Robert Kitson
Match of the tournament New Zealand v France. Right up there with the best finals in terms of cliff-hanging tension, just pipping Ireland's pool win over Australia. A bunch of us watched the latter game in a bar in Gore, the home of the Big Trout. It was definitely memorable. The game, that is, not the trout …
Try of the tournament Ma'a Nonu (New Zealand v Australia, Eden Park).
This was the score which settled the semi-final nerves of a nation. Israel Dagg's pace, subtle footwork and inch-perfect offload were of the highest class and the lurking Nonu did the rest.
Star of the tournament Sam Warburton. We knew he was good, we just underestimated the galvanising effect he would have on Wales at this tournament. The young captain deserves to be remembered for far more than his fateful red card.
We'll miss you Shane Williams, Mario Ledesma, Victor Matfield and Simon Shaw all deserve special thanks as they walk into the international sunset. The game will be poorer without them, always the definition of true class. Let's hope Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu does not join them. He is too entertaining a player to be remembered simply as rugby's first Twitter martyr.
Biggest disappointment Wales's semi-final defeat by France. The Welsh may not have stopped the All Blacks but it would have made a wonderfully passionate finale.
Lesson learned for 2015 New Zealand proved to be excellent hosts: generous, warm, open and hospitable. The tournament was impeccably organised but unobtrusively so. Of course England 2015 will have rugby at its heart but it also represents a huge opportunity to showcase what the country has to offer.
Abiding memory 1 Argentina's supporters. There were bigger games than Argentina v Romania in Invercargill but few with a better atmosphere. The Pumas' fans did their country proud wherever they went.
2 The flock of sheep painted in the colours of competing nations grazing in a field beside the road to Queenstown. The stunning Otago and Coromandel Peninsulas are highly recommended. Even the cheese-sandwich judging competition in Dunedin was a laugh.
3 Christchurch city centre. To see the damage caused by this year's earthquake was a humbling experience.
Richard Williams
Match of the tournament Whatever one's sympathies, the final did its job of giving meaning and shape to the whole tournament. In a marvellously tense contest, New Zealand's deliverance from the barren years was matched by France's redemption from the disrepute with which they had flirted.
Try of the tournament Julio Farias Cabello, Argentina's blindside flanker, scoring against New Zealand in the quarter final at the end of a surging move started by Leonardo Salvatore's superb break off the back of a scrum. For the next six glorious minutes, they held the lead against the tournament favourites and eventual champions.
Star of the tournament Marc Lièvremont, oddly enough. No one provoked more debate, almost all of it unfavourable, but his eccentric pronouncements could be forgiven in the light of his graceful acceptance of the narrowest possible defeat.
We'll miss you Shane Williams, Jonny Wilkinson and Brad Thorn, three men with very different rugby attributes, but embodying some of the game's best qualities: twinkling genius, single-minded devotion and teak-tough taciturnity. A pity that circumstances prevented the Wales wing and the New Zealand lock from sharing the pitch at Eden Park on Sunday.
Biggest disappointment The inability of James Hook, a talented player seemingly brought low by fractured confidence, to compensate for the sad loss of Rhys Priestland. It's not so long since Wales's reserve outside half was at least as good as any other country's first choice No10.
Most important lesson for 2015 Ideally, play the semi-finals at venues in cities other than the one holding the final, to maintain the spread of enthusiasm throughout the host country. But the IRB will be counting on the revenues cramming 80,000 spectators into Twickenham as often as possible, so that's not going to happen.
Abiding memory Not Marc Lièvremont's moustache but the fact that the coaches of the other three semi-finalists were all from the same country. The RFU, in particular, needs to look hard at why Martin Johnson, an imposing figure but with no coaching experience at any level, was deemed the best man to put in charge of the England team.
Eddie Butler
Match of the tournament Australia 6-15 Ireland. Provided a jolt of electricity at just the right moment in the pools. Sean O'Brien became a household name in New Zealand and Ireland could dream that this might just be their time
Try of the tournament Shane Williams (Wales) v Ireland. The end of the Irish dream; the continuation of the Welsh. Contained a running, jumping catch by one of the players of the tournament, Jamie Roberts, and was finished by the sublime Williams.
