Day 10, Thursday 7th July 2005
After another feisty breakfast and much fanfare we finally leave Whanga. 2 hours later our phones all come back into signal (and the hotel landline wasn’t working). Deano even beats Ron (who missed his wife’s birthday) when he receives over 20 messages.
We head up through King’s Country and have a training run at Waitete RFC. We were scheduled to meet All Black great Colin Meads but he has been enticed away to a dinner by the evils of money. However his twin brother and fellow All Black Stan comes out, says a few words and has a drink with the boys which was very nice. Food is also provided. In fact so much food has been provided and so much swearing has gone on (especially the dreaded ‘e’ word) that kitty is flush enough to buy a t-shirt for the whole party. The training run will be remembered for Jon Kerr’s fearsome pwdis and tour Captain Dai Ed picking up a mystery injury but ‘definitely’ alright to play in the next game.
We arrive at Hamilton, Gappas home patch. A mate of his has heard he has a Welsh team in tow, and being not only a rugby fanatic but an excellent cook has asked if he can host 3 of the club for a meal of rugby talk. Gappa sets up “a second row who has just played his 100th game, a club official and a big number 8 who has just scored his 50th try” or Jumpin’ John Horwood, Louie and Dai Nusiance to you and me. We drop them off and head to our gigs, a plush motor lodge with LAUNDRY facilities. I room with Dai Ed, hang my Owain Glyndwr flag out the window and head for the washing machine. Once ready we head for food at Hamilton RFC. Like Carterton (and at one point the mighty Betws) they put on food for players after training. However unlike Betws (frozen chips and maybe sausages) the cook (Stewy) hands out steak dinners, plus fruit and pudding if you can manage that. The club has a couple of current All Blacks on the books: Marty Holah and Sosene Anesi as well as Maori captain Jonno Gibbs. Holah (I think) was due to play but has just been called up to the squad for the 3rd test. The club runs 3 or 4 senior teams including 1 weight category side in which only players under 86kg can play. This is to help young white players develop away from being hammered by Polynesians who mature much quicker and dominate age grade rugby. The standard of rugby at grass roots differs little from Wales but I expect their development and preparation are better with a better structure in place. Players rarely leave their club as the have a good range of standards at each club plus their NPC district side and then the super 12s. (Gappa and Marsh still see the super 12s as ‘candyfloss’ and somewhat irrelevant, not REAL rugby). On tv is the ‘fight for life’ a charity boxing event where former All Blacks and New Zealand writers take on their Lions equivalent. Webster has a match against Frank Bunce but, looking slightly flabby, eventually comes off 2nd best. We miss Eric Rush v Byron Hayward as we head for town. Many head for home but again I made sure I was able to provide a full report by staying out as long as possible. The pubs are pretty empty and those out all seem to be having a meal. Even the recommended bar is quiet. The news comes through about the bombs in London and Owain phones to see if I know anything about family. To me it all seems a long way away. A Scottish team, resplendent in Kilts come in and we have a good chat. It eventually dawns on me that because the Kiwis have decent licensing laws no one goes out until at least 10 and maybe not 12. This makes it hard for touring Welshmen to keep up. Even the hardcore element are soon ready for bed with only me actually wanting to stay out. We look around for Jason- no sign. I hold base camp with Louie whilst Lee and Shed head off to look for him. Lee finds a police man who after a quick explanation becomes emotional as he has a young baby with Downs. They take to the car to search, Shed however finds him as at each nightclub/bar he asks he gets closer and closer: 8 minutes ago, 4 minutes ago, 2 minutes ago…found him. We head for bed.
We head up through King’s Country and have a training run at Waitete RFC. We were scheduled to meet All Black great Colin Meads but he has been enticed away to a dinner by the evils of money. However his twin brother and fellow All Black Stan comes out, says a few words and has a drink with the boys which was very nice. Food is also provided. In fact so much food has been provided and so much swearing has gone on (especially the dreaded ‘e’ word) that kitty is flush enough to buy a t-shirt for the whole party. The training run will be remembered for Jon Kerr’s fearsome pwdis and tour Captain Dai Ed picking up a mystery injury but ‘definitely’ alright to play in the next game.
We arrive at Hamilton, Gappas home patch. A mate of his has heard he has a Welsh team in tow, and being not only a rugby fanatic but an excellent cook has asked if he can host 3 of the club for a meal of rugby talk. Gappa sets up “a second row who has just played his 100th game, a club official and a big number 8 who has just scored his 50th try” or Jumpin’ John Horwood, Louie and Dai Nusiance to you and me. We drop them off and head to our gigs, a plush motor lodge with LAUNDRY facilities. I room with Dai Ed, hang my Owain Glyndwr flag out the window and head for the washing machine. Once ready we head for food at Hamilton RFC. Like Carterton (and at one point the mighty Betws) they put on food for players after training. However unlike Betws (frozen chips and maybe sausages) the cook (Stewy) hands out steak dinners, plus fruit and pudding if you can manage that. The club has a couple of current All Blacks on the books: Marty Holah and Sosene Anesi as well as Maori captain Jonno Gibbs. Holah (I think) was due to play but has just been called up to the squad for the 3rd test. The club runs 3 or 4 senior teams including 1 weight category side in which only players under 86kg can play. This is to help young white players develop away from being hammered by Polynesians who mature much quicker and dominate age grade rugby. The standard of rugby at grass roots differs little from Wales but I expect their development and preparation are better with a better structure in place. Players rarely leave their club as the have a good range of standards at each club plus their NPC district side and then the super 12s. (Gappa and Marsh still see the super 12s as ‘candyfloss’ and somewhat irrelevant, not REAL rugby). On tv is the ‘fight for life’ a charity boxing event where former All Blacks and New Zealand writers take on their Lions equivalent. Webster has a match against Frank Bunce but, looking slightly flabby, eventually comes off 2nd best. We miss Eric Rush v Byron Hayward as we head for town. Many head for home but again I made sure I was able to provide a full report by staying out as long as possible. The pubs are pretty empty and those out all seem to be having a meal. Even the recommended bar is quiet. The news comes through about the bombs in London and Owain phones to see if I know anything about family. To me it all seems a long way away. A Scottish team, resplendent in Kilts come in and we have a good chat. It eventually dawns on me that because the Kiwis have decent licensing laws no one goes out until at least 10 and maybe not 12. This makes it hard for touring Welshmen to keep up. Even the hardcore element are soon ready for bed with only me actually wanting to stay out. We look around for Jason- no sign. I hold base camp with Louie whilst Lee and Shed head off to look for him. Lee finds a police man who after a quick explanation becomes emotional as he has a young baby with Downs. They take to the car to search, Shed however finds him as at each nightclub/bar he asks he gets closer and closer: 8 minutes ago, 4 minutes ago, 2 minutes ago…found him. We head for bed.
posted by Llanelli Warriors match blog at 3:02 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home