It ended 24 years of World Cup heartbreak for the rugby mad nation and left the most flamboyant of northern hemisphere rugby playing countries still without the biggest prize in the sport after three visits to the final.
For both sets of fans, though, there was something positive to take from the result.
"Finally," exhaled David Hemi, a Maori who has lived in France for 10 years and had to put up with the crushing disappointment of four years ago when his 'hosts' beat his countrymen in the quarter-finals.
"There was a feeling of deja vu, with only a point lead, but thus it is so finally, it has been a long time in coming," he added as a cacophony of shrieks of delight exploded in the Parisian pub as Richie McCaw raised the Webb Ellis trophy.
As the early morning Bloody Marys were replaced by pre-lunch pints of beer it became all too much for another All Blacks supporter.
"A point is a point, it is enough," exclaimed a tearful Auckland-born Catherine McMahon.
There were those too who felt they had no option but to support the All Blacks if they wished to maintain an amicable domestic atmosphere.
One such person was Montpellier-born Marion Richardson, who was at the pub with her Wellington-born husband Andrew and nine-month-old daughter Lilia, who stared bemused at the pre-match haka performed in the bar by a Maori to the background of a lowkey rendition of the Marseillaise.
"When we returned from New Zealand in 2007, it was the quarter-final (France won 20-18), and Andrew didn't speak to me for 24 hours.
"If they do the same thing again today, I believe I will be thrown out of the house..." she said prior to the kick-off.
While Paris is at best a tepid good weather supporter of rugby - despite hosting two of the Top 14 sides - Toulouse is the heartbeat of the sport in France and there the club giants opened the doors to the public to come and watch the game unfold.
The largely pro-France crowd - estimated at about 10-12,000 triple the amount expected by the stadium authorities - enjoyed the rollercoaster ride shown on two giant screens but some could not withold their bitterness at the end.
"We believed to the end, but you cannot win when you are 15 against 18, the three referees included," moaned 39-year-old Pierre in what was a rare graceless reaction from the losing supporters.
However, Pierre, adorned with the French tricolor painted onto his cheeks, feted his side, who had made a mockery of the tag of being the worst side ever to reach the World Cup final.
"The French played out of their skins. I prefer a defeat by a point than to have suffered a right whipping."
Marie was just delighted to have shared the experience with so many people.
"To share such an important moment with other people is important because it doesn't happen very often," said Marie, tastefully done up for the match with a violet wig and the tricolor colours painted onto her face.
However, Marie and her fellow fans were gone within half an hour of the final whistle leaving just a giant model cockerel to be escorted off the pitch by four security men - all France rugby fans will hope he crows last in four years time.