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Why oh why oh why do they always manage to pull it out of the bag?  Wasps do it again.

In the last 5 meetings (over the last 3 years) we’ve only beaten South Africa once. It was at Twickenham and it was only just (by 2 points, 23-21). Our total points difference is 116 against in those 5 matches.

We started the tournament 279-1 outsiders. We’re still 3-1 against as compared to the Springboks 2-1 on. But:

We’ve got Johnny

Well well.  Let’s hope England do as well, eh?

Is John Terry a robot? It appears that his skin is malfunctioning.

What a day.  I can’t say much, being one of the many people who consigned Northern Hemisphere rugby to certain failure this World Cup.  But oh my God, I’ve never been happier to be so so wrong.  France beat the All Blacks and England beat Australia in two thrilling matches.  Suddenly the World Cup has come alive.

The final really didn’t let us down.  To the wire, between two old rivals (and two nations who really can change the shape of international cricket too).

Some say that Twenty20 is a flash in the pan, not real cricket.  Others say that it is the future of the game.  I, for one, have enjoyed the tournament way beyond my expectations.  I am a 5 day cricket lover above all other forms of the sport, but after the dreary fiasco of the World Cup this ICC World Twenty20 has been a real shot in the arm.

Friends who have repeatedly told me that cricket is boring have watched matches without my encouragement.  Friends who are cricket fans who were bored by the world cup have talked incessantly about the performance of teams they previously could not have cared about.

It has been an eye opener.  And it made my experiences of One Day Internationals over the last few years seem rather dull in comparison.  Fifty over cricket has a problem.

Simply put, between overs 20 and 40, with the fifth bowler at one end and the slow guy at the other the match is dead.  We go to the bar, we converse, we wait for the tempo to pick up again.  As Lawrence Booth says, unless teams start thinking that 180 off 20 should equate to 350 off 50 the fifty over game is in trouble.  And if Twenty20 is to replace it, I’m not sure I’m that worried.

Just please please please don’t bugger up 5 day cricket along the way.

A sporting competition ended up with the right result, it would be the word Twenty20 final being India Pakistan.  Here’s hoping it lives up to the billing.

So. England get humiliated by the South Africans 36-0 and a reasonable amount of blame is placed at the door of ex-League superstar, Andy Farrell. The question is asked (yet again) can players change code and continue their careers at the same level?

At the same time, rather overshadowed by the farce of the World Cup, the Guinness Premiership kicked off this weekend, and another code switcher made rather a different debut. Start, as they say, as you mean to go on.

(I’m glad my South African colleague doesn’t care so much for sport. Any other South African I’ve met would be making my life hell all week after both the rugby and the cricket)

They may be the pariahs of world cricket, but apparently they can still play.  It’s hard not to laugh…  No…  Let me correct myself.  It’s hard to try not to laugh…

It was obvious that we had no chance of defending our title, but today’s news pretty much puts the icing on the cake.

Given our appalling showing I had pinned my hopes on the French and the Irish as the two Northern hemisphere teams with some chance, but… Even that seems painfully distant now. Australia v New Zealand in the final, with New Zealand to win. But then we knew that months ago, didn’t we?

Two world cups this year in my two favourite sports… Somehow I should be more excited.