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October 20, 2003
Kiwi Dilemma
I already explained about how the Kiwi's are barracking for two teams in the Thugby (Union) World Cup ... "New Zealand" and "anyone who plays Australia". Well it turns out that there are in fact two major dilemmas that face Rugby-mad Kiwis in the coming weeks. The first is a game between France and the USA. Most Kiwis don't like the USA (remember ANZUS and the nuclear ships) but they hate the French (remember the Rainbow Warrior). Choosing who to support in that game sounds like choosing who you dislike least :-)
Much bigger dilemma occurs in Ireland beat Australia and then Australia has to play France. That will really split the Kiwi supporters - who do you boo? The frogs or the wallabies.
One mate has it solved, he just won't go to either game :-)
By the way, if you want to find out the local reaction to the French, check this article (copy in extended post if no longer on-line). The highlights have to be: (a) more people cheering for Japan when they play in Australia than in Japan; and (b) the French only care about winning, not about the public perception of them :-)
Original article was posted at Rugby Heaven.
Little amour for the French
Monday, October 20, 2003
It's enough to make even a Frenchman feel unloved.
For the second game in a row, a vocal Rugby World Cup crowd threw its wholehearted support behind France's opposition.
About 20,000 people in Townsville cheered Japan and jeered the French, booing during flyhalf Frederic Michalak's penalty attempts.
Japan's captain Takuro Miuchi said it was the first time he had experienced such strong support.
"When we played at home in the Rugby World Cup qualifiers we didn't see as many national flags as we saw tonight," he said.
It was the same story last week in Brisbane, when the 45,795-plus crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Fijian.
In both cases, the crowd chose the underdog: France beat Fiji 61-18 in the Pool B opener and then held off a gusty Japan to win 51-29.
France team manager Jo Maso was not surprised by the crowd's reaction, saying he did not believe the spectators were particularly anti-French.
"I knew the public would be very much for (Japan)," he said through an interpreter.
"We knew straight away that the Japanese have been here on tour, they're based here, they've been here for three weeks already, they're an exciting team."
French skipper Fabien Galthie said he understood the public wanted to support Japan.
"The most important thing is to win, the public is not the most important," he said.
"I hope we played well and the public liked to watch us and maybe they will want to support us in a few months."
Posted by Ozguru at October 20, 2003 05:10 PM
