6 kicks by the legendary Johnny Wilkinson, England pulled off the stunner again on the leg of Johnny Wilkinson with the scarcely seen fly-half putting over four penalties to advance to the semi-final against the late match New Zealand vs France winner.

As it often happens, my favorite line came from the BBC correspondent on their live update.

78 mins: "Chorus after chorus of Swing Low rings out - mainly to stop everyone from vomiting with nerves."
BBC Sport's Tom Fordyce in Marseille

The Wallabies had struggled with their scrum for the past three years so it really is fitting that then scrum was what undone them against a ferocious England pack.

So next up, the All Blacks. Right? Not so fast. What? France 20-New Zealand 18

Taking advantage of their home field advantage, the French pulled off an upset against the overwhelming favorites. And once again, the All Blacks must go home to Hobbitland to think again having come up short in the World Cup despite being widely regarded the best team in the world.

In the other quarterfinal bracket, Scotland takes on Argentina in the late match Sunday with the winner likely to face South African who despite the lessons of today should almost certainly defeat Fiji. It would take a miracle for Scotland to make it to the finals, but the possibility of a match-up between either England or France would be fantastic. England would be a vicious backyard brawl and more than British rugby deserves, but you have to think Scotland favors another go at France given their recent run of luck against Les Bleus.