Rugby (and culture)
Going into the game we expected to get annihilated but Australia (ranked 3rd in the world), but we didn’t care. This is probably the most patriotic I have, or will ever be. We all bought flags and US colored things, and some of us painted our faces (I didn’t go that far). It was great to also hear all the Americans in the Stadium actually sing the national anthem, as apposed to just standing there and listening to a singers rendition of the song.
The game started our really well, we held our own against the Aussies, especially when you consider we decided to play our B team to have the best chance to beat Italy in the next game (which we ended up loosing as well, sad day, but oh well). Australia scored the first try, and took a 5-0 lead, and then scored another shortly thereafter, making it 10-0. Then we scored a try and we all went crazy! We now had momentum and got within about a metre of scoring another try to tie it, but they stripped the ball and promptly ran the length of the field and scored again. We never really got momentum back and the final score was 67-5. The result was about what we elected, and it was still great fun for all, there were many more US fans there than I thought there would be due to the fact that all the Kiwis at the game were supporting the US. It was really fun. If games were not so expensive I would totally go to heaps more, but oh well.
Next Sunday the All Blacks (number 1 in the world and the home team) play Canada in Wellington so that should be a blowout but really intertwining. Wellington will be rocking afterward. Rugby is a great sport and you guys should really check out some replays of games and I can explain the rules to you when I get home. It looks confusing but is actually… well, kinda confusing. But that’s not the point… once you watch a bunch you just understand.
The National Museum (Te Papa) also is having national days for all of the teams that play in Wellington, US day was crap, with all the “best” parts of US culture highlighted including cheerleaders, cowboys (like the Texas kinda, not the cool kind), and some country-line dancer stuff (however, there was also a fairly good jazz band that I actually liked which is saying something cause I’m not a huge jazz fan). Canada day is next Sunday so I’m going to go to that and be Canadian for the day (big surprise there eh?) and Scotland day was last Sunday and included bagpipes and a gala (but I was busy and couldn’t go).
So all in all, rugby is a great sport (WATCH IT) and so much multiculturalism in Wellington is amazing. Seeing fans from around the world wearing their country’s colours and singing songs (the South Africans were heaps of fun) makes me want to travel so much more. Also, the All Blacks have been touring around between games, talking with and answering questions for fans and doing signings. US sports teams, both national and city, need to be more chill and fan friendly I think, although it is harder in such a big country like the USA. I just wish the US would be more accepting of multiculturalism like this.
If you are interested the site for the Rugby World Cup is here. Go there and watch some highlight videos. 🙂