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RUGBY WORLD CUP: French experience mixed emotions

France coach Bernard Laporte pulls a face at the end of the rugby union World Cup third place playoff match against Argentina at the Parc des Princes in Paris on Friday. France lost 10-34. PHOTO: AFP

France's first hosting of rugby's World Cup will leave drastically mixed emotions on the home front.

The six-week long tournament was superbly organized, the grounds were packed, and there was color and drama aplenty.

But the script that had the French hosts taking on the mighty All Blacks in the final in Paris failed to materialize as Bernard Laporte's men collapsed before the might of England's veteran pack in the last four.

It was a nightmare result that plunged the country into despair just one week after the euphoria that followed the upset win over New Zealand in the quarter-finals in Cardiff.

The 34-10 thrashing at the hands of Argentina in the third-place playoff on Friday completed the humiliation and Laporte will now step away from the job he has had for the last eight years to join the government as a junior sports minister.

Laporte knew all along that anything short of delivering a first World Cup win for France would be seen as a failure, but he must have hoped for a glossier finish than what he experienced in the fiasco against Argentina.

"We are fourth and we wanted to be first," he said. "But we are still fourth. We beat the best team in the world [the All Blacks] but it wasn't enough because we wanted to be first. We are not the best in the world otherwise we would have won."

"What I felt is that it is an exceptional group of men who had values and it was a joy to coach them. The players were fabulous and still want to improve. It's wonderful to share such strong emotions; in pain or happiness," he said.

The search for a new coach is now on and new players will be needed as well with veterans such as Fabien Pelous, Raphael Ibanez, Serge Betsen and Christophe Dominici unlikely to play again at international level.

What also remains to be seen is whether the huge surge in popular support in France for rugby that crystalized during the World Cup is maintained.
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