USA! USA! USA!

Rugby World Cup 2011 has taken over here in New Zealand.  This nation of 4.5 million people is hosting the biggest world sporting event for 2011 and the buzz in the air here is palpable.  The All Blacks (New Zealands national team) have been the top ranked team worldwide for many years but have last won a world cup in 1987 so the kiwis are starved for a big win. Twenty nations are represented in the tournament divided into four pools of five.  Each team plays four games in their respective pools with the top two in each advancing to the quarterfinals.  The top teams are in addition to the All Blacks are Australia, South Africa, England and France.

    

Owen and his buddy Jasper with a few of the Eagles

We have been fortunate to be living in one of the host cities of the tournament and even more fortunate that the USA Eagles have played their first two games of the World Cup here.  First against one of the traditional powers, Ireland and then against fellow up and coming rugby nation Russia.  As Americans the Eagles have given us much to be proud of.  They have been practicing locally for about a week here and anyone who has met them has commented how friendly, accommodating and approachable they have been.  On the field they played with passion and heart that even the Kiwis I have talked to have found inspiring.   We met several of the Eagles at a welcoming ceremony in Inglewood, a town just outside of New Plymouth where they were staying and training prior to their matches in New Plymouth and they were awesome.  I think they also  really appreciate the reception they have received here because they are relatively unknown in the States.  The Kiwis welcome anyone with open arms but rugby players are practically received as gods.

The game against Ireland was on 9/11/2011, a pretty important anniversary in American history.  We started the day by attending what was billed as the first 9/11 memorial service in the world, being that we are 18 hours ahead of the US and the sun rises each day first in this part of the world.  The US ambassador to New Zealand was there as were the Pacific Fleet Marine Corp marching band and most importantly the entire Eagles squad.  The memorial service was at a beautiful old stone Presbyterian church here.  The American contingent was afforded special status and took their seats after everyone else.  Never before have I witnessed a standing ovation during a church service, but the applause that reverberated through that church that morning was deafening.  It sent chills down my spine and brought tears to all of our eyes.  It really made me realize how global an event 9/11 was and how much respect and standing The US has in the world.  After the applause died down the minister looked at the players and said "and that was not in the program".  The New Plymouth fire department was also there in remembrance of their fire fighting family.  A truly wonderful event.  While we think we are living in a great and probably most the beautiful country in the world, we are still very proud to be from the land of the free and the home of the brave.

On to the rugby.  First up for the Americans were the mighty Irish team, one of the top ten in the world.   The atmosphere for the game was amazing.  There are many Irish as well as Americans living in New Zealand so it was a full house and loud.  This is Rugby not soccer so the crowd, while incredibly festive is also incredibly civil, no fights, fans waving each others flags and singing and dancing together.  A hooligans game played and enjoyed by gentlemen as opposed to soccer which has a reputation for the reverse.  The games in general are incredibly entertaining.  Non stop action for two forty minute halves with a short intermission means the game lasts about an hour and a half unlike the sometimes four hour slog it takes to get through an NFL game.  Since rugby is now a professional sport in many countries the athletes are big, fast and hit very hard of course with no helmets or pads.

 The US hung in there with the Irish tied 3-3 late in the first half when the Irish scored a late try to go in to halftime with a 10-3 lead.  While the Irish looked like the superior team in terms of talent and technique, the US kept it close through shear determination and ferocious hitting before ultimately falling 22-10.  

USA- Ireland

USA-Ireland

Five days later the Eagles laced them up again for a match against Russia which was advertised as the cold war classic.  We were invited to a pre match party hosted by the US embassy here and it was great munching down on some American style cheeseburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and Budweiser beer. The atmosphere could not compete with that of the crazy Irish fans but it was still great.  It was the Russians first ever Rugby World Cup game and they too played with a lot of heart but the US prevailed 12-6.  

US celebrating hard fought win against the Russians

USA celebrating thrilling 13-6 victory over Russia

The US is on to Wellington next where they will play the heavily favorite Wallabies of Australia.   We have one more game here in New Plymouth, Wales against Namibia later this month and I am sure it will too have a great atmosphere.  Jenny and I really enjoyed the games we have attended here as well as several of the other games around the country on TV.  Cheering on the Eagles was a blast but watching the All Blacks is amazing.  They are clearly the best team and we are hoping that in the end they win it all.  There will be a serious epidemic of depression down here if they don't.