Seven things we’ve learned from the rugby World Cup

New Zealanders can teach the world a lot about sportsmanship. Steve Hansen after last Saturday’s All Blacks defeat by England in the World Cup semi-final showed the uncomplaining loser can be just as impressive as the triumphant winner. As he put it: ‘Winning’s easy…[but] when you lose… you have to show humility, do it gracefully and be honest about it. Sometimes you have to bite down on your gumshield and suck it up.’

The Springboks have put rugby back several decades. Big, beastly, and brutal, they made the first half of their semi-final with Wales almost unwatchable. Afterwards the Wales hierarchy talked about losing the ‘arm-wrestle’: but why are Wales trying to arm-wrestle? Schoolboys in the valleys dream of being Barry John, not arm-wrestling champions.

You can’t win anything without a strong back row and a second row titan. In 2003 England won the trophy with Richard Hill, Neil Back and Lawrence Dallaglio, and Martin Johnson titanic in the second row. Now it’s Tom Curry, Sam Underhill and Billy Vunipola playing rugby from a different planet, fast, brave and ferocious, while Maro Itoje is leaving the Kiwis for dead, so to speak. This meant the England back line could operate with freedom and enterprise as the New Zealanders were forced to defend.

A witty coach is a winning coach. Eddie Jones is funny, mischievous and intense, but never boring, from the V-for-victory (as well as something else) formation to cheery put-downs of irritating questioners and even Warren Gatland ( ‘Send my best to Warren to make sure he enjoys the third-place play-off’). Jones says you have to embrace tough decisions, but be prepared to treat every player as if they were your son. The level of the respect between the top coaches (all southern hemisphere) is fascinating.