The odds on a France v England semi-final were incalculable, absurd. But England's victory earlier in the day set the scene for a day that saw the greatest upsets in Rugby World Cup history.

The bloke who came into my French hotel with seven minutes remaining of the All Blacks match in Cardiff simply couldn't watch the denouement.

He'd had a bet at 40-1 on England and France playing the semi-final. His £20 investment turned into an £800 profit.

England punctured the myth of southern hemisphere invincibility with a dogged performance that stunned the Wallabies.

They strangled them at source, admittedly playing a desperately limited game. But it was enough to out-wit the Wallabies, to suck them into a desperate trench warfare contest that they were never going to win.

All Australia's old fragilities up front were exposed, their scrummage revealed as a lightweight, ordinary unit that was there to be crushed.

England, inspired by a wondrous performance from loose head prop Andrew Sheridan, did the crushing with ruthless efficiency.

The reigning world champions had nothing to offer except sheer determination.

But so overwhelming was their forward supremacy, especially in the set scrums and driving play that the Aussies had nowhere to go.

They made no hard yards around the fringes because the English defence was as tough as teak. It smashed down ball carriers close in and spread effectively across the field, smothering the Australians attempts at creativity.

Australia were so far second best up front that they had little choice but to play the game going backwards.

That was a recipe for disaster and England exploited it with an evil pleasure.

All the Wallabies needed was some sort of forward base off which to launch their creative back division. But they never once threatened to establish that base, smashed backwards at source by the power of the English pack.

The truth is that English rugby, hardly a creative, flowing genius to begin with, has atrophied in the last four years. But under the present laws of the game, sides with forward power can go a long way towards victory.

Ball retention is key and if that simple pattern is followed, it can be enough to overcome technically superior opponents.

Manifestly, England are a desperately limited side.

They have forward might but nothing much else. On Saturday in Marseille, they didn't even have Jonny Wilkinson operating anywhere near his best: he missed three penalties and a dropped goal.

But the Australians were so intimidated by the beating they were taking up front that none of that mattered.

The Wallabies failed to score a single point in the second-half and by the end were cowed into submission by the superiority of the England forwards.

Australia slunk away afterwards in despair.

Chris Latham looked like he'd suffered a family bereavement; distraught, agonised. Others were similarly shattered.

But the cruel lesson for the Wallabies was that they paid the ultimate price for their wilful neglect of the scrummage in recent years.

The message was there in 2003 at the World Cup final but they ignored it. Now, it has come home to roost again. When will they get the message?

Until the laws are changed, limited sides like England will continue to be capable of defying all logic and expectation in a match with a mighty forward effort.

The game itself should be concerned that sides with such limited horizons can prosper at the expense of the creative ones.

But England won't be concerned. They will believe they can get the better of France and reach the World Cup Final.