Graphic: England's road to Paris

David Kirk, New Zealand

The amazing thing about the quarter-finals was that the stoppers won; the sides who tried the least went through. Come the semi-finals, everybody will find ways to get around defensive approaches. The teams who take a chance and try to create something will win. Argentina will be right in it for most of the game, but, in the end, there will be more creativity from South Africa and they will win. I think the same will happen between England and France, so I am going for South Africa and France to reach the final.

Kirk was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford after winning the World Cup in 1987. A chief policy adviser to Jim Bolger, the former New Zealand Prime Minister, he is chief executive of Fairfax Media, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald and The New Zealand Herald.

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BACKGROUND

• Cueto ready to prove his point in Dad’s Army

• Hipkiss bid to force Ashton’s hand falls short

• Clive Woodward: Why England are my favourites

• Resurgent Gomarsall sets his sights on summit

BACKGROUND

• France exceed all expectations as hosts

• Steyn presents threat in close final

• Broccoli for breakfast is recipe for success

• The rough (sleeper’s) guide to Paris

BACKGROUND

• Man of the moment - as seen by his friends

• Historic win sealed by a drop of the hard stuff

• Rescued from defeat by grab of a bootlace

• Replacements show worth off bench

BACKGROUND

• South Africa lack usual fluency on way to final

• Brown to join fans at World Cup final

• Paris travel frenzy for World Cup final

BACKGROUND

• South Africa lack usual fluency on way to final

• Brown to join fans at World Cup final

• Paris travel frenzy for World Cup final

Multimedia

• Graphic: where the final could be won

Multimedia

• The World Cup Podcast

• Josh Lewsey's video diary

• The Rugby World Cup blog

Nick Farr-Jones, Australia

I was flabbergasted by last weekend’s rugby, not so much by England beating us; I knew you’d stuff us in the scrum. I’ve been in a million scrums and, when you put the first ball in and it is going backwards, you know s***s are trumps for the rest of the day. You look at the rest of the teams in the semis and they are all great scrummaging teams. France will defend their land. I think they’ll do it, but England will be hard to overcome. South Africa were favourites before they played Fiji. The afternoon heat in Marseilles knocked them around, but come a 9pm kick-off in Paris, they will be a different team.

After retiring in 1993, Farr-Jones worked in commodities for Société Générale in Paris until 1999. He returned to Sydney as the bank’s managing director of mining finance.

Francois Pienaar, South Africa

I thought I knew this game until last weekend. I had to counsel my nine-year-old boy: he has modelled his career on Richie McCaw and when New Zealand lost he was distraught. I think South Africa still have a game in them, but I’m nervous. We’ve never lost to Argentina, but the World Cup does strange things to big men. Nobody gave England a chance, including me. All of a sudden, they are just having a go and that is the most dangerous team to play against. But playing at home in front of your people is a huge plus. I think it will be South Africa and France in the final.

Pienaar was dropped controversially by South Africa in 1996. He became player-coach of Saracens and then chief executive from 2000-02. He lives in Cape Town and is First National Bank’s chairman on the Western Cape.

John Eales, Australia

It is very hard to back France because if England play as they did last weekend, anything is possible, but I’d say France at home. And Argentina will beat South Africa. If the game was played ten times, South Africa would win seven. The reason I say Argentina is South Africa have not played a really hard game since July and they pulled their best team out of the last two Tri-Nations matches. Argentina have been playing knockout rugby since the start. They have known that they could not afford to lose a game and, with an element of luck, a few goals and a bit of pace, they may surprise them.

Eales retired from rugby in 2001 and began a career in financial consulting and management. He is a director of multiple companies and consults for BT Financial Group.

Martin Johnson, England

The biggest surprise was how badly we played in the first two games. There have been inconsistencies in selection and injures, but that is no excuse. We always knew we had a team capable of playing as they did last Saturday. If we do that against France, we have a chance. But we are not going to dominate France as quickly as we did Australia; they can scrummage. England left two or three tries unscored against Australia. If we want to win the next one, they will have to score a couple of tries. But France are at home in Paris and I have a feeling, unfortunately, that the French will do us on Saturday. South Africa will just beat Argentina.

After retiring in 2005, Johnson has had a host of media commitments and an ambassadorial role for Visa at this year’s tournament.