France made the final but between offending the Haka, gouging allegations and moustaches galore, they haven't stopped making the headlines since. Our news round-up returns with a World Cup Final special...

Eyes on the prize

The World Cup is over but the fallout continues for the French runners-up. Not only have they been fined €2880 for their response to the Haka (discussed at length elsewhere but as ridiculous to us as it is to everyone bar the IRB themselves), but the New Zealand press has accused centre Aurelien Rougerie of gouging All Blacks captain Richie McCaw in the dying minutes of the match.

"Despite the All Blacks' world championship, the anti-French campaign continues," says Rugbyrama.fr. "The New Zealand press, including local daily New Zealand Herald, is taking revenge on the heroic resistance of les Bleus in the World Cup final. It was logical to think that the campaign against the France XV, perpetuated throughout the competition, had come to an end. On the contrary, our colleagues continue to stir up controversy."

New Zealand rugby commentator Keith Quinn accused France captain and new IRB player of the year Thierry Dusautoir of eye-gouging McCaw, but while the Toulouse flanker appears to have been wrongly accused, Clermont's Aurelien Rougerie can think himself lucky that he's not facing six months on the sidelines - watch the video and judge for yourself...

"The gesture occurred while Richie McCaw continued to infringe on the ground without being penalised by South African referee Craig Joubert, who was very permissive in this area," adds Rugbyrama, missing the point slightly. No player has yet been cited in relation to the incident and as the citing deadline has now passed, it would be left to the French Rugby Federation themselves to take any action.

Spit spat

And it doesn't end there. According to New Zealand press reports, police were called to an inner-city Auckland restaurant on Tuesday where a photographer accused French lock Pascal Papé of spitting at him while another said he was slapped in  the face by a second French player.

Television reporter Andrew Morrison, was at the restaurant and said members of the French team were enjoying themselves inside, but the situation turned "very ugly" and some players went outside when photographers arrived.

"One photographer was pushed in the face, another one was spat on and things started to get very heated. The players started to clear out of the restaurant after that and French management wouldn’t comment,” Morrison, told Television New Zealand.

"Police were called in to the incident but at this stage we understand no charges have been laid."

The owner of the Kermadec bar in Auckland, Hamish Klein, dismissed the matter as a storm in the teacup after French players were refused alcohol ahead of the IRB awards dinner, but there were reports on Twitter that bar staff were left in tears as a result of the behaviour of the French squad.

"The bar manager stopped serving... no one was removed and the manager of the French Rugby Federation was quick to step in and sort it out," said Klein. Meanwhile a spokesman for the team said he didn’t “know anything about it".

And Papé's only comment? "I don't speak English, sorry."

Clearing the air

With all this going on the French squad would have been happy to get on the plane and get out of New Zealand. But there was one more surprise in store for Bleus winger Vincent Clerc.

"Stopped in Brisbane. By a twist of fate I sat next to Sam Warburton during the flight from Auckland! ;-)" So Tweeted Clerc, reunited with the Welsh captain just 10 days after Warburton was sent off for his tackle on the Toulouse player in the World Cup semi-final.

There's no record yet of what the pair said to each other during the four-hour journey, and in fact there's been not so much as a tweet from Clerc since. It's hard to send messages from an overhead locker, I suppose. Let's just hope Warburton made sure he landed safely this time.

Harmony and Concorde

In all, the French will be glad to finally reach Paris, where they will attend a reception with president Nicolas Sarkozy at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday afternoon before meeting their public at Place de la Concorde at 5pm.

Tache Talk 1

While all the weekend's Top 14 matches showed their support for the French XV with a minute's applause and the unveiling of giant tricolors, Brive went a step further and launched Operation Moustache, encouraging supporters to show up at Stade Amedée-Domenech in all their hairy-lipped majesty (and that was just the women). The stunt wasn't inspired by Marc Lievremont's recent facial appendage - the town's tourist board had chosen the moustache as the symbol of 'le Gaillard Briviste' last year - but the coincidence won't have been lost on Lievremont's bearded brother Thomas, who saw his Bayonne side go down 30-10 to the resurgent Corezins.

Here's the video of moustachioed Brive and France supporters that was shown on the big screen on Saturday.

Tache Talk 2

Without wishing to give the impression that we're quite taken with M. Lievremont's tache at Le Rugby Towers (because frankly, my dear, we couldn't give a damn), Wilkinson (no, not that one) got in on the act with a newspaper ad backing the French coach and his team on the eve of the final. "Go on Marc, shave that moustache for us!", it reads, beneath a pair of fronds that look suspiciously like the All Blacks' silver ferns.

Tache Talk 3

But while we're at it, spot the difference between these two Orangina ads, starring Farid Sid, Fred Michalak and an unnamed cockerel (Richard?). The first appeared before the final, the second in Midi Olympique the Monday after the 8-7 defeat.