"It was absolutely wonderful, being amongst the crowd, cheering and hearing all the comments. There were many people visiting [Rotorua], coming in from the backpackers - it was a nice way to watch the game with everyone," she said. "The All Blacks were wonderful, they are playing at their peak now and hopefully that will continue right through to the final."
Ruck n' Maul also enjoyed an "awesome" crowd of more than 60 people, according to duty manager Tinah Murtagh.
"We opened at 7am and there were already a couple of groups waiting to come inside. One guy started knocking at 6am," she said.
"There was one guy who came dressed in full All Blacks gear, he even had headgear on. It was just an awesome crowd."
Our Backyard Pub owner Richie Hazeldine said numbers at his venue for the match "blew all expectations".
"It was huge, absolutely huge. You literally couldn't get a seat.
"About 90 per cent of the people were in All Blacks jerseys. There was one table of four [French players] but they were lighthearted about it all," Mr Hazeldine said.
The early morning games haven't seen the same crowd numbers come through compared to the 2011 Rugby World Cup but people were still going to bars to enjoy the game in a public atmosphere, he said.
"[Yesterday] morning, I haven't done so many cups of coffee before. It hasn't been about the booze.
"No one came in intoxicated, that was one of the concerns put forward by the police that they would be in the bar early to drink. But everyone who was here was here to watch the rugby."
