It’s been long enough now…
Yes, I think we can almost talk about it. Though it still brings back some bad feelings!
At the same time we got the tickets to the first All Blacks game of the world cup, we took a punt (if you’ll pardon the pun) and got ourselves tickets to the quarter final game for the AB pool. We figured that it was highly likely that we’d win the pool and if not we could always sell them on anyway. Not that we had any doubts at all though. Honest!
The tickets were the easy bit though. Right up until the week before we went we had no idea whether we had anywhere to stay as there seemed to be no accommodation left in town. All sorts of schemes were being discussed, from driving up and back in a day, or sleeping in a car, etc. But in the end we managed to score a flat for the night within reasonable walking distance from the stadium. Whew! That meant we could take the easy option of a train there and back.
So we got there, got settled, went to the pub to watch the Aussie v England game… With all the other Kiwi’s in town. Who were all cheering on England, rather than our cousins across the pond. Go figure! Presumably because at the time we thought that would be best for us in the long run. The token 2 Aussies at the pub were getting a bit of a hard time, as you can imagine.
Then off down the road for a pie and another pint before the game.
I don’t really want to talk about the the game. So I won’t.
But I will talk about after the game. Back at the pub. With everyone else looking glum and commiserating with each other. Along with some France supporters. All getting along fine.
The reason I mention that is that some people asked me at work what it was like after the game and were really surprised to hear that there was no trouble or bad feeling or anything. They’re so used to football crowds that get ugly that it’s hard for them to comprehend a rugby crowd. No need to separate supporters in the stadium, no need for police on horseback, no bottles being thrown, nothing. Just a good natured crowd where supporters of both teams can talk to each other about the game afterwards over a beer.
It’s all good, regardless of the result.