With excitement aplenty on the field and good spirits and happy fans off it, Rugby World Cup 2007 will be a hard act to follow, writes Mick Cleary.

Never mind the pundits. Well, at least not those miserable doomsayers who claim that the 2007 Rugby World Cup has seen the death of rugby with its preference for kicking and pressure. France did it and suffered the consequences. Argentina did it and revelled in its rewards.

There are a lot of people who claim England did it. But that's because they have patches over their eyes and chips on their shoulders. Try telling that to those who flocked to Paris last weekend or those who gathered in and around Heathrow and Twickenham to catch a glimpse of the side returning home.

Those who say that England have been dull and boring have not been watching. For the early part of the tournament England were simply dreadful, not good enough to kick the ball properly.

To slate Rugby World Cup 2007 is to ignore its merits. Yes, there was too much kicking, a lot of it aimless. Yes, there is a pressing need to encourage ball-in-hand movement. The prize was the thing at this World Cup. As it always has been, and should be. But change is afoot. There are new laws upon us.

Let's turn instead to those who thronged stadiums the length and breadth of France, and, in lesser numbers, Cardiff and Murrayfield. The average attendance was about 47,000, an incredible turn-out.

They are the ones who embraced the World Cup, injected warmth and enthusiasm into the occasion, reminded us all that sport is to be enjoyed first and foremost and is not just a means of proving who is the biggest kid in the global playground every four years.

The tournament is the thing, with its warts as well as its wonders. If this tournament proved anything to us it is that rugby remains a game of many shades.

If stylish impression was the only criterion for evaluating a tournament's success or, indeed, for deciding its ultimate winner, then Brazil or Argentina would win the football World Cup every time.

No, we have to search for other things. For technical excellence, for example, and in that regard no one could question Argentina's right to be at the top table.

The Pumas brought more than their esprit de corps to the party. They are an intelligent side. They know how to mix their options, how to react to an ever-changing field in front of them. They are bright blokes playing with finely tuned purpose as well as deep-welled passion. Agustin Pichot, Juan Martin Hernandez, Felipe Contepomi - the orchestrators. There was not a better midfield trio in the tournament.

Their sense of solidarity and togetherness was moving. Their twitching, streaming faces at the anthems, the sight of burly, macho men such as Rodrigo Roncero and Mario Ledesma, blubbing like babes, reminds you that rugby is a sport of the soul as much as it is of athleticism and muscle.

That was true across the board. From Portugal to Georgia, from the Pacific Island teams through to South Africa and England.

The Springboks were worthy winners, tougher in the tense moments, ready to strike back if they needed to.

Theirs was a long, rutted road to glory. Testing times lie ahead, and the moment must not be wasted either by overzealous politicians or blinkered traditionalists.

Bryan Habana, the South Africa wing, deservedly won the International Rugby Board player-of-the-year award.

There were highlights to suit all palates, matches and moments to explain why so many people turned out. More have watched this World Cup than ever before. There were more than two million in the stadiums and countless millions around the world watching on television. As many as 15.8 million tuned in to the final in England, and that doesn't include the numbers who watched it in pubs.

In fact, there were more people watching England-South Africa on television in France (seven million) during the pool stages than they were in England (5.6 million). Whoever said that the French might be remote, cold and exclusive misread the situation.

There was plenty to titillate the senses: every second of the Wales-Fiji game in Nantes, that 38-34 Fijian triumph, that match which stretched and twisted, that game of nerve and daring which will live in the memory and go down in the annals as one of the greatest ever played.

There were cameos, too, that come to mind: the deliriously daft run towards the Millennium Stadium touchline of France scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, the skinning of Habana, by rookie USA wing, Takudzwa Ngwenya. The touchline conversion of Japan's Shotaro Onishi to tie the game against Canada, 12-12, five minutes beyond normal time in the last piece of action. The abundant tearaway skill of Fiji breakaway Akapusi Qera. The cover tackle of South Africa's JP Pietersen, the forgotten Springbok wing, on Fijian lock Ifereimi Rawaqa to save a try and perhaps the Boks' entire World Cup campaign. The collective hammering of the line by Georgia against Ireland. The despair on Irish faces. Likewise the desolation on the face of France captain Raphael Ibanez as he contemplated the end of a dream sitting in the sin bin as France ended the World Cup as it began, with defeat to Argentina.

Sport can be cruel as well as uplifting, merciless as well as magical. This World Cup gave us both ends of the spectrum.

France might have left the tournament by the basement window, to pinch an evocative phrase used by a colleague in L'Equipe, but the nation can hold its head high for its organisational skills as well as its inclination for a bit of fun along the way. It was wholly welcoming and inclusive, as Australia and Australians were four years ago.

New Zealand has a tough act to follow.

No one doubts the beauty of the setting or the appropriateness of a major rugby country having the right to host the seventh World Cup. What one does have doubts over is their capacity to be broad-minded and all-embracing, to be generous not just in its simple gestures. The Lions tour in 2005 showed that is not in question. What is in question, however, is their ability to see beyond the All Blacks. World Cup 2011 in New Zealand is about involving the entire rugby community, not just providing a stage for an All Blacks triumph.

The sneering tone of many commentaries from New Zealand, their undisguised contempt for English rugby, suggest that they might have to loosen up, learn some manners and live life with a bit of grace and generosity if Rugby World Cup 2011 is to emulate this tournament.

France did a splendid job.