Ashton revels in sense of northern triumph

Brian Ashton said all the right things yesterday, but there was a glint in the eye that told the real tale. A World Cup semi-final against France in Paris is nobody's idea of a vicarage tea party, but it is a whole lot better than a last-four tie against the All Blacks. England's head coach knows what it is to prepare a side for a Test against Les Bleus, and he knows what it is to pass that test. The Webb Ellis Cup remains in red-rose hands and the chances of it staying have just improved a dozen-fold.

As they are probably saying down there in the Antipodes: to lose once is a calamity, to lose twice in eight hours is an offence before God. Australia and New Zealand are now beginning the self-flagellatory process of answering the question: why? The answer will be slow in coming, because their "systems" – central contracts, 20-game seasons and all the rest of it – were thought to be the best devised in the professional era. (So too was Ireland's "system". Ireland are also back home, watching the tournament on television).

The first of this weekend's semi-finals will be between a team drawn from the trenches of the Guinness Premiership and a team produced by the relentless combat of Le Championnat. These are battle-hardened players. Neither Australia nor New Zealand were seriously threatened during the pool stage: the All Blacks played in second gear and won easily, as they do in every World Cup. Faced with a serious contest, both teams lost their rhythm and shape.

Whatever thoughts Ashton may have had, he kept them to himself. He could not even bring himself to comment on the reaction in England to the win over the Wallabies. "It's difficult to keep tabs on that," he said. "All I know is this: I had 52 messages on my mobile in the hour after the game, some of them from people of whom I'd never heard. I don't know how they came by my number. It's quite worrying."

He has better things to worry about. "A semi-final against the host nation at Stade de France will be a massive occasion," he said, before stressing the irrelevance of England's win over the Tricolores in the last Six Nations. "We did play them twice in August, and those games left me in no doubt we could compete at their level. We should have beaten them at Twickenham. But this is a completely different environment. We'll need to improve in certain areas if we're to win, especially in terms of finishing. We need to find what I call ruthless composure when scoring opportunities present themselves."

Having previously avoided discussion of the theory of the Australian Rugby Union chief executive, John O'Neill, that "everyone hates England", one or two players broke cover at the weekend. "It didn't mean much to me, because I didn't know who John O'Neill was," said Jason Robinson, the full-back. "I'm sure Australia's trip home will be a lot longer, and a lot more painful, than our trip up to Paris."

The centre Mike Catt struck a world-weary note. "I don't think that stuff motivated us particularly," he said, "but at the same time, I don't understand why people do it. Those kinds of comments are going to come back and smack you in the face at some point or other, so there really isn't much point going there. It's rubbish, isn't it? It has nothing at all to do with international rugby, or any other sort of rugby."

There is some potential for a full and frank exchange of views this week, if only because Imanol Harinordoquy, the Basque No 8, likes to be heard on the subject of international relations. But as Ashton and company demonstrated once again at the weekend, it is never anything other than counter-productive.