With spectators' smartphones on record and camera flashes going off all around St. James' Park, Tonga went toe-to-toe with the All Blacks as they performed their pre-game ritual dances.
At the end of a compelling spectacle, it was tough to pick a winner between the Tongan "sipi tau" and the world-famous "haka" of New Zealand.
And the parity didn't end there on Friday night.
For 53 minutes, Tonga didn't take a backward step against the world's best team and the favourites for the Rugby World Cup title. The score was 14-6 and New Zealand, with its malfunctioning scrum, looked vulnerable.
"I'm not saying it in a cocky way," Tonga captain Nili Latu said, "but I believe some teams' downfall is turning up to a World Cup knowing you are playing a couple of Tier One nations, and you give up before getting onto the field.
"I believed the whole week that we could have beaten All Blacks."
That would have been some way for Latu — one of most highly respected flankers around — to bow out of international rugby. But it wasn't to be.
New Zealand crossed for five tries in the last 26 minutes for a 47-9 victory, a score line that flatters the defending champions. They knew they'd been in a contest in Newcastle.
"It was a physical game and they put us under a lot of pressure, and we had to defend multiple phases," New Zealand coach Steve Hansen said. "But it's what you come to expect from these so-called lesser teams. They have improved."
The Tongans lost their opening Pool C game to Georgia and ended up with just one win — against Namibia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament. A fourth-place finish in the pool means they will have to go through qualifying for the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
But Latu and coach Mana Otai were happy with the way the team finished its campaign. Tonga trailed Argentina 20-13 at halftime before losing 45-16, and challenged the All Blacks in the biggest match that many Tongan players will ever play.
"We played beyond our wildest imagination, to be honest," Otai said. "We showed glimpses of how good we can be. There are a few little bits in the middle and fitness is a problem. Of course, the pressure of playing against Tier One nations, it's a whole new level playing against these guys. But I thought we improved every game."
Latu will continue playing club rugby just round the corner from St. James' Park, with English club Newcastle Falcons. It will be the culmination of a career also spent in New Zealand with Bay of Plenty, the Chiefs and the Hurricanes, and — for the past seven seasons — in Japan.
He went out of test rugby on a high.
"The plan wasn't to wait for the All Blacks to attack us. We wanted to attack them," Latu said. "In the first half, we took it to them. I'm proud of the boys."
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.