The end of the road...... for now!

Like all good things, they must end and this sadly is my last blog post for a few weeks on Not Sweet Chariot. Now I’m the first to admit that I didn’t stick it out to the bitter end in New Zealand, seeing as my side England didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, fumbling out rather meekly in the Quarter-final to the French.

So I decided to flee New Zealand to see Australia & Malaysia, not only to see a little of the world but also to experience different rugby cultures, and to see the matches away from New Zealand. These yielded all kinds of results from the people I spoke to and experiences. In Australia it seemed like the RWC was brushed aside in favour Aussie rules transfers & the opening game weekend of the A-league, whilst I then experienced heartache watching England crash out to the French on my own on a big screen with four others in the centre of Melbourne.

 However in Malaysia I met up with the Sabah Warriors, who along with about 60 others in the local Irish bar offered up passionate and rowdy support even in the sweltering 30 degree heat for the final. It’s been interesting to have these Rugby World Cup experiences outside of the host nation, yet still feeling connected to the action on and off the pitch at the host nation. I have been watching the Rugby World Cup admiringly from afar.

Of course the best experiences of my ‘tour’ came in New Zealand. From the hospitality, to the atmosphere at all the games I attended, even to the blanket media coverage it’s has been nothing short of perfect. I think my experience can be neatly summed up in one tidy story.

After stumbling off a 24 hour flight from England, me and Greg wandered around Christchurch bleary eyed looking for a bed for the night. As we wandered up the street we bumped into a big man donning the uniform of a fire officer. Without hesitation he stuck up a conversation, “Here for the rugby boys?” we replied and started to get chatting and within 5 minutes he had pointed us in the direction of the best hostel in town and how he wished England a successful tournament.

 That is something you just would not get in England, a friendly hello and a helping hand from a stranger like that. It just sums up the passion for rugby in New Zealand, and also the willingness to ‘Welcome the World’ which made New Zealand such great hosts for this tournament.

Now in this final blog post it would be rude of me not to mention the student hosts who looked after us so fantastically in Dunedin. Whilst the average England fan was spending out $200+ on accommodation in the town or freezing on a campsite, we stayed for free at a student house. It meant that we got to see a different, slightly student view of Dunedin. So from epic parties at the flat, to taking advantage of the student deals at every fast food place in town, we covered the board. 

Thankfully they where also eager Rugby fans and regularly gave me some good quotes for the impeding All Blacks clashes so I must thank the guys for that. When it came to the game days Dunedin was transformed, and bloated with the arrival with English fans. But always the theme was the same, the underdogs where always passionately supported from the locals students paying money to be a part of the Word Cup action. Often donning creative costumes to show support for the lesser favoured team, from the likes of Dracula & Boy Georgia made appearances in the stand. It only added for the excitement for me at the Otago stadium.

Away from match days we wondered around the south island, experiencing more famous kiwi hospitality. Even seeing our English hero’s in Queenstown before they proceeded to get rowdy and grope a couple of tourists. After three great weeks in Dunedin with our livers certainly a little worse for wear we made our way up to the North Island. After brief stops in Wellington and Taupo and we made our way to Auckland for England’s crucial group closer against Scotland.

Auckland was undoubtedly the beating heart of the Rugby World Cup, full of colour and life. The Queens wharf was transformed by the inflatable rugby ball, with the fan zone jammed packed full of tourists and rugby fans taking in all the interactive games and making use of the free wifi. Over the weekend I was in Auckland it was firmly gripped with excitement for both codes, as the warriors made the grand final.

 The final match for England’s pool against the Scots certainly delivered in what I envisaged for Eden Park. The venue was crammed with both passionate Scottish and England fans, as the national anthems blared out I felt truly lucky to have seen all of this, so far from home. It’s just a shame England couldn’t deliver in the tournament.

When it came to the Rugby it was fascinating to view the contrasting styles. All I knew of really was the 6 nations whilst occasionally getting up early on Saturday to view the Tri nations. So the bulldozing style of Tonga, Fiji & Samoa where quite the revelation.

 Whilst also admiring the distinct styles of the major powers of the game, from the free flowing play of the All Blacks, the Australians & now the Welsh. To the more ponderous power orientated styles of the English, French & Springboks. It was a great way to learn more about the sport, and this was helped significantly by the blanket coverage from the media.

It dominated every aspect of the news, from the top story on the TV NZ news of the announcement of the AB’s squad which at the time me & Greg found bizarre that squad announcement made prime time news. Even the controversy of the traffic nightmare in Auckland on the first game made pages and pages of news paper copy, the World Cup dominated this country and I am proud to have formed some tiny part of the coverage with my blog being in the New Zealand Herald.

If the plan for New Zealand was to welcome the world during the world cup, they certainly did a fantastic job. England will have to go a long way to beat the excitement and passion that I seen over my time at the tournament, from the ideal final result (finally the best team in the world won) to the spectacular and tense knock out ties. The Aussies win against the Springboks & the 14 men Welsh side losing to the French particularly standing out as games of the tournament.

So my plan is to travel on for a few more weeks, I’m taking in Malaysia, Singapore & Japan. Before I head back to a bitterly cold England, which will be gripped by frost and snow, then it’s back onto the job hunt ideally in Journalism.

Hopefully these blog posts will show as a good part of my portfolio (incidentally if any one who is reading this, and you enjoy my writing and want to give me a job drop me an e-mail!) Again I would like to thank the guys at the New Zealand Herald who have posted up my work, and to all the people who have commented on the blog and followed the adventure via twitter.  It’s been a pleasure to share my experience of the Rugby World Cup & I am already looking forward to my next visit to Rugby Country. But don’t worry; I will be back after my travels covering some rugby and posting up on the blog.