England will lay a whole graveyard full of ghosts to rest when they win the World Cup on Saturday. The country that gave organised team sport to the world during the 19th century had precious little to show for it in the 20th. But they have come a long way from the days where they were a bunch of gifted amateurs.

In appalling conditions at Telstra Stadium that were the direct antithesis of Saturday’s first semifinal, England overcame a gallant French side 24-7 to reach the World Cup final for the first time since 1991. They will play Australia in the final, a repeat of 1991.

Let’s stop this nonsense about how Wales and Scotland gave Australia and England a fright and admit that the Rugby World Cup has reached its penultimate week without providing a single shock result. And what that means is that there won’t be a shock in the entire tournament: from here on in everybody can beat everybody else.

By the end of the 1980s it was clear there was a market for the Ryder Cup that could not be assuaged by a biennial meeting. There was no equivalent of Sir Samuel Ryder around to donate a trophy and name, so the wise men of the US PGA tour came up with the Presidents Cup.

While it has become something of a ritual for the festive season to coincide with Springbok coach culling season, there is good reason to believe that despite all evidence to the contrary Rudolf Straeuli will still be national coach when the new international season starts in June next year.

South Africa are through to the quarterfinals of the World Cup where they will play New Zealand in Melbourne. They won their final pool match 60-10 against Samoa at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. The Springboks were brilliant in the first half and dreadful in the third quarter.

Rudolf Straeuli’s time in charge of the Springboks has reached the sudden death stage. If rumours are to be believed (and since that’s about all that emanates from SA Rugby these days some credence should be given to them) Straeuli’s troubled reign will end if South Africa finish worse than third at Rugby World Cup 2003.

Is it really 13 years since Craig Jameson and Naas Botha marched their sides on to the field at Loftus for the defining Currie Cup final of the modern era? On Saturday the two sides will meet again in the Currie Cup final, having somehow managed to avoid each other in the showpiece event of South African rugby since 1990.

”I think you’ll be surprised by Samoa, said Nick Far-Jones at a Rugby World Cup press conference in 1991, and rarely have truer words been uttered. Four days into the tournament I was one of the lucky ones who watched Western Samoa (as they were then called) beat Wales 16-13. The point is that 12 years down the line it’s time we stopped being surprised by Samoa.