All Blacks
Rugby doesn’t get much attention in the US, but in New Zealand, it’s a passion and the national sport. The All Blacks have the greatest legacy of any rugby team in the world. They are currently the number one team in the world and have an incredible amount of rugby talent for a country of only 4 million people.
I’ve been looking forward to the opportunity to see them in action for a long time and the time finally came last weekend. On Saturday the 22nd, the All Blacks were in Wellington to play the national team for South Africa, the Springboks. South Africa had lost to Australia the prior weekend 49-0, so they were in a foul mood and were likely to put up quite a fight.
We went to the game with a couple friends and got a babysitter. We let Quinn get into the mood a bit before we left.
Some of you have heard me speak about the Haka. The Maori people are New Zealand’s native islanders and like all Pacific Islanders, they have traditional dances or “Hakas” for many occasions. The All Blacks have a tradition of performing a Haka before each international test match and it really is something to see. Their opponents have so much respect for the All Blacks that there simply isn’t anything equivalent in any other sport. You can see a video on the team website, though I took a short one of my own at the game Saturday. It’s a large file (28 MB) so only try this if you have a high speed connection. And it’s a bit cloudy as they shot a bunch of fireworks right before. If you don’t want to wait, a number of the still shots below are of the haka.
We did get some very good pictures during the game and the All Blacks won 35-17 so a good time was had by all.
Looks like you had a good time, and they won. Thats a plus. Wow! What were you doing up a 05:16 am?
When is their next game? Do they play other places nearby?
Im glad you had fun.
Ardy
Ardy,
Believe me, I wasn’t up at 5:16 AM. The time is the website time, not NZ time, so it’ll be whatever time it is in the US.
Yes, we had a great time. They play Saturday in Brisbane, Australia but only one more in NZ this year, up in Auckland next weekend. That was part of the reason this was pretty special since they don’t play that often (though more often than they used to) and there might be an All Blacks game in Wellington once every 2-3 years.
How fun!! I’ve watched a bit of rugby on television from time to time – it’s a rough sport compared to our “sports” in the US. I don’t think it’s a game for weenies! And isn’t Quinn just so cute?? Do you think Dad should wear his All Blacks cap when & if we come to visit? Glad you finally got to see a game.
Love, Mom
That was a really cool video. Glad you got to finally see them. Do they do the Haka on that movie “Whale Rider”?? did you ever see it? I think that they do. It is about the Mauri people. Anyway it was wicked cool.
love, heidi