The 2nd Lions Test in Wellington

By Waldo
July 11 2005

The Lions Tour continues with Waldo's account of the 2nd test at the Cake Tin in Wellington. This week's episode includes "meeting the Welsh", "odd places to meet Jon Bentley" and a demonstration that the old empire values held within the Commonwealth aren't dead yet.

New Zealand is a lot like Wales. Not because of the scenery or the sheep, but because there are so many Welshmen over here! Wales must be empty! And why is it that, when more than 3 Welshmen get in a pub together, they feel compelled to form a male voice choir? I wouldn't mind, except for the fact that the same 3 songs keep appearing - Land of My Fathers, Bread of Heaven and that one about the little saucepan! The English contingent are altogether more reserved as we haven't yet been formally introduced to each other!

It was a bright sunny morning when we set off to Wellington for the 2nd test. Wellington is pretty small for a capital city and the town was again a sea of red. We walked along the quayside past "Campervan City" to a bar called the Loaded Hog where the Saracens contingent had assembled. Apart from Sinclair, who we had actually seen from the bus but as he had his phone switched off we couldn't contact him! He does this a lot apparently! After a few beers, we decided to act as tourists again so went up in the cable car to the Botanical Gardens, the highest point in Wellington, to sample magnificent vista of the bay and city......oh, and to have a beer. I got chatting to one of the locals who was taking her kids (aged 3 and 7) down to the city centre to soak up the party atmosphere. She said that since the Lions supporters had arrived, there was such a buzz in the town and she wanted them to witness it - and she was right, there was a buzz in town! After this, I went around the museum "Te Papa" ("Our Place" in Maori). It's a fantastic place, not in the least bit stuffy and very interesting - a must do in Wellington. After a brief visit, I went into the centre of town where they had shut off the streets and everyone was partying - all good natured and everyone was joining in, Lions and All Blacks alike.

Time was getting on so it was time to head to the ground via The Loaded Hog for more refreshment. It was here I bumped into Jon Bentley in the queue for the gents - he was most upbeat about the forthcoming game (quelle surprise - Ed). The directions to the Westpac Stadium are to proceed via the railway station. We arrived at the station and asked one of the staff for directions, he said "along platform 7 until the end". Now, we thought he was taking the p**s somewhat but, at the end of the platform, was a ramp into the stadium - bizarre. The stadium is affectionately known as "The Cake Tin" because that's exactly what it looks like, but it's a magnificent place. We took our seats and sampled the pre-match entertainment - ballroom dancing, honestly! I'm not sure if you got that on Sky! As the stadium filled up, there was a patchwork of black and red in the stands - far more so than at Christchurch. The Lions supporters were in good voice with Lions, Lions, Lions resonating all around the stadium. Then the players came on and the roar was deafening - even the Lions song was sung with pride. That surprised me as the general consensus out here is that it is a rubbish song! But that didn't matter tonight, we were singing our hearts out and it was all very emotional!

It all started so well! For the start of the game, there was near hysteria as it looked very much like we could actually win this one! Then it all went horribly wrong. What was the ref doing? By half time, we were feeling very hoarse but were being positive, thinking we would come back in the second half, but the expected comeback never materialised. The Kiwis were obviously beside themselves when the whistle went and, surprisingly, we didn't get as much stick on the way out of the ground as I expected. There were some excitable fans though, who were up for a comment or two, but my stock answer to them was "it was a good win for the commonwealth" and that threw them! And so back to Auckland for the final week......