South Africa 15 - 6 England

So South Africa won the world cup. I'm glad about that. I think it's important that sport reflects wider realities than just what happens off the pitch, and rugby union means more to South Africa than it does to any other nation spiritually, politically and culturally.

I feel sorry for Afrikaners. In Japan I worked with four or five white South Africans - members of the diaspora of exiles which has slowly spread across the globe - and always found them funny, sharp and refreshingly blunt in speech; sort of like people from the North of England transplanted to the Transvaal. But they were all tinged by the same sort of melancholy: that circumstances had forced them to leave the country of their birth and that they loved.

I never got the impression that they'd left South Africa due to sour grapes, or hatred of black people. The reasons cited were depressingly similar to those which motivate most economic migration - lack of opportunities at home and too much crime and violence. But I also got the feeling that they felt somehow weighed-down by the shame of apartheid - which after all they had nothing to do with, being too young to have been meaningfully involved in its perpretration, but which nevertheless made them guilty by association. It's the same emotion that you can see in middle-aged and younger Germans, who still feel the crimes of the past bearing down on them - and are consequently uncomfortable with the easy and natural patriotism that much of the rest of the world feels.

The rugby team's victory in the world cup of 1995, and now 2007, is a great alleviater of that. South Africans of every colour are unified by sporting success, and just as the 2006 football world cup finally seemed to lift the German nation and make it acceptable to be proud of Germany again, so the Springboks' triumph on the rugby pitch means something more than just simply jingoistic one-up-manship. And the rest of the rubgy-playing world bows down and praises God that it wasn't boring old England - because another four years of crowing would have been too much to bear.

USA! USA!

I think Mamiko is sick of rugby. But she knows by now that I'm the kind of person who can watch seven matches over two afternoons like I did at the weekend and still want more, so it's tough luck.

Anyway, it was a great world cup weekend, with Fiji scraping through 38-34 against Wales in possibly the best game I've ever seen, Scotland triumphing in an 18-16 nailbiter against Italy, and pandemonium in Paris as Argentina spanked the Irish 30-15. But spare a thought for the USA, who lost to South Africa 15-64 in Montpelier and leave the world cup without a win, but with heads held high after great performances against England and Samoa.

I have to say, I have a real liking for the USA rugby team. Partly it's because only seven of the squad are professionals (journeymen plying their trade in the English, Irish and French leagues), and yet they're still one of the most passionate, spirited and entertaining squads - proving again and again that the best sporting spectacles are not necessarily the most technically accomplished. It's also because they so clearly relish playing for their country, and are always visibly moved when they hear their national anthem before each game.

But mostly, it's just refreshing to see men who absolutely love the game they're playing - you can see it positively ooze out of them - in defiance of the fact that their country doesn't care much about it and probably mostly don't even know they're playing. Along with Portugal, who experience the same thing, the USA are the most life-affirming team in world rugby.

I know some Americans read this blog: you should all get behind your rugby team. The tournament's over, but I'm hoping in 2011 that the USA Eagles can turn up and manage some surprises.

Anyway, England v. Australia next Saturday. God, how I love England v. Australia. The rivalry with Argentina might have more sheer hatred, and England v. Germany (in football) might have more history, but there's no better feeling for an Englishman than watching the national team beat the Australians in any sport, and rugby's no exception. Roll on the weekend.