It’s all over bar the inquests and reviews. New Zealand are the World Champions….. just. It wasn’t the greatest final ever but it certainly had you on the edge of your seat. I honestly thought France would win the game with twenty minutes to go. But poor decision making and great defence proved to be the deciding factors.

The weight of expectation may well have been a factor on the All Blacks below par performance, but I think credit must go the French who took on and match the hosts in every department. I couldn’t help thinking that it should have been England in that final, and I still believe an England team in that type of arm wrestle could have come home as champions.

Unfortunately that was not to be and New Zealand have been duly crowned as winners of the 2011 World Cup.

Haydn