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CARDIFF - Rugby super powers New Zealand and France both drifted briefly into an unthinkable realm today - the ramifications of losing Sunday morning's (NZ time) World Cup quarterfinal here.
All Blacks lock Ali Williams rolled his eyes to the heavens when asked what he expected the fallout at home to be if his team were toppled at Millennium Stadium.
After delivering a rebuke to the journalist concerned, Williams said a walk down the streets of rugby-mad Cardiff since Wales were eliminated from the tournament last weekend would provide the answer.
"We're in Wales, the mood's not that sharp here at the moment," he said.
"I'd say it'll be twice as bad at home. Hopefully the plane would get diverted if we lost."
Defeat for France would bring an ignominious end to the eight-year reign of coach Bernard Laporte.
Asked what the exit of the tournament hosts would mean to him before even the semifinals, Laporte wasn't his usual verbose self.
"Well, it's quite clear, we will have failed," he said.
- NZPA
