Five Things to Inspire
1: United Front
Sorry, but how could you not be moved by the plight of the South Africans and the realisation of what winning the World Cup meant for them?
Captain Syla Kolisi is a truly inspiring figure and coach Rassie Erasmus provided the most sobering perspective when he said that pressure in South Africa is not playing rugby but having a relative murdered.
The Boks are drawn from all backgrounds and found a way to unite and perform and proudly represent a nation that has some horrific social issues.
2: Attack Force One
Forget about the disappointing performance by the All Blacks against England for a moment and think about how they played against the Boks and Ireland.
We saw in those two games how they can play at frantic speed with supreme skill and precision. We saw that their attack game can work against the most ferocious defensive systems and if they are brave enough to stick with it, how they can storm back to the world summit.
3: Japan Delivers
The long and the short of it is that Japan put on a brilliant World Cup. The stadiums were mostly full, the logistics all nailed and the games had a great vibe.
As for the Japan national team...they were brilliant. Brave, skilled, committed and inventive they captured the imagination with the way they played and the way they conducted themselves.
4: Dignity in Defeat
The All Blacks set the benchmark for losing with dignity and honouring the ethos of the game.
There was genuine global admiration for the way the All Blacks congratulated England, accepted they had been beaten by the better team on the day and wished their conqueror good luck in the final.
It was classy, as was the way they bounced back to beat Wales in the bronze medal and ensure they left Japan with their heads held high.
It takes character to lose with grace and compare the example the All Blacks set with the way a couple of English players refused their medals the next week in the final.
5: Fuelling the Emotional Fire
For the last decade or so the All Blacks have only known success. It has been relentless and it was borne from failing so publicly at the 2007 World Cup.
But the group that played in 2019 had never know any adversity and hadn't suffered on the international stage.
“I believe we lost because deep, deep, deep down in the pit of our guts', we didn't have what England had,” said All Blacks coach Steve Hansen a few days after the semi-final defeat.
“That is no criticism of this group because they had a lot of want. They had a lot of hunger. But they have had no adversity and success will do that to you.”
A young group of All Blacks now have personal pain to carry with them and while that hurts in the short-term, it gives them something meaningful to tap into over the long term.