New Zealand 8, France 7. Hooray!!!
*collapses in a heap*.
I think my heart has settled down now. Fuck, that was close. Not pretty at the end, but the France that turned up tonight was nothing like the team that played the rest of the tournament. They hit heavy and ran fast and did some brilliant attacking things. I'm just glad we held them off. OK, maybe we should have replaced Nonu with Sonny Bill a lot earlier in the second half. By the time he came on the game plan was locked in & we were counting down the clock. Maybe it was wise that the PTB didn't do it. I don't know. But we made it!!!
More notes when I think of them
Every time Mermoz's name got mentioned, I couldn't help thinking about these guys.
I missed the opening unfortunately (what can I say - I was screencapping!) but have watched the recording just now. The French chevron/advance response to the haka was well done. Respect!