All Black captain Richie McCaw, Steve Hansen and Ian Foster parade with the Webb Ellis Cup. Photo / Getty Images
World Cup marketers will organise special seminars to discuss whether interest in the 2015 tournament was huge, over-whelming or something similar. It was substantial, with nearly 2.5 million tickets sold, and 120 million people tuned into global television coverage of the final. Fears the tournament would struggle with England's early exit did not eventuate and the energy continued to the conclusion. Argentina's rollicking army of fans stirred by the stocky Maradona, England's Swing Low mob, France's splash and dash, the joy from all the Pacific Island nations, Japan's gallantry, the Irish drowning out Cardiff with their fervour matched by their hosts' singing. Festivities went on for six weeks, garnished by lively opening and closing ceremonies.
No one saw this coming in Brighton, not in the fourth game of the tournament. A few might have whispered some vain hope but this was the two-time tournament champion Springboks up against a lower-level nation. The Boks picked a side with 888 caps, recent Four Nations work and the leadership of Jean de Villiers against a Japanese side organised in micro-detail by spikey coach Eddie Jones. Japan ignored penalty kick options for a draw in a chase for victory and deep in injury time, worked the ball into space to send Karne Hesketh in at the corner. Japan's 34-32 victory was the greatest shock in World Cup history. "We stuck at it and had the courage at the end to go for the try ... it's just fantastic," coach Eddie Jones said. "I had to look at the score at the end of the game to see if it was true or not."
England lasted three games and 16 days before they walked through the exit door at their own tournament. The multi-million pound campaign was knocked off its axis by Wales, then pushed into the abyss by the Wallabies before an ignominious final outing against Uruguay. Listening to the pre-match hyperbole about England's chances and watching reality unfold was a lesson for all those who work around the top levels in their rugby scene. Contracting coach Stuart Lancaster until 2020 and fast-tracking Sam Burgess from league were prime examples of poor decisions. Burgess has now gone and Lancaster may not be far behind. England fans brought their A-game throughout, while Wayne Barnes ran touch in the final and Jason Leonard had a hand in the closing ceremony.
Last hurrahs are difficult for everyone except those with a winners' medal draped around their neck. Richie McCaw, Tony Woodcock, Keven Mealamu, Daniel Carter, Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith were the high-profile All Black leavers, with Colin Slade and Ben Franks also checking out. They carry good vibes into their next labours while a number of greats who checked out of the international game did so with varying levels of satisfaction. Springbok captain Jean de Villiers returned from a knee injury to lead his side into a humiliating loss to Japan and then broke his jaw against Samoa to continue a disturbing pattern of curtailed involvement in four World Cups. Victor Matfield, new skipper Fourie du Preez and the Du Plessis brothers left after finishing third. Skipper Paul O'Connell needed hamstring surgery before Ireland lost in the quarters.
Remember taunts from England in 2003 when they beat the All Blacks at the CakeTin with two men in the bin? This time the under-manned Wallaby defence continued their 11-game hex over Wales which gave them what was deemed an easier quarter-final against Scotland. The Wallabies had a slim 12-6 lead before Will Genia and Dean Mumm went to the bin for professional fouls. During those frenetic times Talupe Faletau had the ball knocked from his grasp over the line and huge wing George North was held up before he could ground the ball. Wales lost their chances against an unbending stubborn line and when the Wallabies countered, Bernard Foley added a penalty to kick them clear. "I'm not quite sure how we managed it, but I'm glad we did," Wallaby coach Michael Cheika said.
World Rugby was on the warpath against foul play. After strong directives to the referees, almost 50 players went to the sinbin, a number were banned, while Uruguay's Agustin Ormaechea was sent off for two yellow cards in the game against Fiji. The All Blacks were not immune with captain McCaw the first to be binned, followed by Conrad Smith, Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino and Ben Smith. World Rugby trumped their heavy-handed directive after the Wallabies' controversial final-minute win against Scotland when they issued a statement confirming referee Craig Joubert had made a mistake. World Rugby boss Brett Gosper defended it as a response to questions about the use of the TMO. "We made a clarification. If there's any regret, it's the perception we may have thrown him [Joubert] under a bus, which certainly wasn't our intent." Guess what?
