How World Cup quarter-final drama turned the key to rugby heaven

A compelling weekend showed that knockout rugby is shaped as much by the bold losers as by the beaming winners

OVER AND OUT: Jonathan Sexton of Ireland after his side's defeat against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris. Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The biggest misconception in sport is that winning is all that matters. It’s like saying that all relationships are purely about sex or that family meals are entirely about their calorific value. It completely ignores the range of contrasting emotions that, as was the case last weekend, can deliver something truly memorable and life-affirming.

Congratulations should, of course, go to New Zealand, South Africa, England and Argentina, the defiant quartet still standing in this men’s Rugby World Cup. And yet, in multiple ways, it was France, Ireland, Wales and Fiji who really made it a memorable couple of days. All of them finished second but that bleak bottom line does not reflect their wider contribution.