KEY POINTS:
Five who arrived
* Jonah Lomu (New Zealand)
There was one undisputed star of this World Cup. It was all about Jonah. It had to be - he played the game as it had never been played.
He ran over people and round people but mainly the former, which was an astonishing sight. There never has been, and maybe never will be, a more exhilarating sight than the All Black wing at that tournament.
Legend has it that Kerry Packer was lukewarm about buying broadcast rights for professional rugby until he saw Lomu destroy England.
* Josh Kronfeld (New Zealand)
The gargantuan block of muscle in the All Black No 11 shirt was hard to miss. But as the tournament went on, it became apparent that on the few occasions Lomu was brought down, there was an omnipresent Josh Kronfeld to secure possession and continue the momentum.
Europeans weren't so keen on genuine tailgunning opensides in the early 1990s, but, by the end of the tournament, Kronfeld had changed everyone's minds and, all of a sudden, smaller, faster, ball-scrappers were all the rage.
* Joe Roff (Australia)
Just 19 and still very much learning the game, it was apparent that Joseph Ward Cosmos Roff had significant potential as an outside back.
He scored a try on his debut against Canada and looked a real handful on those South Africa grounds. He was obviously raw but the pace, the power, the timing... it was all there.
* Mark Andrews (South Africa)
Andrews didn't quite fit the bill as a typical Springbok lock. He was supremely athletic, spring-heeled and mobile enough to hold down a place at No 8.
As the tournament wore on, he became the key forward in South Africa's arsenal with his faultless aerial work and heavy presence in the loose.
* Rolando Martin (Argentina)
The Pumas turned up in South Africa with one of the best packs in the competition. They were rugged, mobile and skilled - none more so than the unlikely looking Martin at blindside flanker.
With his bald head and relatively slight stature he fooled a lot of people into thinking he wasn't quite test material. He was tough as nails though, as two burglars in Buenos Aires discovered when they shot him as they tried to steal his car, only for Martin to chase them away.
The best game
New Zealand 45-29 England
At Newlands, Cape Town
The scoreline flatters England - this game was long over by halftime and New Zealand led 35-0 at one stage.
Jonah Lomu gave the most devastating display ever seen when he scored four tries and Zinzan Brooke chipped in with a staggering on-the-hoof drop goal that soared over from 40 metres out.
The All Blacks were fired up from the kick-off and had vowed to make amends for the 1993 loss to England at Twickenham which ended with bad blood between the two sides.
It was power rugby at its best and poor old England, with their juggernaut pack, just couldn't live with the pace or skill.
The best game we have forgotten
England 23-22 Western Samoa
At Kings Park, Durban
Everyone remembers Samoa from 1991 where they were the darlings of the tournament. But maybe forgotten was how close they came to another massive upset four years later, when they took England all the way.
The Poms didn't like the aggression of the Samoan tackling or the way their opponents could reduce the game to a contest of skill rather than a procession of set-pieces.
England, to their credit, got stuck in, stopped panicking and managed to get Rory Underwood over twice.
Five enduring memories
* Scotland in the townships
It was a different time, an era when players still saw what they did in their time off the field as the important part of touring.
The Scots took a coaching clinic outside Johannesburg and the picture of the beaming schoolchild who caught Gavin Hastings's best up and under was one that summed up the new hope in South Africa.
* Max Brito
The Ivory Coast fullback became the first, and hopefully last, player to be paralysed at test level in the final pool game against Tonga.
He was running out of defence just three minutes into the game when he was tackled by Inoke Afeaki. Tongan players piled in, legitimately, but Brito's vertebrae had already been irreparably damaged.
* Mandela's Bok jersey
No one could ever forget Nelson Mandela's appearance at Ellis Park, complete with Springbok jersey. It was the sight of Mandela, in that green jersey, that made a nation believe in themselves.
* Mike Catt goes splat
It's the video reel that we will never tire of seeing. Jonah Lomu, in full flight, opting to run straight at England's Mike Catt who was the last line of defence.
Lomu barely lost momentum as he ran over the top of the unfortunate fullback, leaving him on the Cape Town turf like a piece of road kill.
The episode was all the more satisfying because the UK tabloids had been full of Catt boasting about how he would bring the big man down.
* That drop goal
Can't go past Joel Stransky's extra-time winner. The final was a titanic clash. There were times when it felt as if there was never going to be a winner. Massive respect to Stransky for staying solid and landing the pressure kick.
