.: RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

RUGBY WORLD CUP 2011

ALL BLACKS DO THE HAKA IN FRONT OF FRANCE AT THE FINAL.

I decided to do a post on this, because the boys will be adults next time NZ hosts the Rugby World Cup.

Rugby is New Zealand's national sport and our country is often referred to as a rugby-mad nation.

It is what many Kiwis live for and breathe for - and what we do best. One has to be a New Zealander (or have lived in NZ) to truly understand this. Rugby success is seen as a symbol of what the country stands for.

The RWC has been an amazing 6 weeks of rugby games that has totally consumed the nation. On Sunday, 23 October, New Zealand made sports history and won the cup in their homeland (only the 2nd team in Rugby history to have ever done that). It has been a great time for our little country; especially after the sorrow and tragedy of the earthquakes in Christchurch and the recent mining explosion. "The rugby" has given Kiwis new hope, excitement and happiness... and now VICTORY for the next 4 years.

Being the host country has been extremely special. NZ went "all out" with an amazing opening ceremony and has continued to go "all out" throughout the entire 6-week tournament. We went to the opening ceremonies in the city and Tony took a short video. He is very proud his video that has been viewed over 600 times in the last 6 weeks. Approximately 200,000 people went to the ceremony, but only 60,000 got into "the cloud". For the opening night, we took the boys out of school early and cought the ferry from Devonport to the city. We left the city around 8pm (before the 1st game started) and had a perfect view of the spectacular fireworks display as we sat on the beach in Devonport. Juliet (4 months old at the time) was with us, awake and alert the whole evening, aside from a quick 20 minute nap.
Tony's video below;

On the day of the opening ceremony some schools closed for the day, but the ones that stayed open (like Pinehill) had great fun getting ready for the big event. Every classroom was decorated and the kids did a huge banner at the front of the school reading "Go All Blacks". They also decorated the school gate with black and white balloons.

The Final Game...
NEW ZEALAND VS. FRANCE

The final game was an unforgettable experience.

For an entire week before the match the whole country was nervous and on edge about this game.

Having won every game played so far in the tournament NZ deserved to win, but we all knew France were very unpredictable players.

On the night of the biggest game there were thousands of people gathered in fan zones throughout the country.

We went to the fan zone in Albany.

Despite thousands of people sitting on the grass to watch, the crowds were silent and you could cut the air with a knife.

It was so incredibly intense with people biting their nails, keeping their heads buried in blankets and clothes and people like me, purposely turning away from the huge screens not being able to watch what was going to happen.

The fear was huge and scary right up until the 79th minute. Even at 77 minutes France could have scored points and won the whole thing! (FYI: a rugby match is 80 minutes long!)

Here are a few pictures of our family at the fan zone:

For the past six weeks Ashton and Hayden have been playing rugby at school during lunch time. Ashton begged me a for a pair of Rugby shoes and he has worn them EVERYWHERE! I also bought him a rugby ball which has also been EVERYWHERE with us.
Here’s Ashton decked out with his black NZ jacket, rugby shoes and ball (note: this is Hayden’s ball, Ashton has been in love with his South Africa ball);

All primary schools held a rugby quiz for each year/grade. It was a fundraiser and each child had to get family to sponsor them a certain amount for each question they got right. The children had two weeks to learn their rugby facts. The boys' school raised over $10,000 from these fact-a-thons, AMAZING!
Hayden's rugby quiz;

Our family's favourite players;
Richie McCaw, the captain:

Piri Weepu, kicker and haka leader:

Ma'a Nonu known as the "Superman Hero":

Even Juliet has shown her support of the Mighty All Blacks:

So long RWC 2011. It's been a great journey and the ALL BLACKS have done us proud!

Social Media Round-Up: Final
(RNZ 2011) Monday 24 October 2011
What a party! Oh what a glorious party. RWC 2011 Finals week was massive. Fans from around the world arrived in Auckland for the Bronze Final on Friday night with Wales losing to Australia and the Grand Final on Sunday night where New Zealand beat France by one point.

Over finals weekend more than 300,000 tweets were posted plus 1,000s of pictures, videos and blog posts. On Sunday night with half an hour before kickoff "Go All Blacks" was trending in 9th place worldwide. More than 150,000 tweets mentioned "RWC 2011" or "RWCFinals" on Sunday. Popular topics on Twitter make the worldwide trending topics list. On Sunday "#RWCFinal' was the 2nd most popular trend in the world for several hours with "Congratulations New Zealand" trending around 6th place. There were more than 90,000 mentions of "New Zealand" on Twitter made in the 6 hours around the final, that's great advertising for New Zealand!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Yay!!

Lol didn't know they made special RWC nappies?! Or is that an instruction to poop there? Hehe

Julia; December 4, 2011 at 2:30 PM

Funny Comments

Ashton walking into the supermarket quietly whispers to himself: "Please can I have macaroni and cheese, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Ashton: "I want to live with Jesus." Mummy: "Why?" Ashton: "Because he be nice to me and he gives me bread and water!"

Mummy, examining Ashton's legs, and thinking: My goodness, what hairy legs. Ashton, unimpressed with Mummy's examination, pulls away: "Don't touch them. I'm growing Daddy legs!"

Hayden gets upset at Ashton: "Right Ashton, that's it! I'm telling Jesus on you!"

Ashton with a cold: "I'm snotty as a piggy."

Hayden: "The sun is burning my eyeballs."

Hayden: "Mummy, how come your penis is missing?"

Hayden: "I get the bigger piece of cake because my skeleton is bigger."

Hayden (3yrs old) sees me get dressed in the morning and stares at my breasts with a confused look..."What thooooose be for???"

Hayden: "I don't want to finish my pizza, it's got blood all over it."

Hayden: "Ashton hit me in the heart."

Hayden learns the planets at Preschool: Mercury, Earth, Mars, Jupiter and Penus!

Hayden (shopping with me and whining): "My brain hurts forever because you haven't buyed me anything."

QUOTES

Like the changing leaves of fall...My little boy is now a man.
--Author Unknown

Boys are God's way of telling you that your house is too neat!
--Author Unknown

There never has been, nor will there ever be, anything quite so special as the love between a mother and a son.
--Author Unknown

Boys are found everywhere - on top of, underneath, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around or jumping to. Mothers love them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers tolerate them, adults ignore them and Heaven protects them. A boy is Truth with dirt on its face, Beauty with a cut on its finger, Wisdom with bubble gum in its hair and the Hope of the future with a frog in its pocket.
--Alan Marshall Beck

Something For A Giggle....

I Owe My Mother ....

My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE. "If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

My mother taught me RELIGION. "You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL. "If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

My mother taught me LOGIC. " Because I said so, that's why."

My mother taught me MORE LOGIC. "If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

My mother taught me FORESIGHT. "Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

My mother taught me IRONY. "Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS. "Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM. "Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

My mother taught me about STAMINA. "You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

My mother taught me about WEATHER. "This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY. "If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE. "I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION. "Stop acting like your father!"

My mother taught me about ENVY. "There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION. "Just wait until we get home."

My mother taught me about RECEIVING. "You are going to get it when you get home!"

My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE. "If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

My mother taught me ESP. "Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

My mother taught me HUMOR. "When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT. "If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

My mother taught me GENETICS. "You're just like your father."

My mother taught me about my ROOTS. "Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

My mother taught me WISDOM. "When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

My mother taught me about JUSTICE. "One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!