Paris – the city of love… gay love? Awesome!
This is the reason why I have been dying to see France – most specially Paris. I so this entry from A Welsh View and was delighted actually. You see, I have the series of The Making of the French Rugby Calendar ‘Dieux Du Stade‘ from 2004 – 2007. It is a way for the French to promote Rugby and boy did they get the attention? Heck ya! It attracted the masses to their homo-erotic display of affection.
And now this!!! Whoah! I’m sure gays all over London and France are screaming of delight! 
Honestly, it tickles me to the bone..
Football has the Liverpool kiss, and now rugby has the French kiss.
A Rugby World Cup advertisement that depicts opposing forward packs getting even more up close and personal than usual is raising eyebrows around the rugby world.
The advertisement, commissioned by the Regional Tourism Committee of Paris, shows French and English forwards in what should be a scrum. The ad is being displayed in London.
The front rows are locked together at the lips, and a closer inspection reveals the French No. 8 with his hand on the derriere of his flanker. Jump to see the full picture
The ad’s tagline – “Enjoy rugby in the capital of love” – plays on the reputation of Paris as the most romantic city in the world.
Click to enlarge image.
Parisian rugby players are renowned for being in touch with their feminine side – the Stade Francais club plays in a very metrosexual pink strip that the All Blacks tried on when they toured France last year.
The tourism board’s website says the ad is designed “to show Londoners that Paris is a dynamic, multi-faceted region brimming with exciting events”.
“The ad uses offbeat wit and the Rugby World Cup to show the world that Paris is also the capital of humour.”
Paris Regional Tourism Board spokesman Francois Navarro said the ad was on billboards and video screens in London.
“People are smiling when they see the ad and the gay community is very happy with it,” he said. “We have had a very good reaction to it.”
Navarro said because of the success of the ad, the board was using it for another campaign in September, closer to the World Cup games.
Former All Black and Canterbury captain Todd Blackadder said he had never seen anything like the ad in his time on the field, but it was “good to see the English and French are getting on better”.
“It just shows how tight front rows are. It’s obviously a bit of tongue in cheek – actually, it’s a lot of tongues in cheeks.”
Former All Black hardman Richard Loe summed it up:”Only in France.
“It’s just like the Sean Fitzpatrick and Phil Kearns ad. That was a pair, this is a group. The French are very liberal.”
Loe said he knew what tickets to the World Cup cost, and “you’d have to be pretty sick to pay that much to see that”.
Loe suggested The Press keep the picture away from All Black prop Greg Somerville, as it could put him off his game for Canterbury today.
The All Blacks and the New Zealand Rugby Union could not comment on the ads last night as they were busy preparing for tonight’s Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations decider against Australia in Auckland.
