Spiro Zavos of the Sydney Morning Herald believes that, on the evidence of what he has seen so far in New Zealand, a side with an open and expansive style of rugby will win the World Cup.
"The England 67-Romania 3 match was the halfway mark of RWC 2011 - the 24th match of a 48-match tournament. So far, we have seen the Island teams playing northern hemisphere rugby - and some of the northern hemisphere teams playing southern hemisphere rugby.
"The French scored points from an unacceptable soccer-type dive (surely the judiciary should punish this type of gamesmanship?). And, most importantly, the scrum rather than the lineout has been the crucial set-piece contest.
After some close, dour matches, England displayed a wide game against Romania, scoring with 10 tries, including three each to wingers Mark Cueto and the belly-flop expert Chris Ashton. England playing rugby with width is a great thing for the competition and, I would argue, for England's chances of winning their second tournament. For it is clear from the play of South Africa and New Zealand, the other standout teams (with Ireland), that this contest should be won, unlike the one in 2007, by a team that scores tries."
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