RWC 2011 D Day - Australia vs Ireland

I've always thought it doesn't matter what sport you watch, if you watch it live you are guaranteed to get swept off your feet by the excitement of it all.

Alley-Oop!

For the 2011 Rugby World Cup, PIC and I were lucky enough to get our hands on tickets to the Australia vs Ireland match at Eden Park. Initially, we were still hemming and hawing on whether we really wanted to watch the match (or any match at all) live but hey -- how often do you get to be in the host country of a tourney that happens every four years?

"A" & "M"

So there we were on game day. This time made even more exciting by the presence of our "kids". For the second time around "A" and her good friend and travel buddy "M" are staying with us over the long weekend to bear witness to history in the making.

For a brief background, "A" and I used to work for the same office in Dublin and she was part of my team of "kids" there. While I'm no longer her manager, I guess I never shook off the 'mammy' role when I saw her again and that pretty much extended to "M" as well. PIC took to them pretty quickly too, so I guess he's adopted them as well and we look like a little mismatched family whenever we're all in the car or off having our meals together. I told PIC, think of it as a dry run for what lies ahead, he he.

The whole house was deathly quiet at 11AM Saturday as everyone was still in bed. The kids had a late night, and for our habits PIC and I sort of did as well. (To be honest neither of us really needed a night out excuse to blob in bed over weekends...) Our Kiwi friend rings and we realize sh*t we've missed 11AM brunch. PIC and I finally got up at 12ish but didn't have the heart to wake the girls up so we thought we'd go to the supermarket for a spell while they slowly collected their bearings.

Choices, choices

By the time we got back they were slowly rejoining the living. With brunch cancelled, our Kiwi friend decided to just pop over for a quick visit and organize an alternative time to catch up. By the time she came, chatted, and left, it was almost 2PM and our little family was starving.

We headed off and had a super lunch at the Elephant Wrestler Bar (which had the same menu as the Goode Brothers branch they replaced) then sneaked off to the Dollar store for a bit more game paraphernalia. With grand plans of leaving at 5.00PM to beat the traffic and crowds to the match, we were home again to grab our props and get kitted out.

Before I go any further, I will have to say that the kids were absolutely bonkers and the whole event would not have been as much fun without them. I would have probably gone in just the white shirt and jeans but here is what I ended up looking like just before we left at 6PM:

Still not as adventurous as the other 2 but still way more than I had planned

We were lucky enough to find a secure park 1.5km away from the stadium itself.On the walk over to our gate, it was just a mad Irish frenzy. It felt like the girls saw their long lost friend every 2 minutes and were getting swept off into costumed mob parties on the street, Gaelic hakas, random sign holding troops, and poor sods who didn't even know what hit them until after they've smiled for photos with "A" and "M". It was fab and we weren't even in the stadium yet!

Gotta love those signs. The one at the back said - Hi Mam! Will you collect my DOLE (welfare) please!

The girls' capes

In we go to find our seats and wow, we were on the lowest area, and about 10 or so seats away from the action. It felt like we could almost touch the picth! The girls got even better seats being 4 or so seats away - and true enough, their main objective of showing up on the big screen was satisfied as soon as they started waving those signs around.

Our view

The game was pretty much a blur this morning after. All I can remember was the stadium packed with more Irish supporters than Aussies and the relentless sing song chant of "Ireland... Ireland..." I swear I am now suffering from Ireland's Call last song syndrome. The support was amazing and it paid off. Ireland won 15-6 borne of penalty and drop goals from either side. It was such a tight match that neither team got a proper try in. Still, we were so proud of Ireland making it across the line twice even if they weren't counted, while the Wallabies couldn't make it past the strong Irish defense.

Ach, now listen to me sounding like a proper rugby head. Anyway, I'll leave you with a few more pics and hope you get to live as much of the event with me from them - Enjoy!