As they folded up the platform on which England had just been handed their bronze medals, the spell was broken.

In the heat of Verona, in the streets of Le Touquet, in the trenches against South Africa and Argentina in Paris - this group of players have been bonded by the pursuit of an unlikely dream.

Their collective strength brought them within a whisker of competing for the biggest prize, narrowly missing out to South Africa in the semi-finals.

But as backdrops were packed away and the players roamed the Stade de France stage for their final time in the tournament, you saw a shared, single story disintegrate into 33 different strands.

There was Leicester pair Ollie Chessum and Freddie Steward, 23 and 22, wandering together, arms over each other's shoulders, and long Test futures laid out before them.

A blood-spattered Sam Underhill, playing his first Test in 15 months after a series of injuries, staring into the stands having served up a timely reminder of his quality.

Billy Vunipola, out of the matchday squad and zipped into a tracksuit, trudging down the tunnel and into the unknown after an anonymous campaign.

Joe Marchant waving goodbye, but going nowhere. His next game will be for Parisian side Stade Francais, having signed a contract that will put his England career on ice.

Last off the pitch were Courtney Lawes, strolling solo, and Ben Youngs, surrounded by a gaggle of young relatives, soaking up the Test stage for the final time.

It is always the way. No set of players stays frozen in time. The class of 2023, however united in a cause, was always going to break up and go their separate ways.

Prop Kyle Sinckler spoke about it during the tournament, warning his team-mates that "this will never happen again".

But somehow it catches you by surprise every time.

Steve Borthwick, as ever, was prepared. The head coach paid tribute to the campaign past, but is also already looking forward to a future he will shape.

"I'm delighted for the players, who have worked so hard," he said.

"We won six games out of seven and lost one game by one point to the world champions, which shows the progress of the team."

He added: "I've already started looking forward to the Six Nations in my mind.

"The age profile of the squad - there are always players who decide their time has come to an end at the World Cup - is strong. I think there's excitement about those players.

"We know there are areas we are thinner than others and I need to work to find some depth in those positions."

Hooker might be one of those problem positions - but perhaps less so though after Friday night's 26-23 win over Argentina in the third-place play-off.

Theo Dan, who began last season at second-tier Ampthill, relished his third and highest-profile England start yet.

Having sat behind fellow Saracen Jamie George as an unused replacement in the past three games, he paved the way for one of England's tries and scored the other after charging down Santiago Carreras' kick.

He scored another two in the pool-stage demolition of Chile, so ends the tournament as England's second-highest try-scorer.

"I work really closely with Theo," said George. "That kid... the sky's the limit, he's a superstar, so he'll be keeping me on my toes the next couple of years.

"There's a lot of great hungry young players - look at how George Martin performed in that semi-final. It's scary how good that kid is at that age [22], remarkable really.

"And how good was Ben Earl? He's had a difficult international journey and this World Cup has given him a platform to show what he's really about.

"Steve deserves a lot of credit. He's come under a lot of heat."

"A lot of really impressive aspects," said Borthwick of Dan's performance.

"His first lineout throw - back, double tops - shows how he's developing. You see a young man who is resilient, athletic, very powerful and I think he'll be in this England squad for a very long time."

The same isn't true of all those on that lap of honour though.