Shaken and stirred

WHERE DO YOU even start? Within a period of eight hours on Saturday, the rugby world was turned on its head. The Six Nations championship, written off as a second tier competition only a week ago, has now produced two semi-finalists, who, against all the odds, have sunk the best the southern hemisphere has to offer.

There was also a sense of history last night in Paris when Argentina delivered on their early tournament promise to reach the World Cup semi-final for the first time.

In a game that lacked the pace and intensity of the other three quarter-finals, the Pumas diced with death. Clearly the physical and emotional demands of the last four weeks had taken their toll, and they never reached the dizzy heights achieved against France and Ireland.