On Rugby:The IRB and their grandees are lucky boyos. Thanks to their behind-closed-doors political vote trading and profiteering, what should have been the tournament's biggest folly turned out to be the high point of an increasingly memorable French World Cup - in Cardiff.

There, in attendance, was the mass invasion of New Zealanders, a hastily arranged, reluctant French invasion, several thousand initially optimistic, subsequently deflated Irish fans, thousands of curious Welsh hosts in mourning along with a smattering of pessimistic Argentinian fans. Ironically, the Argentinians had lost out the most and looked the most bemused and glummest.

Ultimately, the rugby won out and the memory of another extraordinary France-All Blacks encounter will live longest in the memory. This was one of the great French triumphs that regularly decorate the World Cup, right up there with their even more unexpected 1999 semi-final mugging of the same, unfortunate All Blacks.

It may not have had the same high-scoring ebb and flow as '99, nor even the array of tries of that game nor the thrill-a-minute nine-try romp between Fiji and Wales, but for those that like their rugby full-on with a heavyweight, titanic cup-tie feel to it, this will take some beating.

Coupled with England's win over Australia, there's probably never been a day like it in World Cup history; certainly not one with two such turn-ups. The odds on an England-France double were just shy of 24 to 1.

And with one fell swoop and a couple of seismic two-point wins Northern Hemisphere rugby is superior to its southern equivalent? No. No less than when the opposite was being posited when the Big Three of New Zealand, Australia and South Africa were racking up the tries and the points in becoming the first three teams to qualify, and as pool winners, for the knock-out stages.

There's a tendency to jump too readily to all-enveloping conclusions on the basis of one or two results, all the more so in the context of a World Cup; for which we are all guilty in this game.

Saturday's quarter-finals didn't actually alter the notion that the skills of the Southern Hemisphere players are better. Even in defeat, the New Zealand and Australian back play remained more inventive and creative, as did much of their ball retention, offloading and support play. Super 14 rugby, being a child of television and without relegation and hence nothing like the same consequences for failure, does encourage more risk-taking.

Nonetheless, the Wallabies were to a large degree finally punished for their failure to develop scrummaging but rather seek to use every trick in the book to avoid it being one of the game's great areas of combat.

Little went right for the All Blacks on Saturday. After all, one of Lionel Beauxis' conversions went in off the posts. There was the missed forward pass by Damien Traille to Frederic Michalak, the binning of Luke McAlister and the 9-2 penalty count; yet after one drive of 25 phases Imanol Harinordoquy could be seen playing ruck ball with his hand before Yannick Jauzion went in off his feet.

But for Dan Carter's calf problems, off-colour display and early departure alone, the All Blacks may well have won. His absence was compounded by the non-selection of Doug Howlett and Aaron Mauger - you need that kind of experience for a game like this - and the withdrawal of Byron Kelleher and Jerry Collins.

But the All Blacks almost have too much historical baggage, and an intensifying desire to reach their holy grail. Look at some of their media prompting collective New Zealand depression, thereby wiping out the memory of four years' outstanding work by Graham Henry and their management. It has become all-consuming, and too heavy a burden when the going gets tough in a tight, knock-out game. The haunted, waning self-confidence of McAlister - the game's most potent runner in the first half-hour who hadn't the strategic preparation or self-belief to step into the pocket and assume the responsibility for a match-winning drop-goal attempt - could have been a barometer of their psyche.

Both on the pitch and off it, a degree of panic set in at the Millennium Stadium. Ironically, therefore, as they slowed down the tempo and continued with their close-in, multi-phase rumbles rather than trust their wider, high-tempo game, they morphed into something of a bad imitation of a Northern Hemisphere outfit in their all-grey strip.

France, having clipped their natural instincts in adhering to their game plan, ultimately had to rediscover their true rugby heritage. After all, the last four players involved in the first try by Thierry Dusautoir were all Toulousain, as of course were Frederic Michalak and Yannick Jauzion, creator-in-chief and finisher of the match-winning second try.

That said, England and France had the discipline to adhere to stricter game plans and to take their chances. Much like Argentina - a hybrid at this tournament, neither Northern nor Southern Hemisphere but if anything more French influenced than anyone else - they certainly appreciate the value of territory and three-pointers.

And who would have thought the garryowen would be so in vogue at this World Cup, or that Ireland would be one of the least effective teams employing it? Perhaps the day when the World Cup was turned upside down was in part down to the greater tradition of Cup rugby (and promotion/relegation) in Northern Hemisphere rugby, when perhaps also, the nature of Super 14 rugby became self-defeating.

Let's not forget the Heineken European Cup is almost the same format as the World Cup, four pools of five teams instead of four, albeit playing four games rather than six back-to-back, but nevertheless concluding with quarter-finals, semi-finals and a final.

Thus, if this World Cup shows anything, it is there remain significant differences in structure and style between the two hemispheres, and the global game is all the better for that. If everybody played the same it would be boring. Vive la différence.