Fans watching the All Blacks go out of the World Cup last night said they're gutted about their side's semifinal defeat to England.
The All Blacks' hopes of a third consecutive Rugby World ended with their shock loss to England. Fans back home say they are gutted also. Photo: AFP
New Zealand were favourites ahead of the match, but for those who gathered to watch the game with high hopes, it was an evening of disappointment.
Supporters experienced high drama, lots of pace, and lots of tension.
It proved a great spectacle for the neutral, but for those watching wearing black, it was a match full of frustration. The All Blacks never seemed to truly get up and running.
The final scorecard read 19-7 in England's favour - but in truth it was lucky New Zealand scored any points at all. A misplaced throw by Jamie George five metres out from England's tryline allowed Ardie Savea to cross over for New Zealand's only score of the game.
Any hopes of a comeback were dashed by fly-half George Ford, whose solid kicking kept the All Blacks at arms length.
At the final whistle, shock was the main emotion for the fans who had gathered in a barn just outside of Masterton.
"We got smoked," said Tony. "We got shut right out of the game, and we got no go-forward. I'm just gutted."
"Tried to keep my hopes up, but my heart kept sinking, [throughout] the first 20 minutes," Shelley said.
"Absolutely distraught right now," said Ngaiwa. "Just heartbreaking."
For those on the other side of the world, "surprised" was the main word used to describe their thoughts watching the game.
They back their team, but even they thought a result like this was only possible in the realms of imagination.
Supporters, such as Olly Clink, who was watching the match with a cup of tea on Saturday morning (UK time), said the performance was outstanding.
"It's probably the best performance from an English sports team I've ever seen," he said. "And I would include every sport in that."
His friend, Sam Mason-Jones, had a more negative energy to start off with. "I was really thinking that were going to get a bit of a pummelling.
"[But] the feeling at fulltime was just: 'Wow! Okay - that's just what happened'."
England will now face either South Africa or Wales, who play each other this evening.
The All Blacks will meet the loser of that match on Friday night.
