After 50 days, 48 games and many more refereeing errors, it is finally time to move on. The Rugby World Cup is over, with France frustrated and South Africa crowned. It all happened on Saturday, October 28, at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Faced with New Zealand, the Springboks won by the narrowest margin (12-11), and then went off, under the rain and the gaze of Emmanuel Macron, to collect their precious trophy.
The trophy in question is called the "Webb Ellis Cup," in reference to the inventor of modern rugby. Inspired by a cup dating from 1740, it measures 38 centimeters, weighs 4.5 kilos and is made of gold-plated silver. More importantly, there are actually two Webb Ellis trophies. The original model dates from 1906 and its replica from 1986, with one or the other being awarded equally to the winners of the competition. So which one did the South Africans inherit? Rugby purists will argue that they deserve the replica – if even that.
It was Siya Kolisi, the South African captain, who had the honor of guiding his team to the trophy, dressed in the traditional green jersey of the national team. One detail: On his chest was not the traditional springbok, an antelope and the symbol of the South African selection. Widely used during the era of racial segregation and considered a symbol of that period, the antelope has been replaced over the last 10 years by the protea, a typical South African plant. As a result, the springbok now only appears on one sleeve of the South African jersey.
On the stage set up in the middle of the Stade de France pitch, Macron took out his umbrella and held out his arm to protect Kolisi from the rain. Nice? Yes, but risky too. In fact, an umbrella with a metal rod of this type conducts electricity and can therefore cause a great deal of damage in the event of a lightning strike. The solution? An umbrella with a wooden shaft, which is much safer and, incidentally, more elegant.
The image of a president holding an umbrella finally reminds us that this accessory is not without political meaning. Former president François Hollande stubbornly refused to be protected from the rain during his speech on the Breton island Île de Sein in August 2014, as part of the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Liberation, in solidarity with the fallen soldiers. And his predecessor General de Gaulle briefed his inner circle to ostentatiously hand him an umbrella at the first drop of rain, only to refuse it with panache and bravery.
Translation of an original article published in French on lemonde.fr; the publisher may only be liable for the French version.