Rugby Union: Glory Tune on Australia Day

IT WAS A case of before the Lord Mayor's Show. It was perhaps too fanciful to hope that the last match could come close to the heights of the two semi-finals. It was certainly no great shakes as a game of rugby and it was not the showcase we had hoped for, but at least the right name has gone on the Webb Ellis Cup.

If Owen Finegan's injury-time try, which Matt Burke converted for a personal total of 25 points, gave a totally false impression of Australia's superiority on the day, they have nevertheless proved themselves to be the most accomplished all-round side in the tournament and, by definition, the world.

They have possessed the physical requirements from stem to stern, unfailing belief in each other, and the vision and imagination which so many of their opponents have lacked. Yesterday they brought the French, whose application of those qualities had destroyed the All Blacks, firmly back to earth. Cloud Nine, on which they have been sitting since that unforgettable afternoon at Twickenham, evaporated as the Australians systematically strangled the life out of them.

The French tried all they knew, all their tricks and subtle touches, together with the blazing speed of their wingers, Philippe Bernat-Salles and Christophe Dominici, to shake themselves free from the claustrophobic presence of the Australian defenders, but for all their pace and invention the gaps were never there to exploit.

Having leaked just one try in the entire tournament, the Wallabies were not about to start haemorrhaging now. The oxygen pumped into the French game by the All Blacks last week was denied them yesterday and as a first half of fitful play, fractured by innumerable penalties and interminable lectures from the South African referee Andre Watson came to its close, the life force began to drain from them.

There are only so many bruises that a body can take from monsters like Toutai Kefu, David Wilson, Matt Cockbain and Finegan, and no one could accuse the French of shirking the less appealing chores. They did their defensive duty, none more effectively than Olivier Magne, whose tackle on Kefu rearranged the landscape of the Frenchman's face. His nose was so badly cut that he was required to go off for running repairs and returned to the field looking for all the world like the man in the iron mask. But he continued to play mightily.

Nothing less would have held these Wallabies. How is it that a country whose cultural peaks start and end with Rolf Harris and Waltzing Matilda can produce the thrilling brilliance of Tim Horan? Having spent the last week working out ways of stopping the player who had tormented the Springboks, the French still could not contain him. If he wasn't quite so conspicuous in open play he was no less of a threat in breaching the first tackle and creating a platform for his support runners.

The Australians are never more dangerous than when they are allowed to build up momentum, and it is to France's great credit that it wasn't until the final quarter that we saw them at their best. One of Horan's breaks would certainly have produced a try, but with only a skeleton staff on duty, the French defence came deliberately offside. Burke kicked his second penalty but Australia deserved more. There is perhaps something wrong with a game in which so much skill can be displayed to no avail.

The Australians, once they had dampened the early French zeal, pulled a trick or two from their sleeves, first when Stephen Larkham weaved his way up to the line and later in the second half when Joe Roff, a devilishly hard man to hold, came in on the end of a dazzling midfield manoeuvre. Regrettably, neither move produced a try but both ended in penalty kicks which Burke converted. But every time he took Australia into the comfort zone of a nine-point lead, Christophe Lamaison brought the French back into range.

It wasn't until 13 minutes before the end that a hole appeared in the dyke. The increasing ferocity of the Australian driving was clearly taking its toll on the French. By now the Wallabies were finding it easier to recycle the ball quickly enough to get their big men into space and to give them a tilt at the opposition's threequarters.

George Gregan, who has proved himself to be a scrum- half without equal, grabbed the ball from the heels of his forwards, danced out of a tackle and found Horan at his elbow. Finegan took Horan's pass before releasing Tune for the corner for the first try. Burke's conversion from the touchline sealed the match.

For the French to have reached the inspirational heights of last week, they would have required more than a little help from their foes and there was never the remotest chance of that. Nevertheless, it will be one of the enduring mysteries of this World Cup that a side so distracted and hopelessly disunited for three-quarters of the tournament could achieve the height of their performance against the All Blacks.

If this was a match too far they were by no means disgraced and have, by virtue of making it to the final, reclaimed some of the ground lost during the past five weeks by the northern hemisphere. They have unearthed a composed and effective half-back combination in Lamaison and Fabien Galthie and if Emile Ntamack hardly looked the complete article as a centre they possess two of the fastest and most dangerous wings in world rugby. And in Abdel Benazzi and Magne two stunningly good forwards who will illuminate the forthcoming international championship.

But yesterday we saw just how far the countries on this side of the world have to travel to match the raw power and finesse of the world's best. Yesterday, and for that matter throughout the tournament, there was only one side in it.

Australia: M Burke (New South Wales); B Tune (Queensland), D Herbert (Queensland), T Horan (Queensland), J Roff (Australian Capital Territories); S Larkham (ACT), G Gregan (ACT); R Harry (NSW), M Foley (Queensland), A Blades (NSW), D Giffin (ACT), J Eales (Queensland, capt), M Cockbain (Queensland), T Kefu (Queensland), D Wilson (Queensland). Replacements: J Little (Queensland) for Herbert 46; O Finegan (ACT) for Cockbain 52; J Paul (ACT) for Foley, 79; C Whitaker (NSW) for Gregan, 80.

France: X Garbajosa (Toulouse); P Bernat-Salles (Biarritz), R Dourthe (Dax), E Ntamack (Toulouse), C Dominici (Stade Francais); C Lamaison (Brive), F Galthie (Colomiers); C Soulette (Toulouse), R Ibanez (Perpignan, capt), F Tournaire (Toulouse), A Benazzi (Agen), F Pelous (Toulouse), M Lievremont (Stade Francais), C Juillet (Stade Francais), O Magne (Montferrand). Replacements: O Brouzet (Begles-Bordeaux) for Juillet 40; P de Villiers (Stade Francais) for Soulette 47; S Glas (Bourgoin) for Dourthe 49; U Mola (Castres) for Garbajosa 66; A Costes (Montferrand) for Lievremont 66; S Castaignede (Mont de Marsan) for Galthie 77; M dal Maso (Colomiers) for Ibanez, 79.

Referee: A Watson (SA).