Sacre bleu! A simulated Rugby World Cup tournament on the PS3 edition of Rugby World Cup 2011 revealed what every New Zealand rugby fan feared the most.
Media Design School student Brosnon Silu'uga played through the game for the Herald on Sunday and found a shock 30-13 Grand Final loss by the All Blacks to the French. Set to play automatically, the game used teams' statistics to decide who won.
"Obviously the simulation is wrong," moaned Silu'uga, on seeing the result.
Nas Unu, a 30-year-old security guard, said he refused to believe it could happen. "That would be hard, because they are in the same pool. I reckon New Zealand would beat them if it came down to that."
"I think it's a premonition," said France supporter Marine Janin, 22. She said a lot of French supporters had flown 24 hours to see their team play and they expected to win.
"I think that French supporters think it's our time."
On early results however, the PS3 game showed some flaws. New Zealand beat Tonga 41-10 on Friday night - not quite the 69-10 predicted in Silu'uga's simulation.
However, Silu-uga pointed out the experiment could pick a different winner next time it was tried.
"Maybe next time round the French will get knocked out in the semifinal."