A Weekend At The NZ Rugby Sevens – 2018

Have you ever wondered why there is such a desire by folks go to a Rugby Sevens Tournament? It’s always been a mystery to me. After all, I’ve been to a few rugby games over the years and I’ve always found that the two or three hours pass and it’s just another game of rugby.

I’m now prepared to have a different view on this.

The Sevens have got their own unique buzz that can’t be found at any other time or place. These tournaments consist of two consecutive days of around ten hours where you’re mixing with crowds of punters – in varying stages of increasing inebriation, weird and wonderful costumes, expensive food and of course, the weather – be it rain, hail or sunshine. And to add to the pleasure, you spend hours each day moulding your bum into a numb moon-shaped human frisbee from those hard, unforgiving plastic seats.

I’d thought for many years that I’d like to do the Wellington Sevens tournament in early February. But I was never seriously tempted to pay the “through the roof” price that scammers were asking for tickets.

When I saw the venue was changing to Hamilton I sounded Teddy out to see if he wanted to go. Of course, a ridiculous question for sure. Anything “rugby” and he’s a sure starter.

So, finally we had the “Sevens” in our sights. 

It was a no-brainer to buy tickets and book some accommodation early in the piece.

So, it was then that Saturday morning, 3rd February finally arrived. Hamilton, here we come!

The streets surrounding the stadium were pulsing with people heading to the stadium: White-haired wizards, tacky sailors, faux Hawaiian dancers, French street vendors and pot-bellied ballet dancers in gasping tutus.

There was no doubt that the culture of the sevens had transferred well to Hamilton.

Before we even reached the stadium, we were wide-eyed at some of the punters weird and whacky costume choices. Our weekend neighbours at the motel were well prepared for their version of fun.

We never gave any thought to costumes for ourselves as Teddy is always, and without fail, a dedicated All Black supporter so anything that would detract from his Kiwi loyalty would be out of the question.

We didn’t know what the weather would do on the day. Both rain and sun would become very uncomfortable if we didn’t get our gear right. The thought of sweltering in some full body costume didn’t appeal at all. Nor did I want to feel the chill in something flimsy if the weather turned to custard.

I’m stoked that we’ll have a better handle on the “what to wear” conundrum next time!

As the games got underway, we were entertained with a festival of great rugby, continuous music at every “whistle blow”, and an inspiring assortment of entertainment at various times throughout the day. And the weather held up a treat.

There’s always some things that stand out in your mind. Some are opportunities for a good laugh, others can give you goose bumps and it was a music interlude that did that for me.

Poi-E

At every break in play, music booms out across the stadium. And the music choices are extensive and range from one end of the music spectrum to the other.

The one tune that sent tingles down my spine was the famous kiwi hit  Poi-E by the Patea Maori Club.  It’s always a fantastic way to involve the public in the mood of the surroundings, however this song always seems to stir up a healthy dose local patriotism. 

Another thing that tickled my fancy was to see how much Teddy was enjoying the music. He even enjoyed it enough to start knocking out a few moves to “Twist and Shout”.

Teams’ Lap of Honour

Teams progress through the “round robin” to find their position in the play-offs. Top qualifiers progress to the Cup play-offs and the rest are sectioned into the Plate, Bowl or Shield play-offs dependent on what each tournament has on offer. Once a country’s team is finally eliminated from the tournament, they wander around the field perimeter waving to the crowd in their own lap of honor.  During these walk arounds (which incidentally were not mandatory), I was heartened by the support the New Zealand crowd gave to these international teams.  I felt proud as the crowd applauded the players as they stopped for selfies, signed kids tee shirts, flags or anything else that would serve as a cherished piece of memorabilia.

Win for Fiji Team

A win for New Zealand is always the end goal but sometimes it doesn’t happen as we’d like. This was one of the times that the win got away from us. But if I had to pick another team to win, it had to be Fiji. Having lived in Suva for over two years, I know how much Rugby means to the Fijians. The fact that the crowd had as many Fijian supporters as Kiwis, I still felt it was a bit of a home grown win anyway.

…and there is Huntly

Exhaustion wasn’t really on the menu, but we were a couple of tired old buggars by the time the weekend was over. In fact, I didn’t see daylight until 9 o’clock on Monday morning. 

As we’d intended getting away early on the homeward trek, Teddy had already sorted his weetbix, toast and coffee, (standard breakfast for the best part of fifty odd years). All I wanted was a flat white so figured I’d pick one up on the way home. We’d got as far as Huntly before I spotted a roadside coffee truck and not only was the coffee a delight. We were parked on the banks of the Waikato River, just opposite the Huntly Power Station. I realized that the view from the car window was a scene for a “must have” photo. 

Let me know if you agree.

Our next trip is to the Hong Kong Sevens next month. We are well into the planning and I look forward to sharing a few photos along the way.

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