I have been there, so I know what France will be feeling. I was a young wing in my second season when we lost to England in the quarter-finals of the 1991 World Cup and four years later I was captain of France when we lost a semi-final to South Africa that could have gone our way. That we beat England in the third-place play-off was irrelevant. We had a chance to be world champions and it was taken from us.

Saturday was full of mixed emotions for me. The country where I was born against the country where I live and work; and five hours earlier, my club, Sale Sharks, played Gloucester, who I spent five years with. It was 12-12 at half-time at Kingsholm, but we lost that game. Then I flew to Paris, arriving ten minutes before kick-off, and saw my country lose that one, too.

Bernard Laporte, Raphaël Ibañez and the team will be feeling empty and bereaved, but they should be proud of what they did. That was a tough, brutal match and France were great competitors. They lost to a more physical team who ground them down in an immense battle. In fact, to misquote one of my countrymen, Ce n’est pas magnifique, mais c’est la guerre.

England keep on winning the key battles: that is three times you have beaten us in a World Cup when it mattered to our one victory when it didn’t. You let us win two warm-up matches before this tournament but came good when you needed to, as you did at Twickenham this spring when England ended France’s grand-slam hopes.

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BACKGROUND

• Cueto ready to prove his point in Dad’s Army

• Hipkiss bid to force Ashton’s hand falls short

• Clive Woodward: Why England are my favourites

• Resurgent Gomarsall sets his sights on summit

BACKGROUND

• France exceed all expectations as hosts

• Steyn presents threat in close final

• Broccoli for breakfast is recipe for success

• The rough (sleeper’s) guide to Paris

BACKGROUND

• Robinson calls for 'one last push'

• Springboks unchanged for final

Multimedia

• Graphic: where the final could be won

Multimedia

• The World Cup Podcast

• Josh Lewsey's video diary

• The Rugby World Cup blog

Related Links

• England answer captain’s call with superb display

• Heartbroken French offer conquerors a ‘bravo’

• Brown to join fans at World Cup final

It was not a pretty match. Neither side wanted to play an expansive game in case they made mistakes. Both defences were very strong. I felt France rallied well after that crafty kick from Andy Gomarsall put England ahead but their fatal error was to try to control the game when only one point ahead. You can run down the clock when you lead by ten, but not when you lead by one. Not for 35 minutes.

By the closing stages, France looked tired and England looked sharper. France had made some of their substitutions earlier than they planned, with Sébastien Chabal coming on for the injured Fabien Pelous after 20 minutes instead of 50. That reduced his impact.

But the England team, particularly those ageing gladiators like Mark Regan, Gomarsall, Mike Catt and Jason Robinson, showed great heart. I cannot believe that Robinson has only one game left in his international career. He is too lively and too quick to retire now.

For France, some big names will leave the game without winning the greatest title. Ibañez, Pelous, Pieter de Villiers and Serge Betsen have been magnificent. They will not be in New Zealand in 2011, but France can hope to put up a good show. After all, we won the under-21 World Cup last year. My worry is that there are so many foreigners playing in the French league that in some positions, such as prop, France does not have the talent coming through.

England won because their domestic league is stronger. The Guinness Premiership is the toughest league in the world, with no easy matches — look at Northampton, semi-finalists in the Heineken Cup last season but relegated. In the French league, there are four or five good teams but a few easy games.

It is hard to overstate how successful this tournament has been. In every taxi, on the subway, in every restaurant, people have been talking about it. The atmosphere at the Stade de France was fantastic on Saturday. The battle on the pitch was matched by a battle of the singers in the stands. Every time Sweet Chariot started, the France supporters sang La Marseillaise a little bit louder. But by the end there was only one song.

So France is feeling a bit depressed this morning, but there are two more matches to be played in this fantastic tournament. France can finish on a high note by coming third; then England can do something unprecedented and defend their title.