It was easy to spot New Zealanders at Stade De France. You didn't need the face paint and black scarves; we were the ones wearing polar fleece.

Wynne Grey was over-enthusiastic about the All Blacks last week, and under enthusiastic this week. The main difference was that France played better. Much better.

If the ABs are back at Stade de France in a year, playing France in the final of the World Cup, I'm not sure they will win.

French crowds go to football to be entertained. They bubble. They are happy to be there. What other rugby crowd is as good-natured?

Why do New Zealanders travel all that way to sit grim and silent?

The French rugby union handed out to the crowd leaflets honouring New Zealand for our rugby and for Dave Gallaher, noting he still lies at Passchendale, "where he fell for us." They called on the crowd to honour the All Blacks, their rugby and their song.

The crowd fell completely silent for the haka and the brilliant light of ten thousand camera flashes sparkled like lightening blowing over a storm. We could hardly see it because the French team stood between us and the haka and we were practically at ground level.

Can you imagine anyone droning out 'God Defend NZ' during a game to urge the All Blacks on as the French chorus La Marseillaise to urge on Les Bleus? Then again the All Blacks scored just as the French sang 'Marchon! Marchon!'...

It was the biggest crowd of New Zealanders I've seen in Paris, of course. A bit shocking to see us behaving like Americans: "I'll have a diet coke, mate." Not even the slightest effort to read the way it's written. "Yep, we're from Cannabree. Gizza beer can ya mate?" What would those guys think about a Frenchman turning up in Christchurch and not making the slightest effort to speak English?

We called out 'Carter y va Marquer'. (When I asked Maria to translate the song she said, "It means that guy...he's gonna get a goal!"). During the football world cup, people would sing Zidane Y Va Marquer after a song playing every few minutes on the radio. So the Carter version made the French wince at the cunning reference to the best player in the world and the appropriation of their iconography. A bit like the French singing Loyal at us. Only we would belt it out as Daniel Carter lined up his goalkicks, and the French knew we were right. New Zealanders just ignored it, thinking it was some kind of French thing.

Only about one in six New Zealanders looked around when we called out 'kia ora!'.

We tried to get Pokarekare Ana going as we queued in the rain for the train. We were the only two interested.