Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

While the preliminary games of the Rugby World Cup were about enjoying the occasion, and getting behind the minnows and underdogs – the real Rugby World Cup starts this weekend with the two quarterfinals apiece in Auckland and Wellington.

While the country dressed up and got behind the RWC heavyweights and minnows alike, the days of frivolity are over, with now just one mission of the ALL BLACKS TO WIN THE RUGBY WORLD CUP remaining.

The reality of the qualifying rounds was that there was only one upset that had an impact of the final composition of who plays who to decide the Rugby World Cup.

The Ireland victory over our friends from over the ditch changed the predicted makeup of post section play and turned the 2011 RWC into a Northern versus Southern Hemisphere battle for RWC superiority.

While some would say that Argentina upset Scotland, it was always going to be a tight battle to the line, and the Tonga surprise victory against France did little other than confirm the island nation a place in the 2015 RWC.

It could only happen in New Zealand where rugby is such a dominant religion that national attention has been fixated on one man's groin.

Can New Zealand win the RWC without Dan Carter – Yes They Can.

While there is no doubt that Carter is one of the best to ever wear the Number 10 black jersey, one of the great attributes of All Blacks teams over the years is the ability of individual players to step up when the pressure goes on.

While the mighty All Blacks should cruise past Argentina in the quarters, there biggest battle will come in their semi-final.

Old enemies Australia and Seth Efrica will have a colossal fight with the survivor getting the reward of again going head to head with the mighty All Blacks.

Sidline Sid has looked into the crystal ball and consulted the stars, and believes that whoever wins the vital New Zealand versus either the Wallabies or the Springboks semi-final will win the Rugby World Cup.

In a further show of the RWC flying below the radar in the Western Bay of Plenty, three teams of young South African players stopped off to play their Western Bay counterparts on the weekend.

The Navsfed junior rugby tour brought three teams to play Western Bay age group selections.

The depth of rugby talent in the Western Bay is shown by the composition of the Western Bay sides. With the Bay of Plenty Under-18 and 16 sides in action on Saturday, and the Western BOP Under-14 and 15 teams participating in the annual BOPRU sub-union series the next day, what was a third pick of players stepped up and won all three games.

For the record the WBOP U-15 won 26-22, the WBOP U-16 Barbarians defeated their opposition 19-10, while the U-17 Barbarians got home 17-12.

The visitors were no easy beats, as two of the sides had triumphed against Auckland heavyweight rugby schools of Mt Albert Grammar and Mt Roskill Grammar during the week.

The procrastination of the council with the big screen for the RWC reminds me of an old saying – a camel is a horse designed by a committee.

Go the All Blacks