BEST MATCH: Wales v Fiji. The plucky but doomed-to-fail Islanders exploded the stereotype and hit the Welsh like darts hitting the treble 20 at Purfleet. When Fiji had the ball they ran it with bravado and menace.

WORST MATCH: Ireland's narrow victory over Georgia. For a neutral, maybe one of the best mud-wrestling contests. No-hopers putting the soon-to-be-downgraded Irish on the back foot and almost rubbing their noses in it. Georgia's amazingly limited game, based on great bravery and colossal defence, made for inch-by-inch warfare and a grim narrative for Ireland.

BEST MOMENT: Ignacio Corleto's try in the opening match against France. It put the grit in the competition ointment with regard to that pool and paved the way for Argentina's glorious run to the semi-finals. The try also sparked off a mini-revolution, generating belief that the hegemony of the traditional powers could actually be broken.

OUTSTANDING PLAYER: Juan Martín Hernández (Argentina). What made him stand out was that he was the catalyst for almost everything that came from Argentina. Not much creatively, you say.

But his panache and ability to threaten the opposition with ball in hand as well as his phenomenally cool, accurate and opportunistic kicking set him apart.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT: The idea of an entire team collectively and practically the whole team individually not waking up to the Coupe du Monde alarm call was, well, alarming. Ireland's was a special kind of meltdown. Eddie O'Sullivan is getting it in the neck but the players must also accept responsibility.