Rugby World Cup

For the past couple of weeks I've been watching the Rugby World Cup on TV. The sport is very popular in France, so there is plenty of coverage. To be honest, before a couple of weeks ago I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a Rugby World Cup (it began in 1987 and is held every four years). But after watching a couple of matches I'm a bit hooked.

I find the rules (assuming they do, in fact, exist) to be absolutely inpenetrable. The players and fans seem to know what's going on, but I've yet to crack the code. It's kind of like attmpting the New York Times crossword puzzle on Friday or Saturday -- I can stare forever trying to make sense of what's in front of me, but I never seem to make the slightest bit of progress.

The lack of partity in the tournament borders on comical and there are effectively two groups:

1) Those who are competitive: New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, France, Ireland, Wales (yes...Wales) and Scotland; and

2) Those, such as the U.S., who are likely to get absolutely destroyed if they play any of the above teams

As an example of the lack of partity, the U.S. team's score during its loss to Australia in the first round was 67 - 5. For reference, the scoring system is relatively simililar to (American) football.

This weekend was the semifinals, with both France and New Zealand knocking out Wales and Australia, respectively, to reach next weekend's final. As such, Emilie is brimming with national pride in support of Le XV de France.

New Zealand are known as the "All Blacks" due to their black uniforms and are perhaps best known by the broader public for their pre-game "haka" ritual.

I think that I would be pretty intimidated by that if I were on the other side.

We'll see how France does in the final. New Zealand is the top ranked team, is the host nation and thus playing on home turf, and beat France 37 - 17 in the pool play (opening) stage. But I guess anything could happen.