6.12am Good Morning, here I am waiting for the France-Ireland game. France lose and they go (or rather say) home. France win and then we face the prospect of a weird bonus point count-back (if Ireland beat Argentina). I think I'm going to be cheering for France so that the competition will be crazy intense come the Argentina-Ireland game at the end of pool play. But then again if France lose, there's no was they can meet the All Blacks and I'll breathe a bit easier. Oh, the internal struggle!!!

6.30am In the build up I learn that the Irish training strip is blue and their press conference gear is black. Wtf? Green all the time not good enough for you.

6.55am Jeebus! there are girls in bikins and coats dancing in the crowd! The French cameramen (undoubtedly men) stay on them for ages. I congratulate Hamish McKay for not making a lecherous comment.

6.56am All the players, all of them, are vigourously licking their lips. I wish I hadn't noticed, it's weird

7.01am As tradition dicates the Irish follow up the anthems with an ancient war jig

7.03am Kickoff!

7.03.13am Lineout! That is the fastest one yet.

7.07am After a long period of the backs kicking the ball to each other, the forwards from both sides decide to stand in the middle and wait until someone finds touch.

7.09am Penalty. France cleverly take the tap from a previous penalty and make 10m as Ireland are penalised for not being back ten.

7.14am O'Gara misses a penalty. Afterwards he cleans grass off his boots like maybe that was the problem, grass.

7.18am The ref gets smashed in the mush

7.20am Oooo France get within a whisker of scoring. Great Irish tackle!

7.22am ...but they get 3 points for offside anyway.

7.23am We get a rare view of the bottom of the French boots, they're pretty cool.

7.25am Ronan O'gara is warned for saying something to the Ref. What was it? According to the ref "he knows what he said".

7.42am Another penalty to France, for standing on chabal, Hamish McKay says at the time "someones been accused of stepping".

7.43am Irish drop goal. O'Gara says "well we got within 20m I think that deserves 3 points"

7.48am Another penalty for France and that's the half

7.59am We're back!

8.10am Hamish McKay is incredulous that anyone could ever say anything critical of Dan Carter. "Seriously? You're kidding me?" he says

8.17am Well here are the first points of the second half a penaly to France. Both teams have run out of ideas, and they only started with one.

8.19am I'm getting a bit sick of people talking about how "sanitised" the game is these days because of the fact that they've eliminated thuggery. A French hooker is penalised for placing his boot on an Irishman it was a bad call by the ref, but get over it. Would they rather the Frenchman gut him with his sprigs? (lest we forget Buck) And looking at the large number of bleeding Irish I would say the game is far from "sanitary"

8.22am Try! (Vincent Clerc) good little kick through, no defence and a try to Clerc. Now only three more for the bonus point.

8.25am Unbelievably Hamish McKay introduces the new black African-born French player onto the pitch by saying "this boy was born in the old Belgian congo*, that must've been the rumble in the jungle"

* this mean the player was born before 1960.

8.26am Angry Paul O'Connell sent to the bin for constant infringing.

8.29am France are disallowed a try because the referee has never seen a hooker accidentally drop the ball in the lineout. It's to be replayed.  I would've thought that the call should've been throw didn't go 5, French ball, in which case, try! But no. We've never seen the hooker just drop the ball it must be another lineout.

8.32am Wow Try! (Clerc) the French are playing league now and it's working!

8.38am Paul O'Connell is back, look out French throats

8.41am Damien Traille is yellow carded for constant infringing. No T'Pole-style cards here!

8.45am I'm now making fart noises to accompany the Irish play, I need the benny hill soundeffects.

8.46am And we're done. France are now looking "the business". We (the All Blacks) will probably meet them in the semis. which is kinda scary. This of course assumes the Argentina won't fall flat against a rampant Irish (insert fart noise).

The Dropkicks preview the Rugby World Cup - analysing the likely qualifiers from each pool; the number of injuries Tonga and Samoa will cause; how much the Irish squad will drink while based in France, and many other such pertinent questions.

Also: the Warriors qualify 4th for the NRL playoffs; the NZ rowers excel at the World Rowing Champs; and the world media take liberties with the Tyson Gay, the Fastest Man on Earth...­

Download Episode 2007/30 - World Cup preview.