Sunday 18th June 2017

KIWI-K play some more rugby!

So it already feels like we have been here a month.After (another) long day and a late night we wind our way down from the various rooms and staircases into the big dinning area for breakfast. Breakfast is a sort of chilli con carne thing with garlic bread (very nice)

and then it’s the old favourite – early morning kangaroo court sober.  Sober courts - plus points are; you don't get alcohol poisoning, the pay off is everything is that much more embarrassing!!

Ben Kitson joins as guest judge. In addition to the usual nominations for slave, press ups and such like. The grounds lend themselves to punishments. There are various races for forgetting items. Being late, last on bus etc – up the slope, around the tree, further punishments for being last. Only Dan John and Jonny Smith have to do naked runs, much to the amusement/bemusement of the females staff coming in to work. Gestapo works well with the secret police dobbing several people in.

Mrs Gappa judges the best hat fashion show with Roy and Tomos impressing on the cat walk!

Then after a bit of hanging around is back to The Riv for a full breakfast (even Flash is full!). Mark is pleased to find that ketchup is available even in New Zealand.

Then finally off the Hamilton Marist RFC for the big match. Bus trip is uneventful except for Simon Day’s singing becoming a feature. Head phones on Simon is oblivious to how badly he sings and how wrong he gets the lyrics. Name that tune has never been so difficult a game.

There is another chance to chat with the South Auckland Kiwis. S4C/BBC are in attendance from home and TVNZ cover the match for local audience. There’s a jovial atmosphere as Rhys Bersley, a kiwi resident who played on the 1^st tour (and still jointly hold’s the club record for drop goals in a game ie 1) joins us, and of course we are getting to know the South Auckland guys a bit better. There is a bit of a kit crisis but nothing Gappa/Hamilton Marist can’t quickly sort (note the green socks).

Dan John & Rhys Bersley

 We have the privilege of facing the haka and of singing the national anthem. The game goes very well. Several Warriors feature for the Kiwis at some point in the game (sometimes too well) and Jonny Smith & Mark make their Warrior debuts which leaves just Papa Lewis Papa Ieuan and Papa Hall the only tourists not to have featured. They are joined on the sidelines for this one by Zander who hurt his neck in yesterdays matches. 
Spare Warriors are assigned to the SAK ranks and we’re off!

Simon Day has his best game to date and scores two nice tries. Ben Win cuts through twice and hands one to Bambi. The SAK players take turns to ref the game and don’t want conversions. It doesn’t stop Hapus who hasn’t been told.

It’s a pretty chaotic match with the ball kicked about a lot, Ben Kitson scores for SAK when a typically frantic play ends in a kick that he gathers with no one between him and the line.

The SAK's Captain proves himself a useful player and they have a nippy wing of their own but we stay ahead throughout.

With the Warriors reasonably comfortable; Ben Win, Gary, Jamie, Lee and Grav all enjoy themselves having a cameo for the SAKs. There was some talk of calling the game a draw

(this is an ongoing issue with disability related sports. For some reason people want to take the competitiveness out of it. I understand with children you don’t want to discourage, but now that we are all adults and playing at a level where we win some/lose some, don’t people want to have a bit more edge and to try and win.)

Anyway – we did win and thankfully it didn’t come down to Richard’s conversion.

Full match report YMA

Post match interviews are conducted in English and Welsh. Ben & Jamie dry humping behind the interviewer mean it takes slightly longer than it should do.

Papa Lewis meets up with the friend/relative of someone from New Zealand he put up for their 1978 tour to Wales – he gets a pint out of it and they share opinions on Cymro/Kiwi relationships.

Hapus shows that his Captain’s speech is improving and everyone is very positive about the game. Gappa picks Fudge as Man of the Match, Warriors committee pick Simon Day. Fudge gets a free beer, Simon gets Jordie Barrett’s All Black polo shirt who we’d seen make his AB debut against Samoa a few days ago..

There’s the obligatory Kangaroo Court, the highlight of which is a dance off between Gary James – Dad Dancing Inc and the Psychotic Robotic Bambi.

 

                      

er...ok, I'll get the beer

 Hamilton sell out of replica shirts and bands. There's some more singing, everyone has a go at being tour slave, even Ben Kitson who seems to be channelling the spirit of Lewi with his strops and phones up various members of the Welsh squad to complain (Gareth Davies and Josh Navidi mainly) before finally agreeing to doing a stint.

Shield with a bit of Warren Gatland interest from his school boy days

Of course there is then a night out to contend with/enjoy, It starts slowly and is as quiet a night as we have on tour, but it goes on and on and on.

The 1^st pub sees a Burry Portonian walk in to his 1^st ever NZ pub only to find Grav, Shed, Fish (sorry, Kipper: 10 press ups) Mark and Simon Day in his way. We poodle around 4 or 5 pubs, bumping into British Lions trying to have a quiet pint but eventually it’s all back the Narrows with quiet a few heading to the Man Cave for pool, drinking games, snooker, drinking games, darts and drinking games. Various silly drunken wanderings go on quite late into the night but eventually everyone seems to find their bed.

All the days photos are here: CLIC