For the past two months, forget football, forget cricket, for my sporting interest has been primarily been to do with following the 2023 (men’s) Rugby (Union) World Cup, played in France. Last night I watched (on ITV, whose coverage throughout the tournament has been excellent) the final between the two foremost rugby nations – South Africa and New Zealand. And now we know – South Africa are once again the world champions but, in our looking back, let’s start from the beginning …

By that, I mean when I was first introduced to the game of rugby, which is arguably an even more beautiful game than that of football (soccer for my American friends) – which in the early days was characterised by the saying that “football is a gentleman’s game played by thugs and rugby is a thugs game played by gentlemen” – although I do recall back in that day when rugby games were showed on BBC my mother being somewhat amused by the punch ups sometimes seen as well as observing the respect shown to the referee (unlike with football) by the rugby players – no-one worried that, if on the odd occasion, a player argued with the ref and often it resulted in a penalty against his team being advanced 10 yards (I still think in yards even though metres is now usually used).

When I was aged 11, I went to secondary school, and there I played rugby and I even made it into the school team. When I was aged 12, we moved house and I went to a school that did not play rugby and, other than with a few friendlies, I never played the game again. I could have played for my college, who at the time were short of players, but I chose hockey instead. I have played many sports in my time (never particularly well despite participating with enthusiasm) and rugger is the one sport I missed playing most. Other than that, I have been a life-long, top flight rugby follower.

But back to the 2023 world cup … It wasn’t until this prestigious tournament began that I started to get excited. I was a bit reticent that it would take just under two months to complete, with four pools of five, with teams in a pool playing other teams and the top two teams in each pool advancing. Once the competition begun, with hosts, France, playing and beating what many fancied as tournament favourites, as much due to their past pedigree, New Zealand, I was riveted, watching many of the pool games, regretting games were only played at the weekend while recognising the need for sufficient rest and recovery time. Not only did New Zealand lose their first game but so did South Africa against Ireland, but then it didn’t matter as the idea was simply to qualify from the group to the quarter finals, with the aim to peak as a team at the end, but it is here when the fun really begins as it is knock out from then on.

When we look at the pools, they did include the best teams in the world: all six who play in the annual Northern Hemisphere “Six Nations”, all four who play in the annual the Southend Hemisphere “Four Nations” tournament, with the remaining ten teams being the best of the rest, which had to qualify in order to participate. (While rugby could go the way of football and have more teams in order to widen interest, on reflection the current format is correct. I like the idea of looking to involve lesser teams more between world cups with the proposal that every two years there will be a two-division world competition.) The teams were seeded according to how they were rated after the last World Cup, with the expectation that (on paper) the best teams will advance to the knock-out phase.

I enjoyed watching the games. Often the lesser teams put in quality performances. Other than Australia not qualifying, there were no surprises. Teams like Scotland might have felt hard done by but they were up against two of the best teams in the competition: Ireland and South Africa. A pleasant surprise was how well England did, winning all their games, despite low expectations. I loved that the games played were in the right spirit, with plenty of examples of sportsmanship on show, notably in the Tonga South Africa game.

When we look at the quarter final line-up, notably the best four teams were drawn against each other. I confess to being of the view, from their showing in the pool games, that Ireland and France were the best two teams in the competition, and if the two were to play each other it would have made a fitting final. But it was not to be. Ireland succumbed to New Zealand and France lost to South Africa. Both were enthralling, closely run spectacles and either side could have prevailed. As for the other quarter finals, England beat Fiji and Argentina beat Wales. Both wins were still close but deserved.

This brings us to the semi-finals. New Zealand beat Argentina by a big margin and it was a dominant performance. South Africa beat England by one point (the same margin as the game before and the game after). As I reflect on the two games, while New Zealand were outstanding and ruthless, England who were in the lead for most of their game, played well but will have been disappointed they lost – but all credit has to go to South Africa, who were magnificent.  

So onto the final that took place yesterday, but before that the third place final (the one that teams would rather they did not have to play in). England were deserved victors over Argentina in a competitive game although not as exciting as some of the games mentioned above. As for the final – it was a game worthy of a final. While this was a game more for the connoisseurs rather than those who look for thrills, it did not disappoint. While New Zealand ran them close and might have caused an upset, South Africa had what it took to win. I loved their intelligent, brave and excellent approach.

As with all the games that I watched, the referring assisted by linesmen and ever present TMO was of a high standard. I loved the way Wayne Barnes communicated with the players. Surprisingly, there were four yellow cards and a red one, in a game that was not dirty despite minor deliberate fouls (seen and not seen by the officials). As for the cards, these were for what the rules would class as dangerous rather than cynical play. Throughout the tournament, there were many outstanding performances but if I were to cite one who stood out for me it was South Africa’s captain, Siya Kolosi. I loved his humility and respect for the game and its traditions, plus his realisation he was representing his country.  

But to summarise, I believe the two teams in the final were the ones who most deserved to be there, not just because of their traditions but the way they approached this tournament. Congratulations to South Africa and commiserations to New Zealand. It was a memorable World Cup and I am glad to have watched many of the games. The question for me is what to do now it is all over?