In the engine room
Saturday's key battle: Somewhere in the middle of that lot
As I'm sure the world knows, the Stade de France is going to be a warzone on Saturday night. I don't think there is a doubt in any rugby person's mind that it is going to be an intense and physical encounter.
But within this battle, a smaller, more complicated war is going to be fought; the battle of the front row, a conflict so long fought that noobody really knows why it started in the first place.
So here is an analysis of the warriors who, so often forgotten, will play a vital role in Saturday's crunch....
England tighthead - Phil Vickery
The first link in an extremely gritty pack. Nobody really thought Phil would even be here, let alone captain his country, after fighting back from a series back operations.
For a prop of 19 stones he is extremely mobile and he crops up all over the place to make important tackles and hard yards.
But his real ability lies in the scrum. Since the group games (which in my opinion can be mostly overlooked as far as propping is concerned), Vickery has all but eaten Matt Dunning and has made life very difficult for Oliver Milloud and the rest of the French pack.
His driving angles and scrummaging techniques in the knockout stages have been awesome. An immense scrummager by anyone's standards but has to be at his best if England are to overcome the odds.
South Africa loosehead - Os du Randt
'The Ox' and my own personal hero. At 35 years of age and in his third World Cup, you would think the pressures of international rugby would have taken their toll on Os, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Like a fine wine at every sip, with every game Os seems to get better. He plays parts in attacking moves in the back line, he makes covering tackles down the touch lines and scrummages extremely well.
Rumour has it that he is faster than Bryan Habana and that demolition crews are hiring him to knock down houses.
In fact I would go as far as to nominate him for saintho- well ok... its not all roses. His ability to last 80 minutes is a problem.
I'm sure it's within his abilities but whether he has the same effect after 75 minutes as he does after five is debatable.
That said, the fact that he is the only person left over from the '95 World Cup win gives him a place of standing within the camp and his experience is invaluable. In a World Cup Final, that could make all the difference to a side lacking in people who have been there and done that....
Head-to-head
This one is tough. It's going to be an immense tussle. Both players' work-rates are superb and both enjoy the physical side of making hard yards and scrummaging.
Both characters are tenacious and never-say-die types who put in 100 percent all of the time. Both players are seen as talismans by their teams and the victor of this battle could swing the course of the war.
The problem I see for Vickery is that he is tall for a tight head. Os is a very low scrummager and I can see Os getting under him. Having said that, moving 19 stone of prop - never mind what Vickery has behind him - is, ahem, a tall order for anyone.
Du Randt, probably playing his last international, will be out to give England one last punishing and I believe that for 65 minutes at least he will have the edge over Vickery.
England loosehead - Andrew Sheridan
'Big Ted', as he is known, is a bit of an enigma. He's huge, even by front row standards, standing 6'5 and weighing in at just over 19 stone, but over the past two years he has been on and off.
When he is on, he's unstoppable. He runs direct and has the ability to knock even the biggest of tacklers back.
When he scrummages well, he destroys people, as you would expect a man who is considered the strongest in world rugby to do.
The problems are consistency and technique. There have been games where even his immense size has been anonymous in both attack and defence.
Whether this is because he is lazy or maybe the ball just doesnt come his way on these days, I don't know. But knowing the sort of character he is I would say it is the latter.
There have been matches where the smaller, more technichal props have got underneath him and caused many problems for 'sheri'.
This is the one problem with being tall in the front row: if you can't scrum low then expect to be wiped off the pitch later. With this comes ill discipline and penalties.
It's this that worries me about Sheridan. Although he has been awesome this World Cup, and I mean awesome, he still has the habit of switching off for occasional games. And in an arena this big, he just simply cannot afford to do it.
South Africa tighthead - CJ van der Linde
Recalled after injury, CJ has had a quiet World Cup - by quiet I mean he has done a hell of a lot of unseen work in the darkest, murkiest depths of the front row.
He's shorter than Sheridan by just over 3 inches and this could easily help him in the war here, but don't count on it.
He is known as a solid scrummager but for some reason has never really hit the big news in this way.
It's his other work that astonishes me. He can get around like a flanker and is often found at the bottom of rucks making a nuisance of himself.
He loves making the hard yards and pops up in midfield to take out two or three people. His mobility isn't half bad for a man of 18 and a half stone.
But much like Sheridan there are times when I wonder about CJ. Solid he may be, but occasionally he is anonymous, and his discipline has, on many an occasion, let him down.
Head-to-head
This is another crunch. If either one switches off for a second, they will be destroyed. After the fuss about Sheridan in the quarter-final, expect Allain Rolland to keep an eye on this side of the scrum religiously.
As this is a World Cup Final I cannot see either player giving one inch, therefore it will come down to brute strength and, however small it may be, Sheridan has the edge here.
CJ needs to be on top technichal form to avoid a battering, but it is a little hard coming up against such bulk and size. Expect Sheridan to exert pressure in every scrum.
The Conclusion
This is going to be immense. Sheridan with the edge on one side and Os with the edge on the other.
But as many forwards out there will know, the front row is just a small part of a big pack. Even so, just on the front row side of things, I expect South Africa to gain the upper hand in the battle of the front row.
This is one match where brute strength wont get England anywhere. Os, Smit and CJ may be slightly smaller but their technical ability will see them through this time, much as I predict the game itself will go.
But statements like that are made to be proven wrong. England have smashed Australia and then upset the odds against France.... The Boks have been warned!
With thanks to the Armchair Prop
