Rugby World Cup

Thank you and goodnight

Thu, 25 Oct 2007 11:18:32 +0000

London - The Rugby World Cup blog is now closed for comments.

Thanks to all of you for reading - we have had some 10 million page views since launching back on 28 August. And particular thanks to all who have written in to share their thoughts with us.

You can continue to get your blog fix on our Editors, TMS and Mihir Bose blogs.

And keep your eyes peeled for new blogs in 2008, which will be a phenomenally busy sporting year. Olympics, Euro 2008, Ryder Cup... Bring it on!

Now That's What I Call Tom and Ben (in photos)

Tue, 23 Oct 2007 09:01:48 +0000

Hang out the bunting, strike up the band, Tom and Ben are home.

Not quite in a jet draped with flags, awaiting a press corps and tumult of fans, more in a campervan, on a ferry, still wearing those flip-flops. And that vest. Probably.

So here's a best of Fordyce & Dirs, in photos and links to remind you of the past seven weeks' adventure.

You can check out all of their photos on flickr.com.

Heading back to old Blighty

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 21:44:27 +0000

Calais ferry port, Monday morning - C’est tout. Seven weeks to the day that we set sail from Dover, hope in our hearts and three clean pairs of socks apiece in our luggage, the time has come for Ben and me to go home.

It’s a very quiet Bloggernaut the pair of us sit in today. For once the well-known brand of mp3 player is silent, the rugby ball motionless on the floor.

The rear of the campervan, as always, looks like a cross between an abandoned refugee camp and an explosion in a pant factory.

Best job in the world

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 13:08:49 +0000

Paris, Sunday - My mother phoned me this morning and asked me what I want for dinner on Monday night.

Mrs Dirs is a quality cook, but that’s not what I wanted to hear the morning after England played in a World Cup final. This trip is over. Make mine a roast or I think I’ll start crying.

My initial reaction to England’s defeat was pretty childish: “bothered”. Like most of the England fans still partying at 6am on Sunday morning, I was just happy to be there.

The Bloggys

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 07:23:30 +0000

Waterloo station/ a cross channel ferry, Monday - As a final parting World Cup gift, myself, Tom and Ben (remember them?) thought we'd dish out a few prizes from the last seven weeks. First prize goes to all of you, obviously, for reading and joining in and making the blog what it is.

But after you lot, there have been some outstanding, and not so clever, achievements. Here's just a few. Let's call them "The Bloggys". (See if you can spot who wrote which ones!)

Team of the Rugby World Cup

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:59:44 +0000

Well, it’s all over folks. Forty-eight matches, 44 days, 12 different venues and one winner.

South Africa took the ultimate honour, but many other teams and players gave us plenty of memories to sustain us through until New Zealand 2011.

So if you were picking a composite side from all the 20 nations competing in France, who would make it into your team of the tournament?

I’ve canvassed the opinions of my colleagues in BBC Sport who have contributed to this blog over the last seven weeks, and this is our selection...

Where do England go now?

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:06:01 +0000

Paris – I doubt whether planning for the future of the England team was foremost in the minds of the bleary-eyed fans I saw wandering around the streets of Paris this morning.

After all the partying and heartbreak that accompanied Saturday’s World Cup final against South Africa, simply getting home was as far ahead as these weary souls were prepared to look.

But as journalists gathered for player interviews in the bowels of the Stade de France late on Saturday night, some were already looking to next year’s Six Nations.

Picking an England team

Sun, 21 Oct 2007 18:38:28 +0000

London - England's World Cup final defeat brings to the end another era and there will be a new-look side when the team take on Wales in the Six Nations opener on 2 February.

Not wholesale changes, maybe, but Jason Robinson has already retired, while others could follow in the coming months. Brian Ashton - or whoever is the coach by then - will have free rein to start again with his selection.

We asked you earlier on Mark Orlovac's blog from Paris to send in your ideas of England's Six Nations starting XV.

From a very rough survey of about 20 replies, we've compiled the following composite England side.

England's World Cup dream dies

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:22:34 +0000

Stade de France, midnight on Saturday - Can I make this blog sigh? Can I make this page shed a soft tear? Can I make these words jump off the screen and link arms with you?

Tonight, the nerve-frying, heart-squeezing, bone-shaking dream that has been England’s World Cup wonderland finally came to rest.

At a Stade de France so cold the claps froze on your fingers, the Springboks did exactly what Brian Ashton’s boys had done for the last four weeks – held firm, made no mistakes, poured on the pressure and picked the enemy off with penalties.

England v South Africa ratings

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 23:09:44 +0000

Paris - Hello all. I watched the final alongside my colleague Mark Orlovac at the Stade de France and rated the South African players. "Orlo" was in charge of England. Here's how we scored them.

Do you agree? Let us know your thoughts.

And rugby was the winner...

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 08:22:00 +0000

So it’s all over. After all the waiting, the hype and all the expectation, the tournament seemed to pass in the blink of an eye and leaves us with another four years to dwell over the next one.

What a tournament it was though. I think in hindsight, it will be regarded as the best yet for a number of reasons.

Five-a-side rugby anyone?

Sat, 20 Oct 2007 08:13:23 +0000

Honesty is the best thing I think. You see, the editor of the blog wants us all to pick our team of the tournament.

But I don’t want to. I want to talk about how rugby needs to get its act together. From a rugby point of view, this has been the worst ever world cup.

It's the final countdown!

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:22:22 +0000

Paris, Friday evening - Right – let’s get down to business.

Like my Bloggernaut compadre Dirsy, my nerves are currently clanging like a fire engine bell.

And while Ben is dealing with his personal squeaky-bum hour by splitting his time equally between the bathroom and his packet of cigarettes, I’m going for the classic diversionary tactics.

Rather than torturing myself with the thought of how I’ll feel if I don’t get a ticket, I’m drawing up a provisional timetable for Saturday’s shenanigans.

Mind games, James Bond and Gordon Brown

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:32:14 +0000

Paris - For a man supposedly not comfortable with the media spotlight, England coach Brian Ashton played a blinder on Friday.

In Friday's final news conference before England play South Africa in Saturday’s World Cup final, Ashton did not look like a man just 80 minutes of rugby away from writing his name in the history books.

He was calm, funny and relaxed, and dare I say it, could he have even been playing a few mind games ahead of the clash at the Stade de France?

Better a Thinker than a Blessed...

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:50:31 +0000

Paris – Friday - Different players find different ways of preparing for a big match.

Some smash their heads repeatedly against the changing room wall, some insist on grabbing team-mates by the collars and bawling in their faces. Some, usually the backs, prefer to sit quietly in the corner or go for a wander.

In my playing days, I was what you might call a 'Thinker', spending hours sat on the toilet, in the same pose as Rodin’s masterpiece, feeling sick and wondering how I managed to find myself so out of my depth.