Fiji v Wales was worth the price of the big screen TV for the Rugby World Cup even if nothing much else happens. And certainly not much was happening for the Wallabies over the weekend.

All the miserable game against Canada demonstrated was the extreme lack of depth in the Australian backs division. No wonder Knuckles Connolly is set to replace the injured No 8 David Lyons with a back – almost any back.

It’s our good fortune that (a) England looked worse as the rose petals struggled to beat a valiant Tongan side and (b) England is less likely to cause injuries when we play them in Saturday night’s Marseille quarter final.

Our first XV, even without Larkham, is good enough to defeat England and move to the long-promised showdown with NZ in the semi.

But that’s not to say this RWC has been predictable. Fiji’s great victory to move into the quarters, Tonga going close, Argentina topping its pool, Ireland’s collapse, even little Portugal’s brave performances, all have made the pools round of France 2007 the best yet.

And there’s plenty of interest to be had in what happens next. The headline act is NZ v France, just in case the French can do the very improbable, as they did in the 1999 RWC, and bundle the All Blacks out.

Australia v England deserves second billing while South Africa farewells Fiji and Argentina beats Scotland.

“Small country, limited resources, restrictive style, a pumped-up band of brothers – how that used to be true of Ireland. Pity they forgot to patent the template. Argentina have sneaked in and stolen the blueprint,” writes Mick Cleary in the Telegraph.

The quality of Argentina’s defence, the intelligence of its generals and that they’re playing in Saint-Denis all mean South Africa is no sure thing in their semi-final. And as for NZ v Australia… we’ll find out.

Meanwhile, the minnows – now including Wales and Ireland – depart. All but Ireland leave with a measure of glory and pride.

The thing some non-rugby folk apparently don’t get is that the RWC really is about competing as much as winning. It’s why there’s a suspicion that Kiwi attempt to reduce the pools to 16 from the present 20 for the next cup is about New Zealand’s lack of infrastructure, rather than any thought 20 is too many.