Black mood as French media struggles to find positives

Noir. That’s the word used by both Midi Olympique and L’Equipe in their Monday editions to describe France’s crushing defeat on Sunday at the hands of Ireland in Cardiff.

‘Black’ obviously has a double meaning, conveying not just the mood of French rugby fans at their side’s drubbing but also the colour of the shirts worn by Saturday’s quarter-final opponents.

The All Blacks will have little to fear from France, predicts L’Equipe, which says that losing to Ireland has “condemned Les Bleus to believe” that they can repeat their feat of 2007 and shock New Zealand in the quarter-final.