KEY POINTS:
Five who arrived
* Stephen Larkham (Australia)
Larkham had been on the scene for a couple of years but it was at the World Cup where he established his credentials as a world-class first five. Throughout the tournament he ghosted and probed, off-loaded cleverly and produced an intricate and effective kicking game.
* Christophe Lamaison (France)
His star only fleetingly surfaced, but it was a glorious ascent. The big midfielder destroyed New Zealand in the semifinal with his place-kicking, drop-goals and vision. When you personally contribute so heavily to one of the most memorable 40 minutes in rugby World Cup history, you get given a seat at the top table.
* Agustin Pichot (Argentina)
Argentina were the tournament's overachievers and they overperformed, thanks mainly to a superb pack and the brilliant sniping Pichot at halfback. Strong, brave and so aware of how to play the game, Pichot was an inspiration to the Pumas.
* Brian O'Driscoll (Ireland)
Shining like an emerald in the Irish midfield was the supremely gifted O'Driscoll. Ireland were hugely disappointing except for their No 13 who gave us glimpses of his flashing acceleration, eye for the gap and crunching defence.
* Byron Kelleher (New Zealand)
Kelleher came off the bench against England in the All Blacks second pool game and made things happen. He was full of energy, direct and abrasive, and earned his start in the semifinal.
The best game
New Zealand 31-43 France at Twickenham, London
Er... presumably everyone knows what happened? But just for the record, New Zealand were trundling along and appeared to be in full control when Jonah Lomu made it 24-10 four minutes after half-time. Then, in the space of eight minutes, Christophe Lamaison dropped two goals and kicked two penalties. Two minutes later Christophe Dominici scored a try, Lamaison converted and four minutes after that Richard Dourthe was over. With six minutes remaining Philippe Bernat-Salles brought the 33-point scoring blitz to an end. It also brought the All Blacks World Cup campaign to an end.
The best game we have forgotten
Ireland 24-28 Argentina at Stade Felix Bollaert, Lens
In what was an utter shambles of a tournament, these two teams had to meet in France in a playoff for the quarter-finals. The Irish had been a bit wobbly in the pool round and were outmuscled by a big Pumas pack. Argentina built the pressure up front, used the unerring boot of Gonzalo Quesada to nudge the scoreboard along and, much to everyone's surprise, also managed to play with some width - which was all too much for the Irish.
Five enduring memories:
* A very empty Murrayfield
Supposedly the tournament was hosted by Wales, but pool games were based in Edinburgh, London, Paris and Dublin. Ticket prices were extortionate and games were played midweek during the afternoon. Then there was the stupidity of splitting the 20 teams into five pools of four, creating the need for quarter-final playoffs. When Scotland had to play Samoa on a Tuesday afternoon in one of those quarter-final playoffs, only 9000 people turned up.
* The second coming of Jonah
The big man had dominated the 1995 event and then been troubled with illness for much of the time in between. But the World Cup brought the best out of him again with Lomu scoring a brilliant solo try against England and then two more against France in the semifinal. The sight of six Frenchmen hanging off him as he powered over the line will be hard to forget.
* Paddy's train crash
Fiji were leading 19-13 with 10 minutes to go and were on track to post a major upset. Then New Zealand referee Paddy O'Brien produced the worst display of his career to wrongfully deny Fiji a legitimate try and then miss a forward pass in the lead-up to one French score. Worse was to come when he awarded France a penalty try that was about the softest ever gifted.
* Jannie de Beer's magic boot
By all rights it shouldn't have been any fun watching a side build their game around dropping goals. But it became strangely compelling watching the Boks grind into position for de Beer against England in their Paris quarter-final. The Richie Cunningham from Happy Days lookalike banged over five drop goals.
* The bitter aftermath
Massey offered students grief counselling. Justin Marshall's luggage had 'loser' written on it by baggage staff at Auckland Airport. John Hart received death threats. John Hart's horse received death threats. New Zealand took defeat very hard in 1999 and lost all perspective. It was a bitter, spiteful, ugly reaction to World Cup failure.
