Rugby Opening Ceremonies

Rugby World Cup - New Zealand

New Zealand is a rugby-crazy country. Rugby is everywhere you look or watch or listen on the radio. Sports talk radio is all rugby, all the time. TV is all rugby, everywhere you look as you drive the countryside are rugby flags for the home team. Part of the New Zealand tradition for rugby is the incorporation of the Maori culture as well. This is evident in any match played by the All-Blacks (NZ home team) and their performance of the Haka. The Maori were also on display at the opening ceremonies held on September 9th in Auckland. Here is a video of highlights, starting with the Maori warrior calling the tribes together for the world cup:

USA vs Ireland

It is Sunday September 11, 2011. Game time has arrived. The venue is known as Yarrow Stadium, but for World Cup it is referred to as Taranaki Stadium in New Plymouth. The town is flooded with Irish nationals every where you look. The pubs are all overflowing with pre-match revelry. The trip from the city center to the stadium is made via shuttle bus as the stadium is 2 miles uphill from the city center on the coastline. The bus struggles to get up the hill as it is loaded with fans, all cheering....for the bus driver as we finally hit the crest of one particularly large hill.

I find my seat easily, along the sideline not too far from the action and tucked up under the overhang of the roof which came in handy moments later as a torrential downpour came crashing down as the stadium was filling up and throughout the game. I found myself seated next to an older irishman and his wife. He was from Belfast, the protestant north, and member of the UK. He talked endlessly about how rugby was the only real sport in ireland that both Northern Ireland and the catholic Republic of Ireland unite and compete simply as one united Ireland despite years of fighting. Ironically, the same sentiments had been expressed days earlier by the two lads from Dublin I had met at the Sydney airport and had several beers with while waiting for our flight. They were from the Catholic Republic of Ireland and proudly NOT a member of the UK, but an independent nation.

The United States rugby club had attended a memorial service in recognition of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attcks in NYC and Washington DC. The local Kiwi community had a very nice memorial service and the US team attended, as did the Prime Minister of New Zealand and the US Ambassador. The older Irishman next to me stated he had attended the service and said the US team captain said some very nice words at the memorial. It was televised across New Zealand on the local news.

The US Marine Band of the Pacific marched onto the field and entertained the crowd with Irish folk songs and patriotic american songs. A great atmosphere. Stirring national anthems for both the US and Ireland followed with the full crowd of 20,000 plus singing along. Then it was time for kick-off. Now, I should say that the crowd not only was vocal but was dressed for the party. Irish leprechans, US revolutionary costume, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Elvis, John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, etc. The crowd was fantastic. The Oregon State University Rugby team was present as they were touring New Zealand for both their own matches against college teams and to support the US team as spectators.

The match itself was very intense. The Americans played inspired rugby against a much better skilled Ireland side. The US played stellar defense and almost kept the irish to 3 points in the first half, an amazing feat, but the Irish scored on the last play of the half to take a 10-0 lead at halftime. The second half saw the US get on the scoreboard 10-3 but then the Irish put some room on the score, and in the final minute of play the Irish led 22-3. On the last possession of the game, the Irish could have run the clock out, but instead were trying to get one more score in an effort to earn a bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries. The US defense was setup an they intercepted a pass and ran untouched into the in-goal area for a score of there own. FInal score was 22-10 in favor of the Irish.

On my way out, I ran into the two irish lads from dublin (Andy and Adam). We talked for a bot about the match and they both agreed that the US was fantastic tonight in their defense. They asked me to go celebrate the match with them at the pub but I declined, although we agreed to meet in Auckland in a week or so when Ireland take on Australia. We all have tickets for that match and will tailgat prior to the match and after.

I have put together my own video of the match with highlights, but will have to wait to post them when I have a better internet connection.