Snippets from the Lions Tour to New Zealand 3

By Nemoquin
July 1 2005

The next game on tour was against Otago in Dunedin. Apparently there is a tradition there that, before a big game, the locals play another variant of rugby developed in New Zealand, nude rugby.

I didn't find out about it in time to attend, but saw a (suitably censored) photograph on the front page of the local paper the following day. I don't think that this is really a winter game.

One other aspect of this exemplifies a problem New Zealand has, if it wants to host the World Cup in 2011. There aren't enough hotel rooms in Dunedin. So, after the game we had a four hour coach trip to a hotel in Queenstown, followed, of course, by some technical analysis of the game in the bar. I've no complaints, however, about Queenstown as a place. It is a town built up around a lake and surrounded by hills and mountains. As you can imagine the views are spectacular.

Similarly for the Southland game in Invercargill, it was a coach trip down on the day, followed by a coach trip back, although this time the journey was only two and a half hours. To fill in time, we were taken to Bluff, which is famous for being the southernmost point on the South Island. You may have seen pictures of various Lions teams at the famous signpost marking the spot, and showing c 19,000kms to London etc. Otherwise the town has nothing to recommend it.

I don't want to say anything about the game itself, for obvious reasons, but two things are worth mentioning:

1. People complain about the scoreboard at the Stoop for some reason. The one here was so old fashioned, that every time there was a score, a man had to walk out and hang on the hooks new metal numbers.
2. Alistair Campbell, who apparently is not the most popular man on tour, was back. At half time he was observed to leave his seat in the stand and follow the players down the tunnel, perhaps to spin to them that they were really winning 50-0.

It was up early the following morning to fly to Christchurch. This was surprisingly good news, as it meant that we got to town in plenty of time to go the Jade Stadium to see the Ranfurly Shield challenge between Canterbury and Marlborough. TA Shield challenge game would have been worth going to anyway, just for the experience, but the chance to see Andrew Merhtens' last game made it irrestible.

Despite the fact the kickoff was at 3.15 on a Wednesday afternoon, there was a good crowd there. Quite a few schoolchildren had unfortunately to miss the last period at school in order to get there in time.

At one time, I thought that I wouldn't get into the ground in time for the start, the ticket queue was moving so slowly. I found out, as I got closer, that the ticket vendor was discussing with each person where they wanted to sit, showing them a plan of the stadium, and discussing alternatives. A good idea the day before the game, but not half an hour before kickoff.

I'd seen some of the Stadium before on TV, but didn't realise before just how asymmetrical it is. there are a number of stands of different shapes and sizes, but none the same shape or size as its neighbour. Still, from the upper deck, when nothing is happening on the pitch, there is a spectacular view of the hills between Christchurch and the sea.

I went there with the intention of cheering for Canterbury, because of Mehrtens obviously. However, I started to waiver, reading the programme, because five members of the Marlborough Squad listed their local club as Harlequins.

In the end class told and Canterbury were easy winners. Merhtens played well, particularly in getting the backs going. However, Marlborough gave hime more space than we are used to seeing from UK defensive schemes. At the press conference afterwards, shown in part on TV News, he held up his Quins shirt with name and number 10 on it.

A large number of additional Lions fans have now arrived in town, and you can't go anywhere without tripping over them. Even the ticket touts are reported to be Brits, showing the locals how to do it with modern marketing methods, such as handing out business cards in pubs. Here's hoping for a good enough game that we don't notice that we are half freezing to death, the weather forecast is for cold and rain.