That was the weekend that was

On a weekend where Peter Crouch's better half, Abbey Clancy, told us she would never resort to going under the knife, the England rugby team again decided to produce their very own cutting edge and shock the rugby world for the second week running by beating hosts France to make the Rugby World Cup final. But were we celebrating our own incisive calls or were we not as sharp as we hoped as we look at how our bets fared and what lies ahead this week in the world of betting

Rugby Betting: Here's Jonny!
Surely they couldn't produce another performance like they had done in the World Cup quarter-final against Australia. Surely they couldn't beat France in a second consecutive semi-final? They sure could....England produced another fighting display to knock the hosts out of the tournament courtesy of a late surge that saw Jonny Wilkinson first put England ahead with a penalty after 75 minutes, then stretch the lead with a drop goal after 78 minutes. They now meet South Africa in the final, who beat them 36-0 in the pool stages, and will be out for revenge. If you had backed England to make the final after that humbling, they were available at a mind-numbing 279/1 on Betfair to win the final and 79/1 to make the final. The Springboks were too strong for Argentina and although the 37-13 does not truly reflect the game, the Pumas made too many mistakes to mount a challenge.

Football Betting: Rooney breaks drought
Wayne Rooney finally got back on the scoresheet as England cruised to their third consecutive 3-0 victory before they travel to Russia for a key Euro 2008 qualifier. England were far too strong for Estonia and further goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips and an own goal completed the task in front of a sell-out crowd at Wembley. Elsewhere Scotland continued their run of good form by beating Ukraine 3-1, Wales were shocked by Cyprus 3-1 and Republic of Ireland were held to a goalless draw by Germany.

Golf Events: Easy does it
Ernie Els managed to secure £1m in prizemoney with his seventh win in the HSBC World Match Play, as well as finish early enough to get a private jet to Paris to watch his beloved Springboks reach the Rugby World Cup final. Not bad for a day's work. Els saw off Angel Cabrera in the final of the World Match Play by 6&4 as he again strolled to a win on home soil at Wentworth.

Our bets
The good: Richard Aikman got the show on the road with a fine treble in the first round of the HSBC World Match Play when he picked Els, Cabrera and Anders Hansen for victory to net a healthy profit.

The bad: We thought England's football team would cruise to victory but three goals fell short of our tip for over 3.5 goals - we also backed Michael Owen to score first and ended up 5pt losers. Putting our patriotism to one side we backed France on the handicap at -7 against England - another small loss given they went down 14-9.

The ugly: Argentina had ben the revelation of the Rugby World Cup with stunning displays to beat France and Ireland and we felt they could produce again against South Africa. Unfortunately they instead gave an error-strewn display that was one game too far for them and one bet too many for us...

The week ahead
Football: International week continues as England travel to Moscow to play Russia in a crucial Euro 2008 qualifier. Wales will look to get back on track away to San Marino, Scotland travel to Georgia while the Rep of Ireland will try to show Wales how to beat Cyprus 

Rugby Union: It's the big one as England try to become the first country to win back-to-back World Cup finals and South Africa look to heap misery on Brian Ashon's men again with a repeat of their pool win 

F1: All eyes on Brazil where the last race of the season takes place with three drivers still in contention to win the world title. Lewis Hamilton leads by four points from Fernando Alonso while Kimi Raikkonen has an outside chance for Ferrari