Best of RWC 2011
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2011 - Two memories.
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Biting our leather sofa. I was thinking "Not again, and not against France..." We replaced the sofa last year, and yes, the bite marks were still visible...
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Beaver coming on with a shirt 3 sizes too small and, when the ABs got a penalty, walking up and saying "Just give me the fucking ball". He was one of the most composed players on the field that day and utterly nerveless. Bless him.
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I don't know if it showed on TV, but some time into the second half the cops came out and ringed the field. I thought "oh crap they think we're going to lose so they're preparing to repel a crowd invasion". Also how quiet was the crowd about half way through the second half? Around us it went eerily quiet as people thought here we go again
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Was on a weekend away in N Wales with the missus on the day of the SF against France
We woke at 5:30, left at 6
Got to our house in Cardiff at 9
Was in the stadium watching it on the big screen at 9:20
Had flights to NZ on hold
Then Roland fucked it for us
Should still have beaten the Frogs despite the RC
Got back in the car and we were back in N Wales for afternoon tea
So close
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@Bovidae said in Best of RWC 2011:
I do remember driving down Sandringham Rd on the afternoon of the opening game and seeing Tongan flags everywhere.
Yep. I recall walking to the stadium for the opening ceremony and my wife remarking on how many there were. Atmosphere was outstanding.
Went out the next day to see France and Japan play at North Harbour. Down to Waikato to see ABs vs Japan. Took father across to see the game against France and then wife again for the last pool game in Wellington.
The final I couldn't get tickets for, but was a nervous wreck for the second half. The joy and relief was immense.
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I had organised a great pub off Grey's Inn for the morning, we had about 30 kiwis in there. South African pub manager, and he had Adnams NZ Hop Ales, plus czech lagers, and a solid breakfast.
Come the second half kickoff, a couple of guys retired to the bathroom with irritable bowel syndrome, very much provoked by stress.
With 20 minutes to go, a French family wandered in to watch, as the tension grew they fled - we were not given to violence, but there was real pressure circulating.
The win, the shock, the relief, maybe cortisol and blood glucose levels. I collapsed - we had won, we were on top of the world, everyone else could go and get fucked, 2007 erased!
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Mrs Meldrew has never known me to be so tense, stressed and out there. As a psychologist she was starting to worry about me...
Went thru almost a full bottle of single malt IIRC.
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That Warburton RC was appallingly bad. Up there with the Bismark du Plessis Double Yellow = Red in 2013.
Ten years on and the IRB still haven't sorted this shit out.
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Best of RWC 2011:
Mrs Meldrew has never known me to be so tense, stressed and out there. As a psychologist she was starting to worry about me...
Went thru almost a full bottle of single malt IIRC.
The day after the win was like the scene from Fever pitch. The win took me to a place of contentment that lasted for years, 24 years of heartbreak lifted when GOAT picked up that little golden trophy
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@Tim said in Best of RWC 2011:
I had organised a great pub off Grey's Inn for the morning, we had about 30 kiwis in there. South African pub manager, and he had Adnams NZ Hop Ales, plus czech lagers, and a solid breakfast.
Come the second half kickoff, a couple of guys retired to the bathroom with irritable bowel syndrome, very much provoked by stress.
With 20 minutes to go, a French family wandered in to watch, as the tension grew they fled - we were not given to violence, but there was real pressure circulating.
The win, the shock, the relief, maybe cortisol and blood glucose levels. I collapsed - we had won, we were on top of the world, everyone else could go and get fucked, 2007 erased!
We were in Dublin at the time. Pub was full of kiwis…and then a drunk obnoxious Pom who came in with amount 10 minutes to go and wouldn’t shut up “you’re going to choke”. Which is what we were all secretly afraid of. Such relief at the final whistle.
(Then the Irish being Irish started the whole France woz robbed by Joubert routine.)
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@canefan said in Best of RWC 2011:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Best of RWC 2011:
Mrs Meldrew has never known me to be so tense, stressed and out there. As a psychologist she was starting to worry about me...
Went thru almost a full bottle of single malt IIRC.
The day after the win was like the scene from Fever pitch. The win took me to a place of contentment that lasted for years, 24 years of heartbreak lifted when GOAT picked up that little golden trophy
I had a London based challenger bank as a client at the time. Nice people. The COO - an Irish lady - made a point of coming over and congratulating me. Classy touch
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Georgia were based in the 'rapa for a week, and the support they got was immense. All the kids had free Wairarapa loves Georgia t shirts, there was a huge parade when the team arrived. They were gobsmacked, the Georgians couldn't believe it.
I went to all the Wellington pool games, Tonga beating France was amazing, the atmosphere at SA Fiji was great- then rushing to the pub then catch the Irish beating Oz. I learnt land of my fathers to sing when Wales played SA, and was right behind the posts for the penalty that never was, it fucking sent over, disgusting call.
But the final was awful, just awful
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@Victor-Meldrew said in Best of RWC 2011:
@canefan said in Best of RWC 2011:
@Victor-Meldrew said in Best of RWC 2011:
Mrs Meldrew has never known me to be so tense, stressed and out there. As a psychologist she was starting to worry about me...
