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MICHAEL WARE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: I'm Michael Ware in Paris. In just a moment, a thrilling victory in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup here in France.

TONY HARRIS: We're talking about rugby. Okay.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Well, Americans like, if not love, a good dose of college football on a Saturday afternoon. But across the pond, it is a whole different game with a few similarities. The Rugby World Cup under way in the City of Lights. Rugby?

CNN's Michael Ware live in Paris with a little play by play.

Michael, you know we don't play rugby in the United States. So, my friend, this had better be pretty good.

WARE: Oh, mate, this is sensational. And I'll tell you, it's surprising. There's a fair bit of rugby played in America. Indeed, the American Eagles did play the house down in a couple of matches here in the World Cup.

But the story of the night here is that a fire has been lit in international rugby. We had world heavyweights, England, take on the Rugby World Cup host nation, France, here in Paris. And in an enormous event, a great game, England won. France led until the last six minutes. But kicking two goals, England put their nose in front and now the defending champions go on to next week's final to try and retain their title.

And on Sunday, we see Argentina take on another rugby heavyweight, the Springboks from South Africa, in the final to see who earns the right to battle England to be crowned world champions.

This has been such a game. This tournament has been the most electric in its 20-year history. And I can tell you, outside of America -- even in America -- the rugby world is alive and kicking tonight. What a sensational game in a great tournament.

HARRIS: All right, Michael, I'll take your word for it. Next time, I want some highlights.

Michael Ware for us in Paris. I appreciate it, Michael. Thank you.

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MICHAEL HOLMES: After a weekend of upsets, the excitement building as we approach the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup. The matches are scheduled to get under way this weekend in Paris and that's where we find some time war correspondent but full time rugby lover Michael Ware.

Michael, we are going all around the United States at the moment, and we shall do our best to confuse them with talk of halfbacks, wings, hookers and the like, but this is true that this weekend, it's got to be up to the forwards, the prop forwards, the scrums, crucial stuff.

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Michael. Worlds away from the horrors of the wars that now cross the globe and after six years of conflict, I can tell you personally, Michael, I am in rugby heaven. As a dyed-in-the wool rugby supporter and rugby fan, this world tournament is simply fantastic. And it's now boiled down to four teams vying to be crowned world champions.

We have the two semifinals this weekend in Paris, and I can tell you it's coming down to what's known as the forward packs. Essentially, in each team of 15, these are the eight largest, most brutish, aggressive guys on the field. And I have to admit I'm a member of the front row club myself. I played in the forward pack.

And I'm here to tell you that this weekend, you're going to see a truism of sporting rugby: the games are won and lost in the front row. You can have what's called the backs kicking their kicks and scoring their tries and pirouetting around their opposite numbers out wide, but the real games this weekend are going to come down to the brutish contest in the forward packs, whether these two sets of men can dominate the other, set the platform for the rest of their teams, is really going to define who wins and who loses this weekend.

I mean, I spent the morning mixing with some of South Africa's Springbok forwards and as they say, when you are in the forward pack you cannot have any respect for your body.

Indeed, the Australian coach referred to one of his players, now out of the tournament, as a man who knows no pain. And as the Springboks forward's coaches are saying, it's time that South Africans have to stand up to the Argentineans. In the big match against England versus France, we see two mammoth groups of men who are about to go head to head and try and demolish each other and this is going to define the weekend's world cup results, Michael.

HOLMES: Okay. They are telling us to wrap but I'm ignoring them. Quickly, Michael, tips?

WARE: Tips? Look, France really has momentum behind them, world cup hosts. England's got the sort of form on the board right now. It's hard to call. I'd hate to say it but maybe England just by a nudge. While we'd all love to see underdogs Argentina get up over the mammoth South Africans, you got to go for the Springboks, Michael.

HOLMES: Just before I go, I have to say, mate, you were a forward. They used to say that to get the best front row you line up the biggest, ugliest guys you can find against the wall and throw bricks at them and the ones who don't duck, there's your props. You've heard that one, I know.

WARE: That's exactly right, mate. That's why I've got a face for radio, mate, and not for television. I'm telling you, the front row is the brains trust. That's where it all happens.

HOLMES: That's what you say. Michael Ware, who didn't get that nose playing badminton. Actually played representative rugby for the state of Queensland at a very high level so he knows his stuff.

HALA GORANI: And he's endlessly entertaining.

While the rugby world cup competition is still under way we want to remind you, our viewers, of our special Web site.

HOLMES: That's right. The fan zone it's called, at CNN.com/rugby, you can find all the latest news about the tournament, profiles of your teams, submit your own dream team if you want from the rugby world cups past and present.

GORANI: Hey, if you are an American rugby fan, go ahead and e- mail us your views at cnn.com. Send us your pictures and videos showing how you are celebrating the tournament.

