Wales vs NZ Rugby - 25 Nov 2006

[mariannek]

gerrit said:

I think the NZ Rugby Union team deserves a severe beating, and the sooner, the better.

Gerrit

Hi, Gerrit
2 cents worth of posting from me who keeps on the winner's side whoever they are!! I admire the ability and enthusiasm of any team that manages to win.... they usually deserve it!!

But, Gerrit .... I think you may have judged the Kiwis a bit harshly!! They are the world's best I believe! So good on them
if they continue to thrash the opposition! No offence intended, Gerrit!!

Thank you Dave for your particular post on the matter!

By the way, I'm a bit of a shouter when it comes to Tennis & AFL Football!!

Love, Marianne

[gerrit]

Cheers, Dave and Marianne,

I agree with virtually all you said.

There's only one point though. I am a complete outsider indeed. And I think that this recent controversy is a complete beat-up by NZ rugby authorities. I don't like it. And I say, NZ rugby doesn't need this sort of mediocre nonsense.

My respect for NZ rugby has unfortunately taken a serious nosedive in recent days.

Thanks

Gerrit

[Oksana]

Thank you for providing this video! Hayley sounded wonderful, as usual. NZ must be proud of her!

Oksy

[Belinda]

Hmmm Gerrit,

What you said in reply 13 does not
sit well with this kiwi.


Belinda NZ

[Dave]

gerrit said:

Cheers, Dave and Marianne,

I agree with virtually all you said.
Gerrit

Hi Gerrit,

I wouldn't have used the word "virtually" because in my post, the main criticism is directed at the Welsh Authorities and in your posts, it is directed mainly at the NZ authorities!

Hi everyone, I've made videos of the complete anthem ceremonies from beginning to end - you can see Hayley and Katherine walking onto the pitch at the start and walking off at the end if you look very closely in the higher quality files - and of course the singing of both anthems. Notice how surprised the match commentator was at the end, when he realised the Haka would not be done!

National Anthems ceremony - DVD quality (5m 15s, 1mbps, 38MB)

National Anthems ceremony - VHS quality (5m 15s, 400 kbps, 15MB)

National Anthems ceremony - dial-up quality (5m 15s, 120kbps, 4.8MB)

Cheers, Dave

[Richard]

Thanks for the new video, Dave!

I'm not going to enter the political debate, but here's an entertaining report from Queenstown.com.

Special Report: All Blacks vs Wales
Monday, 27 November 2006
Written by Michelle Duff

I wake up with a start, sitting up in bed and yanking the covers off my boyfriend, who groans sleepily in protest. “Whats the time, whats the time?!” I screech frantically into the icy air, digging under duvets, books and other miscellaneous items in a frenzied search for my wayward cellphone. There it is, backlit in neon green; 7.28am. My bus leaves in 32 minutes. Pounding down the stairs I accrue a jacket, some gloves and bag of clothes, all of which I wrestle with for a couple of minutes whilst trying not to let go of my soggy toast before finally getting them into the taxi, toast unscathed. “Have a good weekend lassie, hope you get the result you want!” calls the cabbie as he pulls away.

On the bus myself and the bus driver muse over why my Mum would give me the wrong reference number for the bus she supposedly booked for me. I smile sweetly at him and think that we are bonding over our combined disbelief that she could possibly have made such a mistake untill he charges me £40 for a new ticket. 6 hours later I have arrived at the station, and am busy rummaging around in my bright blue backpack with ‘Feilding Aquatic Centre’ emblazoned across the front when I feel the weight of a hand on my shoulder. I stand and stare, horrified, into the face of the ghoulish, vampire-like apparition that has presented itself to me. “Oh dear god, no!” I cry, cringing in fear. “Michelle, its me!” grins my brother, with an amicable whack on the back. He has chipped three of his front teeth in a game of rugby, hence his gruesome first impression. My heart rate slowly returns to normal.

So begins my journey from the student city of Dundee, Scotland, with the ultimate goal in mind of making it to the All Black game in Cardiff, Wales. The next morning I find myself sitting in the midst of a sandwich making, thermos filling, black scarf finding hive of activity at my parents apartment in Birmingham. It is now 1pm and we were supposed to leave 3 hours ago. This does not surprise or alarm anyone apart from myself, it seems. Finally at 2pm we pile into the car. Rolling hills and frosted paddocks, sheep wandering under the overhanging trees resplendent in their winter coats, whip past my window.