After four pool-game victories of varying quality, the All Blacks unfurled a different grade of rugby. They started with a sturdy win against the Pumas, then peeled away Namibia, Georgia and Tonga without finding long periods of great rhythm. There were teasing patches of the All Blacks' talent at Wembley, the Olympic Stadium, Cardiff and Newcastle, while away from everyone except the staff's eyes, they were holding weekly games to challenge ideas, their fitness and combinations. That all came to maturity in the grudge Cardiff quarter-final against France when they obliterated their rivals 62-13. It served as a "take that" moment for the rest of the All Blacks' rivals. They steadied and stayed staunch against the Boks before a two-section blast to the 34-17 final triumph against the Wallabies. Timed their run? You betcha.
Gaffes? There were plenty but so far, none to entangle the All Blacks who worked extra-hard throughout the tournament on their public profile. Coach Steve Hansen led that work with his humour and observations, while McCaw and his men followed and should look back and admire the value of that off-field commitment. Memorable mess-ups from others include Wallaby coach Michael Cheika inadvertently parading notes about his game plan for the final, Heyneke Meyer and his frothy work in the coaches' box, an embarrassed Joe Launchbury being voted man of the match in England's heavy loss to the Wallabies and a system which initially banned Alesana Tuilagi for five weeks for a knee raise and warned England's Tom Wood for lashing out with his foot which knocked out Liam Williams.
Karne Hesketh's match-winning try for Japan against the Boks had everything. It was deep in injury time, Japan had taken a scrum in their search for history and manoeuvred their wing in at the corner. Fiji's Vereniki Goneva scored a cracker as he and a couple of teammates broke from inside their 22 against Wales, slipped a couple of passes and seven defenders before diving across the line. The Wallabies' inside-outside play between Kurtley Beale and Bernard Foley was an ultra-crisp piece of precision against England for the five-eighths to score, while Canada's useful wing DTH van de Merwe had the most initials and a ripper try against Italy when he tracked his inside pass to cut past several defenders. Welsh halfback Gareth Davies' support play down the fat man's track at Twickenham brought him the crucial try against England after an old-fashioned centre kick from part-time wing Lloyd Williams.
World Cups are remembered for breakthrough players. All Black wing Nehe Milner-Skudder was that man for the All Blacks. Capped twice earlier in the season, he skipped past the injury-restricted Waisake Naholo and started six of the side's seven games. M-Skud zipped in for six tries with his speed, shimmering footwork and strong instincts the new rocket-launcher in the All Blacks backfield. His spirit, courage and natural way of playing was a joyous watch. He led the tournament in line-breaks and running metres and was honoured at the World Rugby awards with Breakthrough Player of the Year.
Steve Hansen has been a revelation since he stretched his coaching talents from provincial rugby to the international landscape.
He altered his attitude to the holistic challenge of sports coaching and led his All Blacks group with common sense, spirit and a thirst for improvement. His skills across a complex range of issues have been a feature of his leadership.
But I'm not convinced about his plans to hand over the head coaching title when his contract expires.
Hansen likes the concept of changing coach midway through a World Cup cycle and sees the 2017 end of his contract as the ideal time to install his successor.
"I think when people come in, it is easy to get some really dramatic shift early on and it's a lot harder to keep that momentum going," he said.
"Also, for a long time, we have put everything on the World Cup as the centre, but unless you've got real strength of character, you can be tricked into making decisions which are right for your survival, as opposed to what is right for the team."
I understand that philosophy and see the value in Hansen's scheme. He and his coaching panel would have time to run their eyes across next year's Super Rugby series, pick some new men to settle in beside the test players and go about the next stage of their coaching business.
Two years on with the team set for the run towards the 2019 RWC in Japan, Hansen could hand over to his successor. It would be someone else continuing Hansen's work.
Presumably that would be assistant Ian Foster if he is ambitious about taking charge of the All Blacks. If not, then NZR would need to appoint a new head coach whose ideas may not run through the same channels as Hansen's.
NZR has agreed to Hansen's 2017 arrangement, however I would encourage both groups to think again over summer.
If Hansen doesn't see himself pushing this side towards the next World Cup, wouldn't it be more appropriate to let a new coach - Foster or someone else - run through his gamut of ideas and learn steadily, rather than dive into a two-season pressure-cooker run.
Two more years of Hansen is two more years of his over-arching influence on the All Blacks. That's no bad thing from a bloke who has taken them to 49 wins from their last 54 tests.
Unclipping Hansen's All Blacks umbilical cord then will generate natural uncertainty about the impact of his successor and the team.
Former All Blacks' frustrations began before he coached his first All Blacks test.