Editor’s Note: This is part of Viator’s ongoing series of posts about the 2007 Rugby World Cup. Ian has been tipping his favorite teams in Pools A & B and Pools C & D, and writing about players that matter. Now he’s on the ground in France — you can read his most recent posts here.
Okay, I’ve returned to civilization, after spending a week in rural France, eating cheese and drinking the local wine… this is tough work, blogging about the Rugby World Cup from the south of France.
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| All Blacks doing a hacka |
Mrs Rugby and I were at the Wallaby / Fiji game in Montpellier yesterday, and it looked like Australia had invaded France, with two out of every three people in the middle of Montpellier yesterday in some sort of green and gold jumper.
The Fijians showed some spirit when they performed their haka, but for the rest of the game, they were totally outclassed by the Wallabies, who eventually won 55 to 12.
And prize for the most passionate fans so far must go to Portugal. I went to the All Blacks / Portugal game last week, and it seemed like half of Portugal had turned up to the stadium. I was seated just in front of what must have been the Portugese family and friends section, and they didn’t stop chanting all the way through the match.
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| In case you missed it: the Rugby World Cup on display |
It was a historic occasion for Portugal, being the first time they had played the All Blacks ever, and despite going down by about 100 points, they never gave up. And the roar that went up when they scored a try was HUGE!! And I must admit, they do know how to dress up in their country colours of red and green.
Surprise of the tournament so far has to be Tonga, beating Samoa and only narrowly going down to South Africa. Given England’s performances so far, it looks like the Tonga / England match coming up could be a crunch game, to see who makes it through to the quarter finals.
I was very disappointed in the ref for the England / Samoa match, he seemed to let the game go on and on after he should have blown the full-time whistle, just so England could get a bonus point for their 4th try. Rigged by the IRB, or what ??
Off to another battle of the minnows tomorrow, Romania vs. Portugal (Go POR-TU-GAL !!). Cheers from the south of France…
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