‘No shame losing to this team’
They came, they wore facepaint and they sang at the top of their lungs – but even the French supporters in the crowd at a Christchurch bar didn’t rate their chances of winning.
The All Blacks smashed the French 62-13 in Sunday morning’s World Cup quarterfinal in Cardiff.
Fans in black far outnumbered those in blue – packing into the Fox and Ferret at The Palms and confining a handful of French to a small corner.
Nestled in the middle, however, was one black shirt that split loyalties. Gaetan Di Majo stood and cheered for his French countrymen, a French flag painted either side of his face. His girlfriend Helen Race, from England, sat beside him in an All Blacks shirt.
As with many relationships, both had opposing views, but they both knew who would win.
‘‘I just hope it’s not going to be embarrassing,’’ said Di Majo, who has been working here for about a year. ‘‘We don’t have the same team, or the same spirit [as 2007].’’
Vincent Le Toullec, from Brittany, shared Di Majo’s view on the game. ‘‘I just hope we don’t lose too badly.’’
At the front of the bar, Glen Brockhurst sat with six other All Blacks fans, draped in a New Zealand flag. The group had come for ‘‘the environment’’, to watch the Kiwis win in style.
‘‘We’ll win by 30 – I think we’re going to smash them,’’ he said. Little did he know how right he was.
It was two-thirds of the way through the first half and after a try from Nehe Milner-Skudder when the hugging of strangers started.
The whistle blew at halftime, with the All Blacks commanding a convincing 29-13 lead. Nonetheless, the French remained optimistic.
Antonin Simon, from Paris, said he was ‘‘realistic’’ about France’s chances.
However, he was hoping for a second-half charge from the Frenchmen – as that was how they had won in previous World Cups.
Di Majo was the first to throw his hands up in an early defeat.
‘‘I’ll feel good even if we lose. The All Blacks are just amazing, there’s no shame in losing to this team.’’
With a powerful second half and as the tries started rolling in, the atmosphere eased.
It was a telling sign when patrons erupted into fits of rapturous laughter as Ma’a Nonu dropped the ball metres before the try line in the game’s dying moments. Simon took the cue. As the seconds ticked over the 80 minute mark, he filled his lungs and sang at the top of his lungs. All Blacks fans smiled empathetically in his direction.
As the whistle blew, he raised his hands in triumph with the rest of the room.
But with such a resounding score on the board, would there be love lost between Race and Di Majo?
‘‘No more [fighting] than usual,’’ he laughed.