Graham Henry

New Zealand; coach of the year of the team of the year

It has been a great day, starting with an outstanding parade and finishing with the awards dinner which they managed to stretch out – I guess it is all about television. Winning the World Cup gives you peace, and that is a beautiful feeling. After 2007 it was turmoil and to contrast the two is very easy. It got worse four years ago as the weeks went on because of the reviews; it will be a bit better this time. The peace will be magnificent.

The parade in Auckland was pretty special. They said the crowd numbered 240,000. I don't know how they count them. Their attitude to the boys was very special. We go to Christchurch tomorrow and as you all know the city has had some very difficult times. Then we have a street parade in Wellington and spend some time in parliament. After that, I will have a week at home and spend some time at my place on Waiheke Island, going fishing.

Thierry Dusautoir was outstanding in the final, the player of the game. I assume that is why he is the player of the year. He is a special player.

The World Cup is the pinnacle of any international team's aspirations. Winning the coach of the year when the World Cup has been staged means you have won the thing and that means everything. It is a reflection of what Richie [McCaw] and the boys have done as well as the other coaches, Steve Hansen, Wayne Smith, Mike Cron and Mick Byrne. They are all better than me. I just organise them.

Dan Carter's injury was very sad. He wanted a stage to perform on. He is 28 and at the peak of his career. It was taken away from him and that happens. The stage was made for him. Others stepped up and what a fairytale for Stephen Donald. He is a top bloke and team man. He gives his all and he kicked the winning goal in a World Cup final. He will be able to tell the tale for the rest of his life.

Richie McCaw

New Zealand captain

I am exhausted. The amount of energy, emotional, mental and physical, that we have all put in over the last six weeks meant it took a while to get my breath back after the final whistle. It has not been easy, and the final was far from that, but it is pretty satisfying.

Dusautoir showed what he was made of last night. Every time I have played against him he has had one hell of a game. He has been around a long time and he inspires his team by the way he plays.

The group of men will always have something special to bind them. We met the 1987 team a few weeks ago for lunch and they had something together. We will be no different. Only four or five guys are definitely leaving so a number will be around next year, but whenever a team finishes a campaign it is never the same again because squads change. We will always be mates and we will all share special memories.

Graham Henry is pretty amazing. His attitude to wanting this team to be the best, looking at ways of making it better, rubs off on everyone. He has been great to work under. We have been through a hell of a lot together, learning from our mistakes and winning the World Cup.

Jonah Lomu

New Zealand wing in the 1995 and 1999 World Cups; rugby legend at heart of the 2011 opening ceremony

Watching the boys lift the World Cup is one of the highlights of my time in rugby. I was at the ground with my two boys and it was an amazing feeling. You have to give credit to the French because they put up an enormous fight: I predicted a one-point victory before the start of the match but did not think the ABs would take me literally.

I took part in the opening ceremony and felt really good. The next day it all turned to custard. When the doc tells you that you are knocking on the door and you then see your two sons, that puts it all into perspective.

My health is better now. I could not wear a tie to the awards dinner because I have two lines going through my neck and I am on dialysis but there is a chance that the kidney can right itself. The medics do not put it in percentage terms but I look at it as a case of onwards and upwards.

There is so much I want to do. I have been made an ambassador for the 2019 World Cup, which is being staged in Japan, and I want to open an academy for coaches and players. The World Cup win has brought the New Zealand nation together and we can build on this.

Thierry Dusautoir

France captain; IRB Player of the Year

The most important thing for the France players was to understand how wonderful the World Cup is. When we grasped that, we started to play our best rugby. We were so close to winning the final and I am really proud of the players. We showed that we are a great team. I am not sure that if we had gone through our group unbeaten, rather than lose two games, whether we would have made it to the final. We are very French: we do not know how all of this works.

It was hard for us after we lost to Tonga but once we started to think about what we were doing, we knew we had a chance to win the World Cup and we got on track against England.

I am really proud at winning the player of the year award but I am still disappointed that we did not win the final. We showed a big heart and were so close to beating the All Blacks at Eden Park.

We were fantastic but it was not enough. We tested our wonderful fans; they would have been disappointed at how we performed in the group stage but I am sure they are proud of the team now. And now we go back to the reality of the French championship. Our season will start when we get home: this has been our holiday.