It was not only the All Blacks who were given a telling lesson in the World Cup semi-final at Twickenham last Sunday when France defied the predictions of all by recording a marvellous victory in a superb match.

Prior to this World Cup nobody rated the French, not even most of the French rugby fraternity. They were said to be in disarray. Well they certainly put the pieces together to record one of the great wins in the history of international rugby in what must be worthy to rank with the best matches in the history of the game internationally.

It was certainly the best in the World Cup since the memorable semi-final in 1987 when again the French were involved. Then, as last Sunday, they defied the odds to beat Australia. Now these two countries meet tomorrow in Cardiff to decree who will reign as the world champions for the next four years. That match last Sunday lifted what had been a disappointing World Cup onto a new level.

The French, as we all know, can be very unpredictable and volatile but they played with tremendous national pride and passion. Their performance was an object lesson and is one that should be heeded here and elsewhere. They were not the slightest bit inhibited or intimidated by the All Blacks.

While I will stand by my original belief that Australia will win the World Cup, the French have yet again struck a telling blow for Europe and the Five Nations Championship.

Their record in the World Cup is far superior to any of the other European countries. In 1987 they lost in the final to New Zealand. Wales finished third in that tournament, England, Ireland and Scotland reached the quarterfinals. In 1991, France won their pool with a 100 per cent record, but lost 19-10 to England in the quarter-final. England reached the final, Scotland the semi-final and Ireland the quarter-final. Wales failed to get to the knock out stages.

In 1995 France finished third. They lost to South Africa in the semi-final in Durban in a match they deserved to win and had every reason to feel that they got a harsh deal from referee Derek Bevan. They then went on to finish third, beating England in the play-off for third and fourth place. France had beaten Ireland in the quarter-final, New Zealand had overwhelmed England in the semi-final and Wales again failed to reach the quarter-final.

Now the French are back in the final again; emulating the All Blacks and the Wallabies by getting to the final twice. That is an enviable record and is a tribute to their belief of what can be done when the will and spirit are strong as well as to their skill.

The current All Blacks team is not as good as the team that lost the final in 1995 or the one that won the inaugural crown in 1987. Their forwards for a start are not the powerful force we have seen so often through the years. The 1998 side lost five Tests in a row, but then came back this season to win the Tri-Nations series.

France, in contrast, had a very poor Five Nations and won just one match, against Ireland in Dublin when Ireland had been in a winning position but failed to profit from it. The French had also been swamped just a few months ago by New Zealand when they conceded over 50 points. But as they have done so often in the past, they turned things round dramatically on the biggest stage of all.

There was a time, too, when Ireland had the ability to defy the odds and record the unexpected and thrilling victories with displays of tremendous courage, application tactical awareness and skill. Alas, one has to go back to 1994 to find the last such occasion, the win over "unbeatable" England at Twickenham. The previous year, too, in Dublin Ireland recorded another such victory by 17-3 over England. Could we see similar happenings now?

The fall-out from the defeat by the French has been considerable in New Zealand where the result has been received as akin to a national disaster. The coach John Hart is getting criticism on an unprecedented scale and his hopes of staying in his post seem to be remote in the extreme. England's failure to get beyond the quarter-final stage has also led to calls for the resignation of coach Clive Woodward and Nick Mallet's position in South Africa is very far from being secure. The price of failure can be high for national management teams. But that is one of the burdens that professionalism imposes.

Meanwhile on the home front, while events have been unfolding in the closing stages of the World Cup, with Ireland yet again on the outside looking in, the Irish have made a change in their management structure.

I must say I give a very full-hearted welcome to the appointment of Eddie O'Sullivan as backs coach to the national team. His area of responsibility will be more wide-embracing and that, too, is welcomed. He will also have an input into the Ireland under-21 and under-19 teams and will do some work with the provincial teams.

He had emerged as favourite to succeed Jack Clarke as coach to the United States team. With Philip Danaher having resigned as Ireland's backs' coach, there was a very important vacancy in the Irish set up. With the United States job open, it was imperative that swift action was taken to recruit O'Sullivan to the Ireland management and it was. Ireland can ill afford to lose coaches of O'Sullivan's calibre.

Nor will he be new to the Ireland senior set up. He was involved with the Ireland World Cup squad in 1991 as a fitness adviser when he was an IRFU Game Development officer. His subsequent coaching has been wide embracing including Connacht, Blackrock College, the Ireland under-21 team who won the Triple Crown under his guidance, Galwegians, Buccaneers and the United States as assistant to Clarke.

Let us now hope that he will fit comfortably into the Ireland set up. He will certainly bring to his task tremendous enthusiasm, hard work, aweareness of the needs and experience.

He has every incentive to succeed and his track record indicates that he will bring all his attributes to bear in what will not be an easy task.

In these days it is very much more demanding. The exit door opens more readily and the bigger the job the more demanding and unforgiving the employers. John Hart and Nick Mallett may find that out shortly as men such as Bob Dwyer, Carl du Plessis and Jack Rowell found out not so long ago.