THE WORLD Cup goes back to France later this year only 16 years after it was last played there. This is a tribute to the nation’s potential brilliance as a host, their priceless ability to draw crowds to the pro game and to maximise income through their business community.
No doubt, too, it is a tribute to their officialdom and work behind the scenes and it is for others to judge whether all that work was ethical, either before 2007 or more recently.
La belle France. That tournament in 2007 was set up to deliver everything and more. The potential seemed mighty. You can still remember the thrill two days before the start when they turned on the lasers around the Eiffel Tower, framing the grand old structure with rugby posts and with a giant ball hanging down from the crossbar. It was a symbol of the nation joining the party.
The poster player for the tournament was Sébastien Chabal,
