Roof: an open or shut case

This Saturday's World Cup final will be played with the Millennium Stadium's retractable roof open to all Cardiff's elements.

Foul weather, particularly during the quarter-final between Wales and Australia 12 days ago, has seen the new-laid pitch cut up badly but the finalists, France and Australia, have expressed opposing views on whether the tournament should stage the first indoor international.

France's flanker Olivier Magne said it should remain closed. "It is okay to protect the pitch until the game but we must not play with the roof shut," he said. "The weather is part of the game of rugby. This is not an indoor sport." Australia's captain John Eales has said he felt it would be better to have the roof shut, especially if the weather was bad.

"It would be great if the roof could be shut for the final because it would make it a really special occasion and a very unique experience," he said.

New Zealand's coach John Hart supported Australia's request that the roof be closed in the event of rain and also for tonight's third-place play-off between the All Blacks and South Africa.

Hart said: "Australia and France have deserved the right to play the final. They should have the best ground." But a Rugby World Cup spokesman said yesterday that no formal written requests had been received from France or Australia to keep the roof closed before or during the game.

The stadium boasts Britain's only retractable roof and it takes only 20 minutes to shut.

Meanwhile, Clive Woodward's future as national coach may be safe but England's failure to make an impression in the Rugby World Cup has prompted Twickenham to launch a global search for a performance director to take overall charge of all national squads.

The director will be paid a salary in excess of Stg £200,000 a year and his brief will be to identify potential international players in their formative years, fast-track them through a national academy, ensure that all the England squads adopt a similar gameplan and monitor the performance of the senior side.