A flutter on Wales might pay

On Sunday, the Boks, as Bob Skinstad will again profoundly observe, "have a game on their hands".

It was the former rugby rock star's favourite exclamation last Friday when they also had a game on their hands against Samoa, just as they had against Wales in the opener and even against Fiji and Namibia, who were both destroyed by the Boks.

We know what Bob means, but this week the Skinstad shibboleth will be more appropriate.

South Africa versus Australia so early in the play-offs might not have been what the Rugby World Cup organisers had in mind - eliminating, as it will, one of two potential finalists - but it does raise an appealing prospect: the chance of a brand new finalist.

How about a flutter on Wales getting to a World Cup final against one of the three southern-hemisphere superpowers? The odds might still be good.

Wales, often so unlucky in World Cups, look good value this time. Their nine-try, 66-0 romp against Fiji yesterday again emphasised a team of class. They emerged with honour from their only defeat - against the Boks.

South Africa and Wales not only survived this alleged "group of death", they might also have put the fear of it into their next opponents.

Ignore the Aussie bravado about knowing how to beat the Boks; the Wallabies will have butterflies on Sunday as they prepare to take on the world champions.

The Irish might also think they know how to beat the Welsh, with two of the quarterfinals shaping up as all-Six Nations; England take on France in the other.

Ireland have been as impressive as Wales at this World Cup and will hope to progress further than they have ever done at the tournament. In five of the six Rugby World Cups, Ireland have lost in the quarterfinals. In 2003 they did not even make it that far.

Wales's best World Cup was the first one, in 1987, when they lost in the semifinals to the All Blacks (eventual winners) and then beat the Wallabies in the third-place play-off - in Sydney nogal! That was when Wales had great backs like Ieuan Evans and Jonathan Davies and a forward called Dai Young, who, happily, is still alive, healthy and director of rugby at Wasps. Since then their best effort has been a quarterfinal defeat by Australia in 1999.

I take Wales to edge Ireland, especially now that Stephen Jones is fit again and offers a greater range of skills in the backline.

The other quarterfinal is too close to call. The Boks have only once lost a quarterfinal, in 2003 during the horror reign of "Staaldraad" Straeuli. Australia failed to survive the quarterfinals last time, slumping to a shock 12-10 defeat by England, who went on to lose to the Boks in the final.

An SA-Wales final would be a fitting replay of that gripping opener, but that's getting ahead of the game.