The real business of the Rugby World Cup is set to commence, to the joy of most rugby fans who, for all of the excitement that the likes of Japan and Georgia have provided, have been holding out for the knockout stages of this tournament.

New Zealand, Australia, Wales, France and Ireland have confirmed their places in the quarterfinals with Argentina close and South Africa and Scotland likely to join in. It is just the make-up of the quarterfinals that needs to be decided this weekend.

After watching the round robin games, I think the semifinals of this World Cup could be an all Rugby Championship affair - much to the dismay of the Northern Hemisphere - with the semifinals as follows:

New Zealand v South Africa and Australia v Argentina

Here are my reasons:

1. New Zealand: They are apparently holding back for the knockout stages and purposely making ridiculous plays to make it harder on themselves against rugged, but limited, opposition like Georgia and Namibia. Those are the words of Shag in paraphrase. Whatever the case, the All Blacks, the reigning world champions, will still be a force to face in the knockout stages and should improve from their stumbling performances so far. They will face France or Ireland but should beat either side - France are a bit limited and Ireland have the huge weight of history of having never beaten the All Blacks.

2. South Africa: Despite a huge setback against Japan, the Boks have bounced back pretty well. It's the young stars such as Handre Pollard, Lodewyk de Jager and Eben Etzebeth who are leading the way, along with JP Pietersen, who is experiencing an Indian summer on the try-scoring charts. The Boks will face Australia or Wales - Australia's form and Wales' injury woes may mean a bit of an anti-climax in favour of Australia at Twickenham this Saturday. The Boks have a very good record against Wales historically and could be too much for a Welsh side that has just made it out of the Pool of Death.

3. Australia: The new favourites of the World Cup after dismantling the host. The scrum, which has been the Wallabies' problem for so long, has been miraculously fixed overnight. The Wallabies, who have always had the backs to cause trouble and with front foot ball, will be difficult for any side to contain. They will fancy themselves against Scotland or Japan and probably Argentina, but history is against them - no side has won the Rugby Championship/Tri Nations and gone on to win the World Cup in the same season.

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4. Argentina: The loss to the All Blacks at Wembley has had quite an effect on Los Pumas, who have managed to get the support of Diego Maradona. Los Pumas have gone from strength to strength with their powerful scrum allowing for some exciting back play. They will back themselves against Ireland or France in the quarterfinals before taking the in-form Wallabies in the semifinal. A final place would be a shock against the in-form team of the tournament but Los Pumas have shown in recent times that they are more than worthy adversaries for the Wallabies and worthy of their spot amongst the Southern Hemisphere's elite.

Final: New Zealand v Argentina. Repeat of round robin games for the final have happened in the past, and I have a feeling we might have a repeat here.