I decided that there is no way that I can be in New Zealand for two years without going to see the famous All Blacks rugby team play. They had a game at Eden Park a couple of weeks ago so I went along with Steve and Deon to go check out what all the fuss is about. We were told how crazy things were supposed to be and I was a little concerned that I would have things thrown all over me or get in a fight or something, but it was quite the opposite really.
I couldn't believe how tame things were. The crowd was not loud at all. Considering that this is New Zealand's most famous sport and that they were playing against one of their biggest rivals in Australia, the stadium didn't even sell out until a couple of days before the game. And the stadium is only at about half capacity anyway as it is undergoing big renovations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup which will be hosted here. I was almost whispering to Steve and Deon during the game and when anyone stood up to cheer, the rest of the fans yelled at them to sit down. The loudspeakers hardly even worked, either. The All-Blacks won in a close game but I was pretty unimpressed with the atmosphere - nothing like a PSU game, that's for sure. Oh well, at least I can tick that off the list and it was cool to see the Haka before the game.
The All-Blacks doing the Haka before the match.
Me and Steve - we invented our own cheer - YEEEs! (in a kiwi accent)
Me and Deon - the only fans cheering
Finally, a real fan
This looks more like the crowd I expected to be surrounded by 
Hey Nate, somehow I missed this article as well as a couple others you posted in July - did you backdate them or something? Very interesting about the lack of craziness - maybe they go more wild at soccer games - in England the fans kill each other on a regular basis, usually by trampling them.
ReplyDeleteThey had a highlight on ESPN about a rugby match a little while ago. The one team was wearing black, so maybe it was the all-blacks? Anyway, I was thinking about NZ when I saw it.
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