Okay so they got stuffed 108-13, which is exactly the way it should be when the second string side from the World's greatest rugby union playing nation comes to town, but boy did the Portuguese play with a smile on their faces.
The thing that impressed me right from the start was the work ethic, none of this feeling sorry for yourself as you got your asses well and truly whipped they kept going. The major problems, apart from a gulf in class wider than the Atlantic Ocean, were the mental tiredness and the fact that New Zealand had an alertness from the first minute that allowed them to anticipate many of the Portuguese moves.
And what a rousing national anthem from our oldest allies. None of this dirgey stuff about invoking the protection of a non-existent deity to guard over an unelected head of state, this was raw emotion, something we've also seen from Samoa, Argentina and France.
Oh and why we're talking about the world cup in France isn't there something romantic about the names of their stadia. Stade Gerland, Stade Felix Bollaert, Le Beaujoire - they sound much better than Highbury or Anfield or Old Trafford.
2 comments:
Dead right. Your comment about their singing came back to mind when the news showed the Portuguese singing their anthem before the game - with so much gusto they were nearly falling over! :-)
And then you remember that Maureen is of the same nation and it all falls apart!!!!
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