Star of the tournament Thierry Dusautoir. Captain of a mutinous ship, he emerged not only with dignity intact off the field but with his reputation sent into orbit on it. A score of tackles
We'll miss you Shane, Victor and Bakkies, John Smit, Mario Ledesma, Peter de Villiers … and talking of mad coaches, it is a contractually binding obligation in France to be bonkers and Marc Lièvremont fully obliged from start to final. Brilliant.
Biggest disappointment Referees. When Paddy O'Brien was appointed head of refs at the IRB, he requested respect for his troupe. And everybody bit their critical tongues. In return, he made them too visible, too heard, too unaccountable and too wrong.
Most important lesson for 2015 The world's goodwill is not limitless. RWC is a biggish global event that has consumed NZ and seems to have been watched in big numbers across the continents. But the balance is wrong. "Tournament rugby" is tolerable in certain doses, but not for the whole course of the "business end."
Abiding memory New Zealand. New Zealand the team were worthy winners, with a nice touch of human frailty at the end, the absolute contradiction of the general sense of disappointment in the rugby. NZ the country was even more soaring. When Mount Taranaki appeared in all her majesty over New Plymouth, this old goat filled up.
Paul Rees
Match of the tournament South Africa v Samoa: It had everything, raw power, incidents on and off the ball and a display of such skill and artistry from Samoa's back division that you wondered why they had hidden it against Wales. That cost them more than Nigel Owens.
Try of the tournament So many. Ma'a Nonu's in the semi-final, Mike Phillips's in the quarter-final, Israel Dagg's against France, Gethin Jenkins's jinking 30-metre burst against Namibia, John Arlidge for Japan against France, Julio Cabello for Argentina in their quarter-final against the All Blacks, Digby Ioane for Australia against Italy … and so on. One that sticks in the memory is Russia's Denis Simplikevich against Australia. The Russians are coming.
Star of the tournament Not a player but rather the whole of New Zealand
We'll miss you Mario Ledesma, 39 next May. The heartbeat of Argentina with a head tough enough to withstand the attentions of Courtney Lawes.
Biggest disappointment Fiji. One of the teams of 2007 was fragmented and forlorn.
Most important lesson for 2015 Take on board what worked here, but it must have its own identity and should embrace the whole of England. And there should be no matches involving Wales in Cardiff.
Abiding memory Almost impossible to choose, but since there has to be one, the incredible reception given to the Tonga team in New Zealand
Mike Averis
Match of the tournament The final: Somehow the French raised themselves to take the title to the wire after looking a beaten force during the pool stages and a divided army going into a quarter-final against England and then a semi against Wales. Somehow they came to within a kick of the Webb Ellis Cup.
Try of the tournament Ma'a Nonu's for New Zealand against Australia, although Isaac Dagg should get some award for defying gravity. The All Black full-back looked certain to be bundled into touch by Quade Cooper but somehow stayed aloft long enough to off-load to the centre and Nonu was home and dry.
Star of the tournament Thierry Dusautoir. The French captain was clearly short on diplomatic skills when the coach and team were going their separate ways. However, along with Dimitri Yachvili and Imanol Harinordoquy, the leadership gene kicked and the captain lifted his men for the final performance.
We'll miss you Mario Ledesma, Rodrigo Roncero, Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe, Felipe Contepomi and all those other Pumas who raised Argentinian rugby to the heights, but who are now either retiring or hitching their cart to the Four Nations.
Biggest disappointment England for never turning up. After three and a half years it's difficult to see any advance under Martin Johnson. New faces perhaps but no obvious master plan. They just muddled through to quarter-final defeat by a side that had looked even worse.
Most important lesson for 2015 The so-called tier two nations have to get a better shake. So what better than to make some of the big boys play the mid-week matches that television demands. Might also spread the interest.
Abiding memory A nation so immersed in their sport that it was possible to watch rugby 24 hours a day even if the down side was trying to dodge questions about England in every bar and restaurant visited. It was almost possible to forget the rip-off prices. Almost.