Went thru almost a full bottle of single malt IIRC.
The day after the win was like the scene from Fever pitch. The win took me to a place of contentment that lasted for years, 24 years of heartbreak lifted when GOAT picked up that little golden trophy
I had a London based challenger bank as a client at the time. Nice people. The COO - an Irish lady - made a point of coming over and congratulating me. Classy touch
I shook the hand of an old French guy after the final. He had a tear in his eye but it was a classy thing for him to do.
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@Machpants said in Best of RWC 2011:
Georgia were based in the 'rapa for a week, and the support they got was immense. All the kids had free Wairarapa loves Georgia t shirts, there was a huge parade when the team arrived. They were gobsmacked, the Georgians couldn't believe it.
To think there was a lot of shit in the mainstream UK media about how RWC2011 would be shit as NZ rugby fans were so biased, insular and arrogant that stadiums would be empty if the ABs weren't playing.
Watching from afar, one of the great memories was the groups of spectators wearing different coloured buckets supporting the smaller teams
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2011 was absolutely manic for me. Fluctuated between being confident about finally getting the monkey off our back to going for long runs to alleviate the stress of simply contemplating another 4 years of hurt.
There was however one weird, totally random sign that told me that this might finally be it. A couple of weeks before the final, the wife and I stayed at this nice spa hotel in Eastern Norway. I turned on the TV that evening and, remember this is bloody Norway, the Footrot Flats movie was on. Absurdly random. I felt that had to be a sign. Love that film btw.
My "enduring" memory is my wife and then 6 year old eldest son watching in shocked silence while I carried on like a demented idiot during the Argentina game.
Anyway, the wife was planning a weekend away with some friends and being such a lovely soul she said should could wait until after the final so that she could look after the kids while I lost my mind watching rugby. I told her not to and to keep to her plans. Murphy's law dictates that if she stayed home then we probably would lose to Aus and not even make the final. Yeah I was looking at every superstitious farking Voodoo doll advantage I could get.
So of course we made it and I had to watch the final while babysitting my youngest (then 2). Thankfully he was mostly behaved but I scared the poor bugger when yelling at the TV. Those last minutes were agony. At the final whistle I just slumped down to my knees in relief. To celebrate I took the lad to MacDonalds where I guarantee not a single person within a 50km radius even knew the game had been on. I remember picking up a newspaper that had nothing in it but shit about soccer and Ronaldo. Massive party for me!
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The only thing I take with any Nationalistic pride from that tournament was Manu Tuilagi getting the Auckland Ferry high diving gold.
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@Catogrande said in Best of RWC 2011:
The only thing I take with any Nationalistic pride from that tournament was Manu Tuilagi getting the Auckland Ferry high diving gold.
Dwarf throwing champs?
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I went to both games up here, best atmosphere i have seen at Okara, electric!
This still gives me chills re-watching now.
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Me and the wife took in all the AB's pool games as our big hurrah before we settled down and had kids. I didn't have the confidence to book any tickets for the knock out games though (if only for 20/20 hindsight).
Remember it being an incredible event, everyone was in such good spirts, so friendly, you'd just sit and chat with random people prior to kick off and buy each other drinks. The foreign fans offered so much color and joy - it was an atmosphere I'd never see and maybe never will see in NZ again.
Missus was ever so social so we'd befriend people at games then catch up with them at the other pool games across the country for drinks before the game, just total strangers ya know, just bought together by rugby and having a good time.
The most pleasing aspect of the pool games was how easy it was to get booze at the venues, mind you that may have been abetted by my wife being more than happy to go off to the concierge and make new friends with people while I sat in the stands with a constant supply of beer (and new friends to talk to) being delivered.
The final however was the most stressful event ever, was hoping that Donald would come on as Weepu couldn't hit a barn door with his kicking.
When we won I ran around outside the house spraying a bottle of champagne in the air, truly the best of times.
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Was based in London for this WC... but decided I'd hop across to France to watch the Final. Caught the train over to... can't remember - not Paris, a relatively small town... but with a train station for the Eurostar?
Went over, started to panic when I thought I might not find a place open early in the morning to watch it... but found a likely venue.
Turned up early in the morning at this bar, they had a free breakfast spread on, welcomed me in.
We all watched it together - me getting really rather drunk sitting at the bar nervously chopping beer after beer. The locals started enjoying just watching my reaction more than the game I think... and at full-time - they all congratulated me, plenty of hands shaken and pats on the back.
I wandered off in a daze, plenty of locals seeing my All Blacks jersey and congraatulating me... had some lunch, fucked up the timing for my return train - running drunkenly through an international train station - the local gendarme/border-control saw the jersey, congratulated me, asked me which train I was on - the one leaving in about 5 minutes - and ran me through the staff corridors, completely bypassing customs/border-control/etc - to get me onto the train with about 30 seconds to spare.
Pure class - on their part, if not mine.
