Just home now from watching the game with French pals. They showed great respect in deafeat.
The Irish coach makes all the difference this time round.
Very happy with the teams performance. This game shows that in rugby possession is everything.

Well aside from England failing to get out of the pool stages, the RWC has been great so far.
Congratulations to Wales, Ireland and Scotland in reaching the QFs.

Fantastic games involving the so called 2nd tier nations such as Japan, Romania and Georgia etc.
Brilliant win last night by Ireland v France, total commitment and a goood game plan to starve the French of possession.
I tip the Aussie's to win against NZ in the final - they have quality all around the park.
Off to the QF of NZ v France at Cardiff next Saturday.

Team of the tournament so far in terms of beating our expectations has to be Japan?
The game at Kingsholm last night was really entertaining and the Cherry Blossoms play inspired rugby.
Bring on RWC 2019!
"I'm turning Japanese, I'm turning....."

Eek! Just seen the intro to the coverage (the one with the song). I did a bit of sick in my mouth.

Did everyone stop watching this when England predictably fell over? The All Blacks last night, against an admittedly underwhelming French side were quite simply awesome. If that is what modern rugby looks like, I might start watching again. If they perform like that from now on, the World Cup is surely theirs. If not, I definitely want to watch them lose to someone better.

Nope still watching. All blacks did what they do. The French weren't really in the game much. A disappointing performance from them.

Wales performed better than I was expecting but RSA were good enough whilst not being outstanding. They will need to find something more for the next game.

Argentina played very well. I though ireland might just pip them after they came back but Argentina managed to close the game out in style.

Scotland are doing better (at 60 mins in) than I expected

I think sturgeon would like another referendum in the morning

Well maybe not
Great effort though

Best showing of all the northern hemisphere teams; gutting for the Scots so late in the game.

I haven't seen any of today's games but I read the results.

I would absolutely love Argentina to get to the final and I think it's doable for them.

A great effort by Scotland but unfortunately not enough. Agreed they have looked the hungriest of all the european teams but somehow they seemed to lack something.

I think Argentina seem to be on a up swing and look dangerous. They look good but not sure they have enough to go all they way and win the final but on these last matches they look like they can beat Australia.

waking up to the other QF results. NZ put together a decent showing yesterday as playing France makes the whole of NZ nervous. I watch every game and other than a couple of knock on's that was pretty much as good as they get.

The four southern hemisphere teams play each other so often (rugby championship) that the AB's pretty much know what to expect now in styles at least. They have been running a bit hot n cold but should make the final

Pity about Scotland, that was close

A little confused here - does Argentina *have* a cricket team?

With the Wallabies now through to the semi-finals playing against Argentina and New Zealand V South Africa in the other, who will be playing in finals?

Hopefully, the Wallabies will have a "full" team available for the next game with all players available and over their injuries.

Form suggests an Aus v NZ final, but you never know...

Without trying to take too much away from Scotland, the scoreline flattered then.

Their three tries were gifted to them - a charge down, an interception and terrible defending at a ruck 5 metres out - and if Foley had his kicking boots on earlier in the Australia would have been out of sight.

That said, Australia are clearly prone to the odd error and Argentina's open running game is exciting and effective.

Indiscipline could cost them though.

Totally agree. Alot of ex scots players moaning about the ref which may have some merit BUT sidesteps the greater issue that they were in the game more because Australia allowed them to be through poor kicking and mistakes than anything else. Other than the gifts handed to them I didn't think Scotland really look like scoring. That said Scotland have come along way from the six nations were they failed at every turn - an impressive turn around for which they deserved a lot of credit for.

Disappointingly no euro team left but given current performances it I thinks is probably a fair reflection of which teams are on form. England did deserve to progress, Wales were somewhat crippled by injuries, Ireland were close but the loss of O'Connell hit them, France were typically French, and Italy just don't have the team to complete at the world cup level on a consistent basis.

I think the whole Craig Joubert fiasco is very unsavoury.

Yes, it appears as though he made the wrong call at the time. It happened very quickly and I don't think he should be criticised for making a decision and sticking to it. It's also not his fault that he's not allowed to use the TMO in that situation.

I didn't realise that he has run off the field at the final whistle without shaking hands with the players. That's not great form but I think the likes of Gavin Hastings and Matt Dawson calling him a coward and a disgrace on social media is far worse for the game.

I agree, Ali, he might not have handled it very well, but appearing to blame the entire weight of woes of Northern Hemisphere rugby on one guy for making a mistake and not shaking hands seems absurdly out of proportion.

Indeed. As was pointed out in Rugby tonight - he had one angle to view it from in realtime not multiple angles in slow motion. Also its ironic that people were calling for him to have been allowed to use the TMO when previously there has been criticism for using the TMO less.

I do think Wayne Barnes and Nigel Owens used the TMO much more effectively that other Refs by letting pay run on whilst the TMO checks something at their request.

If Joubert had stayed on the pitch this would probably have been less of an issue but it makes him look like he made an error.

I don't think the IRB should have made a public statement on this issue. They haven't before so why now?

As for Gavin Hastings et al. Ever committed a professional foul boys? Ever cost your team a game from a bad play poor call?

I was at the game - NZ where incredible.
It goes without saying I think they are easy favourites to pick up the Webb Ellis trophy.
Still, I supported the underdog and purchased a French beret at a market stall in Cardiff. It annoyed my mate no end the number of people who kept saying "Bonjour Monsieur" throughout the night!

On reflection, not Gavin Hastings and Matt Dawson's finest hour.
The ref made a huge mistake - but surely we don't want the sport to turn into soccer?
Whoever loses in the last three games are sadly very likely to blame referring decisions.
That is all accept Argentina - they play to win, yet understand the code of the game.

A good result in the Argentina/Australia game

Now, just to beat our old rivals, New Zealand, to bring the Trophy to Australia.

Both teams generally play pretty open rugby, but being final who knows. I'm picking plenty of tries with two pretty sharp attacks

Go the AB's

Much as I was cheering for Los Pumas, Australia are the only team with a realistic chance of beating New Zealand.

Is this still going on? is there an end in sight?

Only one match left to be played.

Two to be played.Bronze final then the final.

D-day. My head says NZ, but my heart wants Australia to win.

If Australia can get their tactics right they can win this game. The only way I can see NZ being beaten is if they are denied quick ball at the breakdown. Australia have the two best players in the world at this in Hooper and Pocock, the other 13 players just need to have a near-perfect game too though.

My medals for adventure go to Japan and surprisingly Argentina whom I wouldn't have expected to play such non-stop rugby. Sadly their discipline often let them down.

I've managed to catch most games on the "player" and it's been a wonderful feast for the eyes, fast open games with very few scrums, expertly refereed on the whole with good coordination between pitch and TMOs.

Swansongs for some, appropriately appreciated by knowledgeable crowds, and sad exits for the injured. At this pace I feel it's hardly surprising there are casualties, all the more reason to have the strict safety guidelines observed with consistency throughout.

Locally most of the UK put up a reasonable show but have lessons to learn in abundance (or just sheer speed) from the Southern Hemisphere lot. And England.....well, a young team, but surely a risk too far to introduce the inexperienced Burgess. Didn't they learn from the Andy Farrell experiment?