Cocky Scotchmen & Passionate Singaporeans.

Actual Picture of the Scotchman who woke me up

After an intense couple of days travelling we finally arrived Auckland for our final group game against the Scots. I’m looking forward to this grudge match against our local rivals, especially after a rowdy night in our hostel in which a pair of Scotchmen proceeded to roll in at four in the morning waking us sleepers up. They proceeded to babble in 'Scotch' about how they could beat England by 8 points and dump us out of the competition.

It’s highly unlikely that this will be the case come Saturday evening as they talked up the Scotch game. After all the Scotch have not defeated the English by 8 points for over 25 years, the stats are on our side.As we pulled up in Auckland's city center I got out  my phone to catch up with some of the contacts I had gained over the last few weeks down on South Island. One of the first names to pop up was that of Keith Oh, a Singaporean who has an interesting and very expensive Rugby World Cup story.

We met Keith on our very first England game in Dunedin. As we chatted we talked all things rugby; particularly his love for the game and his passion to watch any rugby game going. But for this World Cup he has set himself a challenge with his friend Mauth to see as many matches as they could get their hands on.  As you can imagine Singapore is not the biggest force in Asian rugby. They currently lie 50^th in the IRB world rankings and our in the second tier of Asian rugby teams. So I find it puzzling that these two fella’s would have such a love for the support in a country which can barely fit into New Zealands lake Taupo in the North Island.

“We always played rugby at school, when we graduated we decided we would visit New Zealand and see some group games.” Said Keith over a Facebook chat, if you look at this page it’s full of photo’s with the stars at the Rugby World Cup. He has attended most training session within the Auckland area being snapped with the likes of Bryan Habana, Paul O’Connell & the world famous Quade Cooper. His fanatic nature for the game does go even further;

Keith & Mauth With Greg in Dunedin

At current count Keith & Mauth has seen 7 different games in the North & South Islands. They have taken in the following-

England V Argentina

Wales V South Africa

Fiji V Samoa

Australia V Ireland

Russia V USA

Argentina V Scotland

New Zealand V France.

All of this along with the two Semi-final match tickets & Quarter final tickets. It makes for staggering reading considering the expense and travel for each game. But when asked on how much they have spent I am given one answer; “It doesn’t matter how much they where- It’s not every day I can see the best players in the world playing rugby.”

I found it amazing how from all the time and money these two had such a deep rooted passion for the game- and how they have taken to  the tournament with open arms (and wide open wallets) to see as many teams as possible. The two Singaporeans had truly embraced the slogan of the tournament “A World in motion.” Through spending vast amounts of money following the sport they love. Hopefully we will meet up with our Singaporian pals in Auckland to swap some stories before we dump the Scotchmen out of the Rugby World Cup. I have to say I’m excited for my five day stay in the beating heart of Rugby Country.