Northern Hemisphere rules

The last four years have not been particularly kind to the English rugby fan, so to say that I wasn’t expecting much from the Rugby World Cup quarter final between England and Australia would be an understatement. In fact, I felt I was being rather optimistic in hoping that we’d give them some sort of game and not get slaughtered, like we were against South Africa a couple of weeks ago. But when it really mattered, the English team stood up to be counted, and then some.
It wasn’t pretty, but it was proof of that backs may look pretty when they’re running in the tries, but forwards win rugby games, because you can’t do anything if you don’t have the ball (of course, I was a forward myself, so I may be a little biased on that score). English play at the breakdown was the best I’ve seen for four depressing years. And now we get to gloat at the Aussies for another four years.
Then, just to make a good day better, the French beat the All Blacks. That’s a whole lot of lording it over the supposedly far superior Antipodeans to look forward to, and no doubt a large vat, nay a lake, of sour grapes to savour.