The founder of the Modern Olympics Baron Pierre de Courbertin refereed the first French rugby championship final in 1892.

French second row Abdelatif Benazzi crashed his car on the night that France beat the All Blacks 22-15 in Toulouse in 1995 having played a central part in their victory. One presumes that he took a cab to wherever the French team celebrated last night.

Land of my Fathers, the official World Cup song, has sold close to 200,000 copies three weeks after being launched. It's top of the UK compilation charts and also number one in New Zealand . . . ah, but for how much longer in the Land of the Long White Cloud?