Rugby:Lomu adds NZ flavour to opening ceremony
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TRUE COLOURS: A young French fan makes her own statement at the World Cup opening ceremony.
Jonah Lomu was New Zealand's star at the opening ceremony in Paris as the sixth Rugby World Cup opened on Saturday.
Lomu, a cup legend who still holds the tournament's try-scoring record with 15 touchdowns from the 1995 and 1999 tournaments, was the All Blacks representative as the 20 competing nations featured in a colourful ceremony at the Stade de France.
A capacity crowd of almost 90,000 was packed into the massive arena.
The opening ceremony ran for about 30 minutes.
Lomu carried a ball on to the middle of the field along with other former greats like Hugo Porta and Wallabies great John Eales who won two World Cups in 1991 and 1999.
Stirring music was brought to life by dancers on the field who slowly formed "the world's biggest scrum" for the climax of the ceremony. From the middle of it emerged a massive replica of the golden Webb Ellis Cup.
International Rugby Board boss Dr Syd Millar gave a brief opening address, adamant that the tournament, like its previous versions, would continue the growth of an event dubbed the third biggest sporting spectacle on earth behind the Olympics and the soccer World Cup.
The crowd then settled in for what they had really gathered for – the opening match of the tournament between hosts France and Argentina.
Rugby Heaven
