All Blacks and Sarkozy among the losers of Rugby World Cup

But since we live in a world in which, perversely, bad news travels farther than its opposite, the losers receive top billing today - and no one lost more at the tournament than the New Zealand All Blacks, with the possible exception of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

 Entering the tournament, once again, as the heavy favourites for the title, the All Blacks disappointed their many fans, once again, by being ousted in the quarter-finals by France.

 It must be said that New Zealand were very unlucky to lose. The International Rugby Board (IRB) said the English match referee Wayne Barnes missed three important infractions, including an illegal forward pass on the play that led to France's winning try.

 The All Blacks will almost certainly be favoured, yet again, to win the 2011 World Cup, which they will host.

 The outspoken Sarkozy, as well as France head coach Bernard Laporte, his good friend, also lost feathers during the tournament.

 The French president is almost fanatically media-conscious, and sought to take advantage of the positive exposure he expected the tournament - and France's success in it - to generate.

 To that end, he had nominated Laporte to become junior minister for sports once the tournament ended. Unfortunately, France lost the opening match to Argentina, were ousted by the English in the semi-finals and were badly beaten, again by the Pumas, in Friday's third-place playoff match.

 In addition, according to the weekly Le Nouvel Observateur, a soon-to-be-published book by journalist Karim Nedjari alleges that Sarkozy made a deal with the French television station TF1 (which is owned by another good friend of his, Martin Bouygues) to be seen on-screen whenever the French team did well or scored a try.

 As a result he was almost invisible during France's defeats to England and Argentina, and during Saturday's final he was seen only once, before the trophy ceremony, and he looked very grim indeed.

 This was no doubt because of his highly publicized divorce, announced on Thursday, which combined with France's mediocre performances to make it a truly black week for him.

 Laporte, who will join Sarkozy's government on Monday, was heavily criticised by the media and by some of his players for the strategy he used against England in the 14-9 semifinal loss.

 His team looked in disarray on Friday, when Argentina thrashed them 34-10 in the third-place match, and the players were jeered off the field by 60,000 disappointed fans.

 To make matters worse, on the same day the website of the daily L'Equipe reported that Laporte was the target of a wide-ranging investigation for embezzlement and fraud in his various business activities.

 The tournament's big winners are certainly South Africa, the most complete team, and Argentina, the most passionate side in the World Cup.

 Until the final, which was decided by defence, the Boks played total rugby, exciting on offence with their speedy wings Bryan Habana and JP Pieterson, perfect in the line-outs, tenacious in the breakdowns and fierce on defence.

 They had the tournament's leading scorer in fullback Percy Montgomery, with 105 points, and its top try-maker, Habana, with eight.

 Argentina came to the tournament to make a statement about its right to be considered among the world's elite, and did precisely that, displaying a stout, opportunistic defence, passionate commitment and arguably the world's best fly half in Juan Martin Hernandez.

 An invitation to a major annual tournament, such as the Six Nations in Europe or the Tri Nation in the Southern Hemisphere, is inevitable and more than deserved. In addition, the Pumas' performance surely made many potential Maradonas in Argentina consider changing their sport.

 Other winners in the tournament were the so-called rugby minnows, such as Portugal, a side composed largely of amateurs who showed plenty of courage in their 108-13 loss to New Zealand and impressed by scoring a try against what was then billed as the best team in the world.

 After Portugal lost to Scotland, New Zealand writer Donna Gee wrote on the All Blacks' website, "I've never seen a team honour their national flag with so much pride and passion."

   The Pacific Island teams also shone, particularly Tonga, which gave both England and South Africa fits, and Fiji, which went through to the quarter-finals, where they lost to South Africa 37-20.

 Finally, the sport of rugby was certainly a winner. On the biggest stage in its history, with people watching from around the world, the matches were largely entertaining, often truly exciting and, most important, considering its potential for violent play, very sporting.