The fitting, final, abiding image of an epic, full-on contest between sporting heavyweights in a World Cup quarter-final was of an elated Jean-Baptiste Elissalde running away from opponents and team-mates alike to hoof the ball into a section of the crowd heavily populated by delirious compatriots.

All previous World Cup winners have had an exceptional player and leader at scrumhalf and the little Toulouse man - along with Fourie du Preez and Agustin Pichot - is rapidly emerging as just that for the hosts. If there was a moment worthy of a Légion d'Honneur - and there were many from all of them - it was of Elissalde straining every sinew to make a scrambling tackle from behind on Nicky Evans in the 67th minute to prevent an 18-13 deficit becoming 25-13.

"I can't forget this image of myself at the end of the game running to the lineout with the ball as I knew the referee was going to end the game," said Elissalde. "I really appreciate this moment and this incredible performance against the best players of the world, even if I'm already thinking of next week's big game."

He spoke of how difficult it was for a son of the famed Toulousain free spirits to play in a tactical straitjacket. "At Toulouse we play with a free spirit, we are encouraged to play as we see the game evolve, and it was very hard to stick to the tactics, but they were working so well we kept reminding ourselves to stick with them."

But, disinclined to hail himself as a tactical genius, coach Bernard Laporte admitted: "If tactics won games then rugby would not be the game it is. This was all about the players. In the first half we didn't play that well, (our) defence was waning. They were walking all over us. We kicked the ball too aimlessly and had to avoid the mistake of playing every ball. But the players were patient, they got back to 13-6. The possession was balanced in the second half and we found space and scored tries."

There was a determined effort to look ahead to the semi-final, Laporte maintaining their objective was to win the World Cup while captain Raphaël Ibañez expressed his delight that two Northern Hemisphere sides had prevented a Tri-Nations monopoly. Nonetheless, he admitted the memory of this win will live with him for a long time.

"At half-time, everybody spoke very well and Bernard said we had to play the most important 40 minutes of our life. That's what happened. Courage and team spirit can make the difference, even in front of the best team in the world."

A disbelieving Richie McCaw simply let his head slump on the shoulders of Ali Williams, himself too stunned to react. Your heart went out to the All Blacks. So much time, effort and great rugby to come up short by two points. New Zealand's magnificent obsession has almost become too overpowering for the All Blacks and you wonder how potentially crushing it could be again on home soil in four years' time.

"I think they defended really well and we made some silly mistakes. We threw some balls that weren't on and knocked on some balls at crucial times. If we had managed to convert those, particularly in the second half, it would have been a bit more comfortable. But the first half I thought we played well. The French in the second half defended really well and we made some mistakes, that was it. C'est la vie."

In describing the mood in the vanquished dressingroom, Anton Oliver added: "I have just finished reading Massacre at Paschendale and also All Quiet on the Western Front. The feeling in the sheds was like no man's land, like it is described in those books. Sort of desolate, decayed, the smell of - I don't want to dramatise it - but death, you know. But that is what it feels like, no man's land, and it is not a nice place to be. There will be lots of people at home who are sharing that as well. So come into no-man's land, and we can have a cup of tea together."

Another abiding source of hurt is that this was this team's last game with so many taking retirement cheques in France or England; Oliver being bound for Toulon. "I didn't want to take my jersey off. It is very, very difficult for me. No one wants to finish their career like this. (We've) bled so much for the country and the team had such high hopes."

Byron Kelleher, son of a Cork emigré, perhaps put it best. "I'm hurting man, we're all hurting," the hurt etched on his face. "Rugby is part of the fabric of New Zealand. It's through rugby New Zealand expresses itself as a country. Back home they have a right to be upset.

"We're hurting. We've let (New Zealand) down, we just hope they can embrace us when we return," said Kelleher, who maintained this defeat was worse than 1999 because this was a superior All Black team.

Ali Williams endeavoured through slightly clenched teeth and watery eyes to put this defeat - likely to have seismic implications on the New Zealand economy and psyche as well as imminent travel plans - into context. "It's only a game," as he would say repeatedly. "If it was predictable we wouldn't play it and nobody would watch it. That's why rugby is so great. It's not the end of the world."

It just felt like it, and recalling the memory of the 2003 semi-final defeat to Australia, he couldn't really say which was worse. "It hasn't really sunk in yet, and it won't for another three or four days."