Germany launched the quest to reach the 2015 World Cup
Photos of South Africa lifting the William Webb Ellis trophy in Paris in October can be melted, but the fallout from France in 2007 are still being felt elsewhere in Europe.
While Germany is best known for their skill on the football field, this Saturday sees their national rugby team in action against Ukraine in Division 2A of the European Cup of Nations.
Having beaten the league leaders Moldova 34-5 in Heidelberg before Christmas to go second in the table, the goal of German director Peter Ianusevici rugby is to close the gap to two points and win the Division One promotion .
Well it would be Germany against the likes of Portugal and Romania, which have challenged previous World Cups, in what is effectively one of the Six Nations competition "B".
But Ianusevici, who played on the wing for Romania in the 1970s, the ultimate goal of seeing Germany qualify for the Rugby World Cup 2015.
"This is a realistic goal," the Romanian AFP. "The standards are better here, and our highest national league reflects that.
"We still have a long way to go, but 2015 is our goal, and promotion in the first division would certainly help."
The German sports are fascinated by the contact element of interest in rugby and is produced in the World Cup and Six Nations are projected to live here.
Last October's Rugby World Cup Final, also found its way to the last few pages of German newspapers - unprecedented in a country where soccer, handball and winter sports dominate.
Rugby reached Germany around 1850 by British students who studied in Heidelberg, and the first club was formed here in 1872. The German Rugby Union (DRV) was established in 1900 and was an immediate success with an Olympic silver medal in 1900.
Hitler's Third Reich, rugby lost its funding was considered the English sport, and was destroyed in World War II, most of the players were killed.
But now, with over 7000 players from 99 clubs, the GVRD are working hard to improve their investment of 25 in the IRB world.
"At the moment, we see a lot of benefits in Germany since 2007 Rugby World Cup," said President of the DRV Claus-Peter Bach.
"Many viewers were aware of rugby for the first time, and when we beat Moldova in Heidelberg we saw that we had won new fans.
"The German Rugby Union has also attracted some major sponsors and will receive additional funds due to the success of France in 2007, allowing us to invest in the national team to a much larger scale."
The IRB has announced that 20 teams will compete in the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand, which will benefit in Germany, who reached the third qualifying round for 2007, but lost to Spain in a very tight game.
With three teams - Frankfurt 1880, Heidelberg and Handschuhsheim - in the running for the Bundesliga title this season, Bach satisfied with the work done on the home front, but insists there is room for improvement.
"The Bundesliga has developed well over the past two years, the standards are better," said Bach.
"Well, the team is undefeated this season and all games are very tight, hard and exciting. But we want talented young people to find their way into the fastest of the Bundesliga.
"I want to see the level of performance of our teams and regional second division to improve significantly with better and more consistent training
