Will French flair prevail once more?

After months of preparation we are now down to the final four teams in the RWC 2011. Those that have made it thus far have done so in varying styles and it is anybody’s guess as to who will proceed further.

The first of the semi-finals will see Wales line up against giant killers France. Wales have made just one change to their squad for this game with James Hook set to move into the fly-half role for the injured Rhys Priestland. Hook will move into the starting # 10 spot after Priestland suffered a shoulder injury during Wales’ triumph over Ireland.

However, the 24-year-old will be in contention for the final should Wales overcome France this week. Interestingly Stephen Jones, a # 10 himself comes in for the promoted Hook, and will now slot in as Full back. Obviously Gatland has a trick or two up his sleeve.

The Welsh pack is one of the heaviest on display and very mobile as well. They have managed their workload well and look poised to make it to the Finals. However they have a hurdle in overcoming a rather unpredictable and fired up French side, which knows no fear.

French coach Marc Lievremont has opted for Morgan Parra in the half-back role alongside Dimitri Yachvili, despite his lack of real match practice in the fly half position. Marc is in fact no stranger in making controversial selection decisions, and will not worry too much of the media reports as his relationship with them is anyway on the rocks.

There is also a question mark on the fitness of Dimitri and if he is ruled out of the game, they will lose the services of their reliable kicker who has a success rate of 71% in the lead up to the semi finals.

The second semis-finals will see arch rivals the All Blacks take on the Wallabies on home turf. The All Blacks’ squad has been bolstered with the addition of fly-half Stephen Donald and winger Hosea Gear this week with playmaker Aaron Cruden also in the mix.

Meanwhile there is speculation on the availability of McCaw who has been ‘managing’ a foot injury throughout the year. McCaw’s Crusaders team-mate and specialist open side flanker Matt Todd took part in the All Blacks training session on Wednesday which added further ‘masala’ into the pot.

The Wallabies will have to make do with a reshuffled starting line up with injuries to key players. Their bench strength is not flattering and thus if they continue in the same vein as done against the Boks, the game will be sealed by the All Blacks pretty quickly. So far Quade Cooper has had a rather indifferent tournament and his performance against the Boks was a shocker.

He has been declared as public enemy # 1 for his run in with the All Blacks skipper. The jeers that he received in the last game bears testimony to this and I am sure that it did effect his game although it was denied by him. His only consolation is that Dan Carter is on the injured list, but replacement Aaron Cruden had a good game last week.  This game will also see two of the best open side flankers in the modern game come head to head.  The Wallabies have struggled when Pocock has not been available and I must say that their lacklustre win last week against the Boks was to a large extent due to the scavenging work done by him. There has always been a school of thought that McCaw is guilty of cheating specially at the breakdowns. Ask any third rower and he will say that they would normally manage the referee. The game has changed so much that nowadays the players themselves are keen students of the strengths and weaknesses of the referee ably supported by their coaching staff. As much as players watch the videos of other teams there is a keen analysis of the various styles of refereeing. All in all it is bound to be a bruising battle and the side that can hold its nerve at crucial points in the game should emerge victorious. Monday’s boardroom chatter will dwell on the post mortem of both games.