By Howard Salkow

Newsport contributor Howard Salkow looks ahead to the weekend's quarter-finals at the Rugby Union World Cup in the UK and makes some bold predictions.

The road is long and hard, but the Australian Wallabies are firmly footed as they approach their quarter-final against Scotland at Twickenham.

In what can be described as the 'softest' of the quarter-finals, the Wallabies have been shielded from the South African Springboks and the New Zealand All Blacks, thanks to results going their way in the other pool matches, and should account for the Scots.

In the other quarter-finals, Ireland meet the Argentine Pumas; the All Blacks are up against their nemesis France and the Springboks take on Wales. Predictions have a habit of biting back, but here goes: the semi-finalists will comprise Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland. We'll avoid further predictions for now, but at least there is something for you to think about.

Let's return to the Wallabies' gutsy 15-6 win over Wales at Twickenham at the weekend. Few would argue, including the Welsh fans, this was a match that produced some of the finest defensive play seen for many years. Wales threw everything they had at the Wallabies. They came close on three occasions to score, but each time the defense held them up. Wales doubled the intensity when Australia was reduced to 13 men, but the men in gold stood firm.

Penalties dominated the match - the Wallabies goaled five and the Welsh two - but the true statistics belonged to the number of tackles made by the Wallabies. It's unlikely the Australian players will ever forget this contest and you can rest assured they are still sore, very sore. They have a few days to recover, there are injury concerns to some of the key players, but the show must go on and there is another hurdle to be conquered.

Of the other quarters, one expects France to lift their game against the All Blacks. They will be looking for improvement after losing 24-9 to Ireland at the weekend.

At the 2011 World Cup final, hosts New Zealand scraped home 8-7 against the French. France have not forgotten how they felt after the loss. As unpredictable as they are, you anticipate France to be at their mercurial best. Les Bleus are renowned for creating upsets and the All Blacks are still reeling from their 2007 quarter-final loss to France when they were dumped from the tournament.

Finally, a word about Japan, who host the 2019 tournament. They failed to make the quarters, but they will be long remembered for their historic victory over the Springboks. They have come of age and Japanese rugby is richer for the experience. It's unlikely they'll win the Webb Ellis Trophy in 2019, but they'll still put on one helluva show, on and off the field.