On June 8 we went to our very first All Blacks game. We had been wanting to go, and when a friend said she had some extra tickets, we thought now was our chance. They were playing France, who is not known to be too tough a competitor, but would be a good game as who doesn't like the watch the French fail --- apologies to any French people or lovers of the French :)
We went to our friend, Mel's, for drinks before the game and I showed up with bubbles to discover that it was hanging out in the garage with beer pong---I felt a bit under-prepared. Will jumped right in on a game of beer pong, and later on, I joined to teach the Kiwi's flip cup. I'd never had to teach anyone flip cup before, but luckily it's not too hard to teach and the group were quick learners.
 |
We then made our way to the stadium on foot with our group being among the rowdy crowd :) I was so excited to finally see the haka (see below) live and to see the team play, especially the beast, Nonu, bulldoze through people. I was a bit disappointed that my Dan Carter was still out from a wrist(?) injury. Nevertheless it was a great time and of course, the AB's won! It is so fun having a winning team to support! We had a great time cheering in a full kiwi crowd and will be going again in September when they play rivals, South Africa.
 |
| Pre-game ceremony |
 |
| Will taking it all in |
 |
| Our kiwi little brother, Sean! |
 |
| Go All Blacks! |
The haka is a traditional warrior dance/war cry done by the Maoris. In a very simple explanation it involves intimidating facial contortions, bulging the eyes, sticking out the tongue and hitting parts of the body. The All Blacks have been doing a pre-game haka facing their opponents since 1905!! Wow! I wouldn't want to go up against these guys on the field!
This is video from the test we went to, but the professionals got better shots than me :) Here are the words below with the translation.
| Ka mate, ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Ka mate! ka mate! ka ora! ka ora!
Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
Ā, upane! ka upane!
Ā, upane, ka upane, whiti te ra!
| ’Tis death! ‘tis death! (or: I may die) ’Tis life! ‘tis life! (or: I may live)
’Tis death! ‘tis death! ’Tis life! ‘tis life!
This is the hairy man
Who brought the sun and caused it to shine
A step upward, another step upward!
A step upward, another... the Sun shines!
|
It's pretty cool to have something like this as a tradition (the haka and a winning rugby team). We definitely loved seeing the AB's live and can't wait to do it again soon!
Cheers!
Will and Tally
No comments:
Post a Comment