All Blacks Rugby

Last Saturday I got my first taste of live All Blacks Rugby. In a word, it was awesome. The stadium was packed and everyone was intensely focused on the game (despite the record-setting blowout of the French). The older woman next to me (who was slurring her speech at kickoff) thought I was for the French at first and gave me a couple dirty looks and a gentle elbow, but after I showed her the All Blacks jersey I was wearing (which was perfectly visible from the moment I sat down) she decided I was ok.

Enter the All Blacks:

After the entrance come the national anthems, three in this case - one for France, then the NZ anthem in Maori (beautiful) and again in English (so-so... it just seems awkward compared to the Maori version).

Much to my appreciation, NZ Rugby is not like watching baseball in California. Everyone is in place before kickoff in time to see the Haka. A Haka is a generic term for a Maori dance. They All Blacks perform one or two before the start of every match, and have done so for a long time. Many other NZ National teams perform a Haka before international sporting events - I know that the Quad Rugby team and the Ice Hockey team both do. The other Polynesian teams (Fiji, Samoa, Tonga) also perform their own Hakas. It is a huge cultural symbol - even the crowds in the bars go silent to watch the ABs perform their Haka.


It is an intimidating performance to watch - especially on TV when you can see the players faces and how much emotion and passion they put into it. Check out the link below for a video of them performing in 2004 in France to see one of the best, Tana Umaga, lead the Haka. http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=haka

As I said, the game was a complete blowout - the French didn't bring their best players, and got destroyed 63-10, but they did play hard: their most well-known player - Sebastien Chebal or "The Caveman" (literally - the french fans call him that) - broke one of the ABs jaws while being tackled.

Here are some more pics of the stadium and the game (everyone is wearing black and the seats are yellow, so you can tell how few empty ones there were).


After the game my flatmate Andy and went out on the town, which was packed - when the ABs play here in Wellington, everyone from the area comes into town for the game. I actually ran into that same older woman from the game and her husband at about midnight at the "beatles bar" downtown! Unfortunately I did not get a picture, but she didn't elbow me this time.

Sadly this is the only game in Wellington this season for the ABs, but I'll get my fill of broadcast games during the upcoming Tri-Nations and World Cup tournaments (Kyle - your Springboks are going down this year).

Fishing

One of the best things about being in Wellington, is that the city is super compact and does not have much urban sprawl. You can be out of the city and among the sheep within minutes. The last couple weekends Carsten and I drove no more than fifteen minutes out of town and around to the other side of Wellington harbor to go fishing.


That gap in the hills is the exit to the ocean from Wellington harbor - nothing between us and Chile! The city is off to the left and around the corner in the picture. It was a perfect day for fishing - calm, sunny, and warm (and this is supposed to be winter??!!). This is us in all of our hunter-gather glory.



The good fish weren't biting (only undesirable "spotties"), so Carsten decided to do some diving for Paua which is similar to abalone and is a NZ staple. They have one shell, and use their underside to stick to the rocks where they hang out until guys like us get them. Apparently you have to sneak up on them or they grip the rock really tight. He managed to pull up about six of appropriate size (just smaller than my hand), warning me that they looked nasty, but were quite tasty (he was right on both counts - check out the flexibility of this guy!).



After the catch, we went back to my place and had some teriyaki paua stir-fry. The area is also littered with mussels, but they're really cheap to buy (and of superior quality) at the supermarket, so "picking" them isn't really worth it. Paua shells are super colorful inside and are used for jewelry, decorations, etc all over NZ.

Bonus material:
As I mentioned, I started working at ACC last week - turned out to be Thursday rather than Wednesday, cause their HR staff was rather harried. My team seems like a good group - I am likely the youngest and am one of many internationals (there are only 4 true kiwis of the 10 on our team). I'll be working mostly with claims data to analyze and evaluate the ACC budget for different health care sectors (primary care, rehab care, etc) as well as look at individual providers that are behaving as outliers, and hence may be charging or billing inappropriately. Thurs and Fri were not very intense - especially with the goodbye party for one of the team members - but I'll be diving in this week for sure (which conveniently is a 4-day week thanks to the Queen's Birthday today). Also, next Saturday, I'll be attending my first All Blacks match, when they play France here in Wellington!! The Frogs (as the French call their team) did not bring many good players, so it should be a fun to watch the ABs romp.