Shaking the Ghosts of the Past - RWC Quarters

I arrived back in Auckland on Saturday lunchtime after a big week down south to be greeted by brother Tom. I was taking him to the Quarter Final for his 30th birthday present (all be it 2.5 years later!). The Quarter was between England and France. I have never donned the English colours but I proudly stripped to my white Football Jersey in support of my second home. Not least because some Frenchies tried to knock me off by driving on the wrong side of the road that week. Nothing like a serious car crash to sort out your loyalties.

Front Yard Footy on the Fan Trail

We took the last of the Fan Trail to the game at Eden Park and enjoyed the tv's being set up in peoples front yards to see the game in Wellington (Ireland v Wales with Wales taking the prized first post in the Semi Finals). I don't have any images of the game and I can bearly remember the intricacies of it but I do remember one thing early on, I was backing the wrong horse. The crowd was mostly made up of Christchurch folk as the Quarters were meant to be held in Chch prior to the devestating earthquakes in February which destroyed the legendary Lancaster Park. It made for a rather somber and reserved Southern crowd. France took the next place for the Semi v Wales. This would be prove to be an interesting Semi Final no doubt. We called in at RWC Party HQ Fran and Grahams house in near by Mt Eden, and finally made my way to town to enjoy some celebrations in the Fan Zone with my girlfriends and to fondly farewell the English...funnily enough there were few of them out.

Sunday was the day of interest it saw the Australia v South African match kick off at 6pm in Wellington followed by the journey to Eden Park for the AB's v Argentina at 8.30pm.

It was a big day with many terrible demons to be shaken for us All Black fans. I had been in Cardiff with friends Chloe and Chrissie and my Mum in 2007, where I had paid double for our tickets as I had been caught by a ticket tout making it a very expensive demise for me. We AB's have been known to choke over the past 20 years not lifting the coveted William Webb Ellis since the first RWC in 1987 held here in NZ. To get through a challenge from the impassioned Argentinians was our key stepping stone to glory...or so I thought at the time.

My London Kiwi former colleague and travel friend Rene picked me up at 3pm and we made our way to Ponsonby for some Fatimas (an Auckland favourite fast food eatery) and walked the Fan Trail from half way. We called in for a few beers along the way taking in parts of the real challenge down country at the Cake Tin and meeting one of Rene's childhood friends along the way. There was Flamenco dancing and a NZ Police Officer leading the tour buses stopped the lights and encouraged us to cheer for "its the All Blacks! Its the All Blacks!!". Nothing like a man who knows how cool he job is! We took in the last 20 minutes of the South African v Australia match that our friends were at in Wellington in Bond St Bar. We were devastated with the result as we were looking forward to shared battle the following weekend with our South Adrican friends. We were quite surprised to see the locals in the bar (which entirely emptied at the end of the game) that the rest of the punters where cheering with delight with an Australian win. An Australian v AB Semi was bound to be harder than one against the South Africans or would it?

Kopa o Pango Haka from the AB's v Argentina

Rene and I walked across the road to the Eden Park  making a bee line for a drink and a one stop for the loo. I was upset to discover the French Dumbass Drivers from my Haast Experience sitting in very close proximity.
The All Blacks dominated on the field while the passionate Argentinians continued to show their true colours off the field with joyous chanting and singing. My sigh of relief beating the new southern hemisphere 'Rugby Championship' (wikipedia tells me this is the name for it so it must be right!) team was immense. I can shake off the Quarter Final in Cardiff now. But what a road we had ahead of us.

As the text messages rolled in after the game - not of excitement but clearly of relief as everyones concern was being sent to me for my South African friends. In my haste to pass on the love I misplaced my phone in the hungry Portaloo forcing my night to revolve around my current company! Thanks Rene for making it a great night in the Fan Zone dancing to some of New Zealands most classic tunes (Dragon, Exponents and FFD take a bow) and dragging me home at 4am.