Paris may have its boulevards and wide avenues but on an emotional evening in the French capital, English rugby finally met its match.

Four years ago in Australia, Jonny Wilkinson and Co triumphantly lifted the Webb-Ellis trophy. Fast forward to France 2007 and England came agonisingly close to winning the World Cup again.

Sadly, though, Brian Ashton’s men had to play second fiddle to a South African side who were obviously made of iron and steel. World Cup finals are never the most engrossing of games and this was not an encounter to rave about in years to come.

'In the 70s, the Welsh threw the ball from hand to hand with a blissful panache. Surely the game should be all about quick hands and rip-roaring running'


At the beginning of this Rugby World Cup, the spritely Springboks had ripped England to shreds with a 36-0 thumping that bordered on the humiliating. Now, though, England showed a harder side to their character and the fault lines were rectified.

For those with no idea of the finer nuances of the oval-ball game, this World Cup Final came as a culture shock. However, Rugby Union is still about muscular scrums and blood and thunder tackles - though to the untrained eye this was a huge disappointment.

True, South Africa were obviously far superior in the line-outs, outjumping England at every opportunity. But at no time did the game flow.

Now forgive me here, but rugby is a fast, fluent passing game. Back in the 1970s the Welsh were its finest exponents. They threw the ball from hand to hand with a blissful panache. Surely the game should be all about quick hands and rip-roaring running.

However, for most of this World Cup Final the game was rather like a pendulum. Deep in his own half, Springbok fullback Percy Montgomery picked up the ball and simply belted it into outer space. You almost expected the ball to come down with snow on it.

In the English half, Ashton's men simply returned the compliment. It was a match of huge and high kicking from one end to the other. There were times when this writer scratched his head and longed for a high-quality try.

Most of the front-row forwards were built like houses and the half-backs had thighs like tree trunks. Whenever Mathew Tait or Paul Sackey had the ball, it was rather like waiting for a pub brawl to break out.

White English shirts poured forward and shoulders the size of boulders would pile into a ruck. The game, from an outsiders view was scrappy, messy and stop-start staccato. It was not the game the Welsh or the All Blacks once played.

The fastest man of this World Cup Final was a South African speed merchant named Bryan Habana. When he was paired up with a cheetah, it was the most surreal race of all time and the flying Bok was only just pipped on the line.

But this was a night of South African victory. Some 12 years ago, Nelson Mandela, the nation's most celebrated leader, held aloft the Springboks' first Rugby World Cup.

In front of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Princes Harry and William, they did it again on Saturday night. The green-and-gold Springboks were ready to party and the England finally met their Waterloo. This was not a night for open-top bus celebrations.

Did you think the Final was a letdown? And how would the Welsh team of the 1970s have fared against these Springboks? Post your comments below.