The Nist Walkabout: The Rugby Match

I left off with Clarice heading to work Friday afternoon. Do you want to hear about my unpacking and taking a nap? I didn’t think so. I was about half settled when the droopy eyelids could no longer be restrained. I slept on the plane, but it was not restful. Add to that I had not had my CPAP machine in days (shipping it to AU) and I needed some more rest because tonight we were going out!

Clarice got home at 5:00 and she had changed and we were out the door by 5:15. The group from her work was supposed to go to an NRL (National Rugby League) match on Saturday, but someone found out that Australia was playing New Zealand in NRL Friday night. Wouldn’t that be more memorable and exciting? Oh, and it was the 100th “Test” between the two sides. So, with my having maybe another hour of sleep, we were off to our first Aussie sporting event. I learned some very important things.

1) NRL and Rugby are 2 different things. NRL is based solidly in Rugby, but the rules are slightly different. The Aussie jersey I have is from the AU Rugby team (the Wallabies). What we saw was the AU NRL Team (the Kangaroos). Important distinction. Apparently you either prefer NRL or “Rugby Union” which is the slightly different form. I’ve never seen it (that I can tell) but Paul follows NRL, so that is what I have at least a brief familiarity with.

2) AU looks at New Zealand sort of like the USA looks at Canada…they are the harmless little neighbor that everyone enjoys making fun of. I think it goes both ways. While the two nations are friendly, when it comes to things like sports they are very bitter rivals.

3) I much prefer the American method of assigned seats. The members of the Sydney Cricket Ground got to go in a find any open seats they could in a certain area. Well, that was us and you try finding seats for 12 together only 30 minutes before the start. Yeah, we ended up in the “end zone”. Oh well, I’m sure Clarice and I will get to more contests this year.

Before the match they paraded old players (or their representatives) and detailed the history of the AU/NZ NRL rivalry and this importance of this 100th Test. It was interesting as person who is passionate about all things sport and as an amateur historian. The other Americans looked at it much like the Aussies…an excuse to drink beer.

As the two teams took the playing field (The Sydney Cricket Ground – where they played the very first Test), the NZ side performed a Haka (I think I spelled that right), a traditional NZ tribal dance. They always perform the dance, and the AU side gathered to watch. Now this bears further research for me. Why do they let them dance right in front of them on their own home soil? I could understand if this was NZ, but the AU were the home team. Here's a photo of NZ performing the Haka. Strange. Anyway…

The game was very exciting. Paul said as we sat down, “This is probably the worst place to watch, but at least we can all sit together.” The first 3 “trys” (like a touchdown in American Football) all happened right in front of us, including what must assuredly have been one of the prettiest tries in the history of this rivalry. One AU player was falling out of the back of the “end zone” right in front of us, and as he was falling tipped the ball over the back of his head to another player who scored the try. It had to have made the AU equivalent of Sportscenter. The first score of the game, and it was very exciting! AU ended up dominating, much to the surprise of many. It was expected to be a close game, but only a couple of late scores by NZ even kept the score reasonably close. I left tired, but very entertained. It was good to hang out with some of Clarice’s work friends, even if most of them will be leaving again in a couple of weeks. Paul and Amber deserve a big THANK YOU for herding a bunch of tourists to such a crowded and chaotic place. Much fun!