The time has come; we are now just three games away from the final of the 2007 Rugby World Cup.

Given the start both England and France had, anyone who suggested they would meet in the semi-final would have been dismissed as crazy. But that is exactly what has happened and in the process they defeated two of the tournament favourites, New Zealand and Australia. Couple that with the performance of newer teams including Argentina and Fiji and this has been the World Cup of upsets.

Now all the games are in Paris, the photographic teams have moved north to Versailles. Being a few kilometres outside the capital is actually a bonus as we’ve been slightly removed from the atmosphere that is rapidly building. Come tomorrow the air will no doubt be electric.

Bring on the rugby!

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So I am back in France. The North Pool had a few days off after our hectic schedule and having to endure England being well and truly crushed by the South Africans (editorial integrity check; I am half English/half Irish). Rugby is not my strongest game but even I could see that the chances of them retaining the World Cup are looking somewhat weak right now.

Unfortunately during my brief time back in England I had to witness another crushing; namely my beloved football team, Tottenham Hotspur, being torn apart in the 2nd half by their biggest rivals. To say the guys in Versailles and home have mocked me for driving 700 odd miles to watch the mauling is an understatement. Un portion de humble pie s’il vous plait.

Still, there is a lot of rugby to be played and some cracking games coming up. Who knows, maybe England will surprise everyone and mount a credible defence to their title? A few million people back home are hoping for just that.

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France is a country steeped in history and during the Rugby World Cup we will be fortunate enough to see some of it first hand. Arras is small town, just outside of Lens where England had a less than convincing victory over the United States.

Famous for the ‘Battle of Arras‘ during World War One, the town sustained significant damage and virtually had to be rebuilt. Part of the rebuild included the Town Hall which can be seen above. After a long day of travelling and working, to be sitting eating dinner in such a historic town was both a pleasure and privilege.

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Let me introduce you to Justin and Matt. You probably will never have heard of Justin and Matt (unless you frequent the numerous bars and clubs around Versailles). You also will not see either of them on any photo bylines.

But without these two at the opening of the 2007 Rugby World Cup there would be no photos on our website.

Justin and Matt are editors. Their job is to create a photographic story of an event; selecting the appropriate photos, giving each one a description and sending it to our website for the world to see. During the opening match our photographers took over 4,000 frames and the guys compacted these down to less than 200 whilst still creating a faithful and accurate narrative.

For opening ceremonies and other big events, sorting through the photos can take a while and often means editors are the first to arrive and the last to leave.

So next time you see a photo from a major sporting event and look at the name of the photographer who took it, also think of our editors who helped to make it possible.

Oh, and France lost the opening game. Shocker.

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Photo by Gerard McGovern

Hello from an overcast Versailles. For the next seven weeks, this will be the base of the Getty Images North Pool following all the ups and downs of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. We have teams dotted all over France to cover the biggest event in rugby from the opening game on September 7th right the way to the final on October 20th.

Who will be there on the 20th? Well, given the matches we’ve seen in the build-up to this tournament that is literally anyone’s guess. All I will say is with a day to go the atmosphere is a little subdued but come tomorrow that should all change as France gets ready to host its biggest sporting event since the Football World Cup of 1998.

So as they say here, à demain!

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