TRUE COLOURS: The Lithgow family spent hours mowing and spraying these slogans into the paddock on their farm on the outskirts of Wanganui. After the ABs won the final on Sunday they added the final word: WINNERS. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED
A Wanganui family's passion for the All Blacks has received a global audience with some of their farm animals playing leading roles in a YouTube clip that has gone viral.
Dean Lithgow and his family, who farm a property on the outskirts of the city, wanted to show their support for the team but in a very novel way.
They used special paint to brand 68 of their Friesian Hereford heifers with the words "All Blacks" and the silver fern.
Then Mr Lithgow mowed the same words and the Air New Zealand slogan "Crazy about rugby" complete with the koru symbol, into the grass on a paddock sited next to the family home.
The Lithgow children first had the idea of doing something special to mark the rugby World Cup and the rugby-loving family started working on their "special" project five weeks ago.
"I measured the letters then set about mowing them out.
"The words All Blacks cover 200m and each letter is 30m high," Mr Lithgow said.
After the mowing, the letters were sprayed with Roundup to provide a longer lasting symbol.
Clearly visible from the air he said Air NZ flights coming in and out of Wanganui had been tracking a particular route so passengers could catch a glimpse of the Lithgows' bucolic artwork.
"We've had feedback from all around the world," Mr Lithgow said.
Creating their artistic support for our national team also gave the family something to focus on. Like many others in the Wanganui district they took a hammering in the June floods.
"We got hit hard at our place like a lot of other people, so really we didn't have a lot to smile about for a while there," he said.
But Mr Lithgow said this little project had given them something to smile about.