Rugbymania – the replay

“And now the end is here, and so they face the final curtain.”

So England and South Africa will battle it out at the Stade de France this weekend for the glory of lifting the Webb Ellis trophy and being crowned winners of the 2007 Rugby World cup.

Who would have thought? The Springboks presence has not raised too many eyebrows this side of the channel, but England’s narrow defeat of the French in the semis after beating the Wallabies in the quarters is something of a understated surprise.

Meanwwhile National Pride here has been seriously dented and the inevitably excruciating post mortems have dumped a fair deal of the blame on the poor old coach, Bernard Laporte. All he has to look forward to now is a career as sports minister in Sarkozy’s government. Oh that and the prospect of a meaningless playoff for third place.

But let’s not carried away with false pride or unspoken dreams. Instead now’s the chance to take a look back at some of the highlights from the past six weeks.

Highlights indeed from the Tonga team – unfortunately of the follicle variety. When they took to the field in their first match against the United Sates, their players looked as though they had all just popped down to the local salon for something more than a shampoo and set. One burly character sported an Afro any Motown singer of the 60s would surely have been proud of. Another, carefully plucked eyebrows raised in readiness, wore cutesy-pie bunches which were surely donned to give the opposition the wrong impression.

In spite of that, the hairdon’ts deservedly got a rousing standing ovation following their brave performance against the mighty South Africans in their final group match. Maybe there was something in the hairspray!

The Americans of course all looked like clean-cut, square-jawed hunks with decent, proper haircuts, which alas didn’t help their play. Four matches, four losses and one measly bonus point.

Looks and colour co-ordination seemed to be high on the agenda of many of the top teams – a far cry from the good old days!

The Italians and the French looked liked models in homoerotic outfits as they strutted on to the field in their tightly fitting cossies.

And talking about sartorially elegant cloning, why were the Scots and the Kiwis wearing virtually the same strips when they faced each other – a sort of figure-hugging blueish-greyish affair? In fact the only way to tell them apart from a distance was dash of white on the Scottish shorts – oh yes that and the fact that they were getting pulverised.

A special mention of course to the Georgians, who managed one win in spite of wearing shorts that left little or nothing to the imagination.

But the last word on what to wear has to be left to the polemic the French created around the choice of strips for their quarterfinal clash with the Kiwis. It reached gargantuan proportions in the media and only at the last moment were they allowed to don their blue shirts, settling for red shorts and white socks. The All Blacks meanwhile went All Grey yet again, which must explain their defeat.

Another feature of the Coupe du Monde was undoubtedly the pre-match prancing that went on,

While the blood-curdling antics of the All Blacks Haka was enough to put the fear of God into anyone on or off the field (although admittedly the French looked suitably unimpressed) similar attempts to appeal to tradition by Samoa and Tonga fell on largely deaf ears. There simply wasn’t the stature or the follow-through on the pitch.

But perhaps the other countries could learn a trick or two to confuse their opponents in the future. Just imagine the English breaking out the bells and tripping along merrily in a Morris dance – perhaps that would have helped them to score against South Africa in the group match. Ah a strategy for the final!

Or better still, the Irish could show a pretty foot with their own rendition of Lord of the Dance. Now that would really set the pulses racing and, let’s face it, couldn’t really harm their performance.

Off the pitch it was lovely to see one of the world’s major healthcare companies taking such an interest in the game. Commercial breaks during the televised coverage here in France featured two of the country’s most recognisable players promoting the products of one of the official sponsors. And the same company even created a special McRugby burger on sale at all of its eateries. Yum, yum.

Fans who wanted to quaff a quick half at Stade de France had no choice but to cough up €7 or £4.80/$9.70 a bottle. Either that or go without as that sponsor had exclusive rights, although it later had its wrists gently slapped by the organisers for breaching the ban on stadium advertising of alcohol. But just a slight tap as those guys bring in mega-bucks in revenue for any sporting event.

And in this case what an event. After all that’s what the competition was really about and it didn’t disappoint. There were sporting highlights a plenty. Half man half mountain totally awesome - Sébastien Chabal forced his way through a timid Namibian defence (who wouldn’t be frightened of him) as he powered his way to a try. Chabalamania reached new heights throughout the nation (we were informed) and onwards strode the French until it all ended in tears – even for the big man himself.

The pummelling New Zealand gave all their opponents in their group matches notching up 309 points and conceding only 35 – breathtaking. Sadly they ran out of puff in the quarterfinals.

Depleted to just 14 men for just over half the match. Fiji scored a heart-stopping try in the dying minutes of their group decider against Wales. The win saw them squeeze into the quarterfinals, where they held their own for most of the match against the Springboks until the fairy tale ended

But this toughest of games also displayed an elegance and sportsmanship so sadly lacking elsewhere in the sporting world.

The players may be twice the sideways size of their soccer counterparts and the game may be rough, but their behaviour was impeccable. When Peter White, the English referee in the France-Ireland match, found himself caught up in the action, he good-humouredly shook off the bruising shove in the back and got on with the job in hand, looked on by concerned players.

Everyone seemed genuinely moved and proud to be representing their countries- no matter their chances of winning – giants and minnows often tearfully belting out their national anthems before games and winners lining up to applaud losers afterwards.

But the biggest winner after Saturday’s game – no matter whether it’s a repeat for the Roses (don’t bet on it) or an on-field mashing by the Sprinboks – will probably be the capacity crowds who have so often been treated to the glories of the gentlemen’s game and shown their appreciation with standing ovations.