The first week of the Rugby World Cup has seen mountainous scores and lopsided matches but no real clue as to who will win it.

New Zealand and England are still the favourites but maybe the French have jumped above the defending champion Australians as the third-best bet.

A total of 751 points from 12 matches works out at a whopping 62.6 points and eight tries per game.

That may have kept the fans happy. But is it a good image for the game?

The International Rugby Board admits it's concerned that while the emerging nations are getting stronger, the gulf between them and the traditional powers is widening.

The arrival of professional rugby has meant that teams like England, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and France produce faster, fitter players and newcomers such as Uruguay, Georgia and Namibia just get left behind.

The powerhouse teams are bulldozing their way to the quarters and it will be amazing if they don't get there.

The one big match-up in the group games is South Africa-England in Perth with the winners expected to have an easy route to the semis and the losers almost certain to have the mighty All Blacks standing in their way in the quarter-final.

Only then does it start to get interesting.

Australia, with veterans of their 1999 triumph now bolstered by new talent and also recruits from rugby league - Wendell Sailor and Mat Rogers - weren't convincing in their opening 24-8 victory over Argentina at Sydney's Olympic stadium.

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