HOLMES: E-mail us and tell us if you understood anything Michael Ware said.

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ANDERSON COOPER: Ruck, maul, blood bin. Just some of the terms used in a wildly popular sport. No, we're not talking about synchronized swimming here. We're talking about rugby. Where the men are tough, the play is rough, and teeth, well, teeth are optional.

Right now players and fans are swarming France for the World Cup. CNN's Michael Ware is also on hand there. He's not in Baghdad tonight, he's in France to cover the games and to educate me on the fine art of rugby. I spoke to Michael earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER (on camera): All right, Michael, I got to be honest with you. I don't know anything about this sport. I'm guessing a lot of Americans don't know much about it either. So what is the appeal of rugby?

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the appeal is very much like that of American football. Essentially, it's a violent form of chess. What we have is 15 men on either side, no pads, no helmets, playing on essentially a football-sized field, trying to put the ball across their opposition line, much like scoring a touchdown in the end zone.

One big difference, however, is that in rugby, the game does not stop. Over two 40-minute halves, there's very few stoppages, except for injury. And there's very few substitutions. So much so that in rugby, there's a thing called the blood bin. When someone is injured that badly and they are bleeding that profusely, you're allowed to replace him for 10 minutes to stem the bleeding before he returns to the field. Anderson?

COOPER: And you say that with a smile. You like that, I think.

WARE: Oh, I have many fond memories. It's a fabulous game. And Anderson, this is the World Cup. This is an international game. Twenty international teams fighting it out to be crowned world champions for the next four years.

COOPER: So I know rugby has its own language. I want to go over a couple of the terms with you and if you can tell us what they mean. We are going to put up some pictures, and just telestrate. We're looking at what -- I'm told this over here is a scrum behind this rather large gentleman in the picture. What is a scrum?

WARE: Essentially, Anderson, the scrum is rugby's form of trench warfare. It's one of the ways that you restart the game after there's been an error or a mistake. And what you do is from either side, you take the eight biggest men on the field, put them together in a wedge- like formation, and slam them up against each other and they complete for the ball to get the game going again. Anderson?

COPPER: I'm told what we are looking at now is the haka. What all of these guys are doing. What the heck is a haka?

WARE: The haka is basically a war dance. This is performed primarily by the New Zealand team, known as the All Blacks, but all the Pacific Island teams have a similar version. It dates back to the Polynesian tradition of trying to intimidate your foe prior to tribal warfare. It is simply one of the greatest traditions in international rugby, and it's performed just before the kickoff to scare the living heck out of your opponents.

COOPER: And now the final term is the hooker. This guy, I'm told is the hooker. He doesn't look like any hooker I have ever seen before. What is his job?

WARE: Well, I can tell you that I once in a former lifetime many years ago was a happy hooker myself.

COOPER: Michael Ware was a hooker, wow.

WARE: We talked about the scrum where the two sides just -- absolutely, mate -- where the two sides just pound into each other. It's the hooker who is right in the middle. His arms pinned up against two monstrous guys and both hookers compete for the ball trying to win it for their team using nothing but their feet to literally hook the ball back to their side.

COOPER: OK, now Michael, I know you referenced your own rugby history. You were a happy hooker. I wonder if we can show a picture of you close up. I want to ask, is this the result of playing rugby? There seems to be -- your nose goes in a couple of directions. I'm wondering, is that from rugby?

WARE: Absolutely, Anderson. And if you wanted me to, my nose has been broken so many times -- I lost count at 10 or 11 -- I can break it for you right now here on TV, so fluid and malleable is it. This is the essence of rugby. It's about a physical contest. When it's played well, truly is a hard man's game. You got to love it, Anderson.

COOPER: I understand it looks like, there are soccer hooligans who follow around these teams. Obviously there's a lot of rugby fans. You're at a bar tonight. It seems like beer and rugby kind of go together?

WARE: Absolutely, hand in hand. One does not go without the other. It also is part of the culture of the game. Once you take the field and you belt into each other, it's one of the greatest honors afterwards to stop and have a beer with your opposite number. And that's shared by the supporters.

I mean, rugby is followed by an international tribe, and here in Marseilles in the south of France, there is four teams competing out of the eight left trying to be world champions. And all their followers have descended. And Marseilles tonight is one huge drunken spectacle, full of color and noise, Anderson.

COOPER: All right, well, go join it. Michael Ware, appreciate it. Thanks, Michael.

WARE: Thank you, Anderson.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: I have always wondered about the nose. You've got to ask.

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HALA GORANI: Well, the South of France is a really beautiful place. Have you been?

MICHAEL HOLMES: It is. I have. Many times, beautiful.

GORANI: Good, good.

Anyway, this time rugby fanatics are converging on that part of the country, where some of the World Cup final matches are taking place.

