As the Rugby World Cup pool stage reached the halfway point this week, not one of the Six Nations countries could yet start planning for a quarterfinal. On the form of the opening two rounds, the semifinalists will all be from the southern hemisphere: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina.
England moved this week to repair the damage to their bid to host the 2007 World Cup after Australia revealed that they were in talks with England and South Africa to stage an annual Tri- series at Twickenham from 2004.