KEY POINTS:
Well, the investigation into the French New Zealand Bar, the Sous Bock, went very well this week.
The blonde-tressed, male model that runs it, Cyprien, is in love with rugby. Like, majorly obsessed. So much so that he packed up his back pack, not knowing a soul, and went to stay with Murray Mexted in Wellington to learn about the game New Zealand-style.
Mex would have shown him lots of other aspects of New Zealand culture too.
Anyway in this bar in Chatelet, there is a signed jersey from Dan Carter, loads of rugby memorabilia, and really good burgers which I managed to get free. All Kiwis will be welcomed with enthusiasm at this joint. Very nice.
I've been doing a bit of investigation in the name of rugby this week. For instance, a little mole told me that a number of the football pitches converted to rugby fields that are hosting games in the World Cup in France, are actually skinnier in width than regulation rugby fields. One metre to be exact.
BUT that one metre could be the difference between Joe Rokocoko dancing into the corner for a try or not. The law actually says that a field mustn't be exceeding 70m width but says nothing about the minimum size (how stupid is that?).
Originally the Rugby World Cup big wigs thought about just making all of the fields one metre smaller but can you imagine Graham Henry's eyebrows if they had of pushed that. Some of us use all of the field when we play thanks very much!
As for men in Paris, they are all half my size. Obviously there is one downside to the fact that our country produces such huge, natural athletes that end up playing for the All Blacks. That is to breed athletes, the cow is usually sizeable too.
I have discovered another little secret about France that has not much to do with rugby. And that is the spirits, even if you ask for say "gin and tonic" are really just gin.
In fact the only rugby angle I can give this discovery is that at the time I was drinking the "gin and tonic" with some Manu Samoa players, and they too were caught unawares.
Which leads me to my sneaking suspicion that Samoa may not beat England this weekend.
Plus of course the fact that so many of the players come from so many different clubs around the world, and then you mix the home grown players.
Traditional versus contemporary attitudes and philosophies don't usually voluntarily meet each other in normal society, and when youre thrown in together in a team - it doesn't necessarily mean cohesion.
That is deep. I'm obviously becoming French.
