Rugby:If fortune really does favour the brave, the French rugby team have every right to feel aggrieved after their roller coaster World Cup campaign was ended in the final by New Zealand.

Dismissed by everyone but themselves, the rank outsiders played with enormous hearts but ultimately came up short by a single point, as the nervy All Blacks won their second World Cup 24 years after their first.

"Obviously we are very, very sad about the result," French captain and man-of-the-match Thierry Dusautoir said after the 8-7 Eden Park defeat.

"But we were lucky in previous matches, so... that is part of sport... that is part of the game."

The French are the only team to reach a rugby World Cup final having lost two matches in the pool stage - and they rode their luck in their semi-final win over Wales.

Although their good fortune finally ran out, both Dusautoir and coach Marc Lievremont said the French had much to be proud of.

"Whatever the result, I am very, very proud of the lads for tonight and for all of the competition," the captain said.

The French World Cup campaign had been beset by internal division and spats between the players and coach, but squad members have consistently said these differences, and widespread criticism levelled at them, had made them stronger.

"We have been through some difficult moments," Dusautoir said. "We have been criticised. But today we were strong and we showed that rugby is not just skills... it is also mental.

"Although perhaps today we needed more skills," he smiled. "Tonight, everybody was nervous... them and us. There were 30 guys on the pitch and I think they were all scared. We rode our luck as best we could but we failed by one point."

Lievremont has been charming, loquacious and, at times, outspoken throughout the tournament. He has never shied away from speaking his mind, and caused a stir after the semi-finals when he branded a section of his squad "spoiled brats".

But as he sat alongside his captain, his suit slightly rumpled, his features slightly fallen, he had just two words when asked what he would like to say to his squad after his last match in charge: "thank you".