HOLMES: Yes, it should be a bruising battle for the sport's most coveted prize. And CNN's Michael Ware is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The sparkling port city of Marseille in the South of France, a holiday destination rich with history. Its narrow streets seem eternally alive and festive. But this weekend Marseilles, is at the epicenter of world rugby. Four of the eight teams still battling to be champions of the 2007 World Cup are gathered here, and the match-ups could not be more compelling.

First, what's certain to be a bruising replay of the 2003 final between two of the game's powerhouses. Reigning championships England, versus the Australian Wallabies, the two-time champions aching to avenge their loss four years ago, to a stunning English field goal in the dying seconds of extra time.

England versus Australia is thought to impact more on the tournament's final outcome -- the winner to play blistering favorites New Zealand or host France next weekend -- but Marseilles' true magic lies with Fiji. The Pacific underdogs charmed all with their surprise victory over Wales to make it into this weekend's knockout final against South Africa.

(off-screen) You're the fairy-tale story of the cup.

ILIE TABUA, COACH, FIJI: It's is. It's amazing, you know. From -- nobody thought we could be there. Everybody said, no, no, Wales was going to be in -- Wales and Australia, you know?

WARE: Only appointed coach six months ago, my former teammate from a provincial side back in Australia, Fijian coach Ilie Tabua. Ilie is one of the international game's most beloved characters. As this 70-year-old stadium fills in coming days with Marseilles expecting 100,000 or more fans to descend upon the city, the great hope is that these two markedly different match ups will remind all of why they call rugby the game they play in heaven. Michael Ware, CNN, Marseilles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Michael Ware is going to join us now, live.

Michael Ware, as you and I both know you didn't get that nose from playing chess, you got it from playing rugby with some of these Aussies. Give us your unbiased view on the weekend's games. Australia is obviously going to beat England, that's a given. What about the other games?

WARE: Well, certainly that's what we're hoping, Michael, that there will be a Wallaby victory, and take a vengeance for the loss in the last World Cup. But honestly, the big match of this weekend is the game between Pacific underdogs Fiji and South Africa here on Sunday. I mean, they really are the fairy-tale story of this World Cup. No one expected them to make it this far.

And they're coached by Ilie Tabua, a former mate of mine from playing in Queensland days, where yes, I did get my nose broken. And those boys are more than ready to take on the Springboks, one of the mighty powerhouses of international rugby, so they are going to be the game to watch this Sunday, Michael.

GORANI: This is Hala, Michael Ware, I can't ask you a rugby question simply because I don't know enough about it. But I see you in Iraq, of course. What's it like reporting on a completely different story, where for once it's not about drama and wars but about a happy event getting people together?

WARE: Yes, it is. It's quite a change of pace for me, certainly. Put it this way. I'm a lot more comfortable in combat than I am standing here at a pub on the Mediterranean talking about rugby. But, Hala, we are having a great time here. The city is filling up with supporters. It's going to be huge weekend. I'm battening down the hatches as we speak, Hala.

GORANI: All right. Well, have fun, Michael. And, you know, even though I'm the one non-Australian -- wait, Michael has a question for Michael.

HOLMES: I was going to say, what I actually want to know, Michael, is I know that you are shocked that you are actually having to work a bit while you are there. But you are going to get to catch up with your mates. Indulge us a little bit. You know half these blokes, don't you? You played with them?

WARE: Yeah, well, that's exactly right. It's been great here. It's like a reunion tour for me. I mean, the Wallabies coach is my former coach. The Wallabies' forwards coach is my old playmate. The Fijian coach is my mate. So it's been great catching up with everybody.

At teams training yesterday, when the rest of the media were ushered off, the Wallabies allowed us to stick around. We have been spending time with them in the pub, certainly the team management. And on the weekend, win, lose or draw, we are going to be with them at the party afterwards, Michael, it's going to be fantastic. I wish you were here.

HOLMES: Mate, I wish I was there, too. You know him, I know him --

GORANI: I don't wish I was there, actually.

HOLMES: It's going to be untidy. It's going to be ugly.

GORANI: No, but they cover the games and then they go to bed around 8:00, right? That's what happens pretty much?

HOLMES: In their dreams.

GORANI: That's their schedule.

HOLMES: Good to see you, Mick. Have fun.

GORANI: Thanks, Michael.

HOLMES: Oh, dear, that's going to be a mess. I tell you.

For more on the Rugby World Cup, visit our special Fanzone site, cnn.com/rugby. All the latest news about the tournament, profiles of the team. You can even submit a dream team from Rugby World Cups, past and present.

Don't forget the old I-Report, send us your pictures, video, showing us how you're celebrating the tournament and anything you can get on Michael Ware.

(LAUGHTER)

GORANI: Anything!

That's it for this hour. I'm Hala Gorani.

HOLMES: I'm Michael Holmes. This is CNN.

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