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Subscribe to RSS FeedOct 14 - which side is the date backing?
Star Support: Winnie the Pooh will be cheering on the Pumas in Paris
Okay, here it is! Fresh from divining the winner of Saturday's semi-final, we send the bookmakers reeling once again by revealing who will win Sunday's encounter between Argentina and South Africa in Paris.
"Shut it," said our readers yesterday after we proved that England would score a handsome win over France, but no - our books of revelation remain defiantly open!
We've had another trawl through history, this time to see whether October 14 favours one of Sunday's sides over the other, and the results of our scientific investigation prove to be quite startling...
OCTOBER 14 - ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY...
Year: 1322
Event: Robert the Bruce of Scotland defeats King Edward II of England at Byland, and sends him homeward, tae think again - yet again.
Omens: A big day for Bobby?
Verdict: Skinstad scores the winner! SOUTH AFRICA
Year: 1880
Event: Victorio, warrior chief of the Chihenne band of the Chiricahua Apaches, is killed by the Mexican army.
Omens: Latino on Latino violence?
Verdict: Pumas lose their cool. SOUTH AFRICA
Year: 1784
Event: Fernando VII, King of Spain, is born. His reign in Spain was mainly noted for South America's struggle for independence, with José de San Martín, the liberator of Argentina, proving to be a proper pain in the royal rump.
Omens: A victory for the little guys?
Verdict: Up the revolution! ARGENTINA
Year: 1894
Event: American poet e. e. cummings is born.
Omens: The man with a love of lowercase would not have been impressed with South Africa's three capitals.
Verdict: Pumas to notch up the big 'W'. ARGENTINA
Year: 1899
Event: A Morning Post reporter by the name of Winston Churchill departs for South Africa.
Omens: A legend is born in the Republic?
Verdict: Boks will never surrender! SOUTH AFRICA
Year: 1912
Event: England batsman Jack Crapp born in St Columb Major, Cornwall.
Omens: He guided England home to a 2-0 series victory in South Africa in the 1948/9 season.
Verdict: Oh Crapp! ARGENTINA
Year: 1926
Event: A.A. Milne's 'Winnie the Pooh' is first published.
Omens: There's quite a few more bears in Argentina than in South Africa.
Verdict: Pumas get a taste for that sweet, sweet honey. ARGENTINA
Year: 1933
Event: Nazi Germany withdraws from The League of Nations.
Omens: How the Pumas would love to participate in a league! Any league! Any nations!
Verdict: Homeless Argentinians down and out in Paris. SOUTH AFRICA
Year: 1939
Event: Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is born in New York.
Omens: Slightly more 'Ralph' on display on the boulevards of Buenos Aires than around the braais in Benoni.
Verdict: Pumas turn on the style. ARGENTINA
Year: 1944
Event: German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the Desert Fox, is given the option of facing a public trial for treason, as a co-conspirator in the plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, or taking cyanide. He chooses the latter.
Omens: Bully of Africa comes a cropper?
Verdict: Pumas opt for the Full Monty. ARGENTINA
Year: 1959
Event: American screen idol Errol Flynn, star of such films as 'The Adventures of Don Juan', dies of heart attack.
Omens: The Boks boast one Juan - the Pumas have three on their books.
Verdict: There can be only Juan - but more is better! ARGENTINA
Year: 1962
Event: Cuban Missile Crisis begins as a US spy plane photographs Soviet nuclear weapons being installed in Cuba.
Omens: Argentine egg-chaser Ernesto 'Che' Guevara pokes a superpower in the eye.
Verdict: ¡Hasta la victoria, siempre! ARGENTINA
Year: 1968
Event: First live telecast from a manned spacecraft, taken aboard Apollo 7.
Omens: Argentina (2,766,890 km²) would have looked more impressive than South Africa (1,221,037 km²).
Verdict: Pumas loom large. ARGENTINA
Year: 1968
Event: Jim Hines of the USA becomes the first man to break the ten-second barrier in the 100 metres at the Olympics in Mexico City with a time of 9.95 sec.
Omens: A day for historic firsts? Argentina has never beaten South Africa...
Verdict: Pumas to break the tape. ARGENTINA
Year: 1977
Event: Singer/actor Bing Crosby dies of a heart attack.
Omens: White Christmas? Argentinians and South Africans can only dream of such an event.
Verdict: Sun shines equally on both sides. DRAW
Year: 1994
Event: Space probe Magellan burns up in Venus's atmosphere.
Omens: Green planet succeeds where Tierra del Fuego failed?
Verdict: Boks manage to navigate treacherous Argentine channels. SOUTH AFRICA
FINAL RESULT: SOUTH AFRICA 4 ARGENTINA 10
Well, who would have believed it? History is pointing to an emphatic victory for the day's underdogs! Join us tomorrow for the results of our I-Ching Numerology investigation...
Today's award for scientific achievement is won by Andy Jackson