The excitement overwhelms us as we enter Cardiff and despite the wintry chill we have the windows down and my brother and I are half hanging out, All Blacks beanies and jerseys on full display, pointing at anything of remote interest. “Look, a cathedral!” I breathe, as if I am seeing one for the first time. “Theres a carpark!” yells Sean, slightly more helpfully. The carpark attendant insists on giving us a 10 minute overview of how to get to Millenium stadium, gesticulating wildly and handing us all manner of maps and flyers. We join the throng of people who are winding through the city streets, which have been shut for the occasion. The pulsating rhythm of drums reverberates across the heads of the crowd. Stalls are selling hot dogs, Welsh and NZ rugby paraphenalia and plastic pints of the local brew, Brains. I haggle down a street vendor to £8 for two NZ flags which I feel rather clever about despite the fact that they probably cost about 10 pence each to make.

Beers and programmes in hand we head for the stands, climbing up, and up, and up... A Kiwi guy behind me has an audience as he is making a pantomine out of climbing the stairs. “Just..one..small..step..for..man..” he gasps. “Come on bro, just one more step!” encourages his mate. “Everyone check your noses, they’re bleeding!” he retorts, collapsing into giggles, and is joined by members of the crowd. Somehow we have landed in an area that is made up of almost entirely of Kiwis. We are united in our nationality, despite being strangers. Handshakes are given, eye contact is made, smiles exchanged. The singing of the national anthem is a poignant moment, even if our Kiwi contingent races ahead of Hayley Westenra as she trills the Maori version and then forgets most of the words as we try to come back in at the right place. I stifle my laughter as a black-clad guy walks up the stands past us, holding a toi toi aloft proudly. “Where on earth did he get that from?” someone behind me wonders. A ripple of discontent passes through the crowd as it looks like the All Blacks are not going to perform the haka. Someone has received a text saying that this is due to a dispute between the All Blacks and the Welsh rugby Union, the latter argueing that they would only allow it to be performed if it was done before the Welsh national anthem. Disgust is voiced loudly and a chant of ‘Haka, haka!’ begins and then gathers momentum, echoing around the cavernous arena.

A roar goes up as Luke Mc Allister scores the first try, precipitating a spontaneous and passionaite haka performance from the crowd around us. This results in stony expressions and crossed arms being exhibited by the Welsh supporters unfortunate enough to be sitting in the near vicinity. Half time arrives and due to some stonking All Black defense, quick ball and brilliant counter attacking we are leading 28-3. The crowd is less focused in the second half, beer consumption and inflated confidence in a victory distracting many. Richie McCaw runs back on to the field, returning from a stint in the sin bin for allededly kicking the ball out of a ruck after a prior warning. “Richie McCaw!” someone exclaims. “When did he go to the sin bin?”. The obvious answer plays on my lips and Sean and I exchange looks. A rousing rendition of Tutira Mai Nga Iwi starts up, closely followed by a stomping of feet to the rhythm ‘bom bom, bom bom bom, bom bom bom bom MILO!!” A Welsh supporter turns to the Kiwi next to him. “What are they saying?” I hear him ask. “Milo, it’s a chocolate drink” comes the reply. The Welsh guy continues to look baffled. One penalty try to Rico Gear is closely followed by two more tries to make it a hatrick for Sitiveni Sivivatu and the game is over, the All Blacks cruising home for a 45-10 win.

Chants of “We are the champions” and strains of Dave Dobbyn lyrics trail after us down the street as we wind our way through the masses of people that have spilled out of the stadium into the crisp night air. I snap a photo of some penguin suited Kiwis and briefly join a crowd who is trying to coax an extremely intoxicated Waikato supporter down off the roof of a nearby building. “New Zealand!” someone yells as we walk past, and we cheer in response. I give some guy a high five. I stop to talk to someone I used to play rugby with in high school. I am beginning to feel slightly tearful. Eventually with the aid of our previously aquired maps we find our way back to the car park and it is with tummies full of hot tea and bacon and egg pie that we set off for home, tired and happy. There can be no doubt that the Kiwi spirit is alive and thriving in Wales as it is elsewhere in the world, and credit has to be given to the legions of proud supporters who have helped to make this All Black season such a success. Go the AB’s!!

Richard

[postscript]

dave said:

Hi Joe Grant and everyone,

Well Joe you beat me to it because I was writing this message and previewing it but by the time I hit the "Post" button, my login period expired and I lost the lot. Grrr!!!! The moral is: Always logon to HWI forever! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif So here goes again.

Hi Dave.

I find I'm on automatically for 8 hours, perhaps that's too short for you?!

One thing I do when I'm on a long post online is to regularly Ctrl A, Ctrl C, sometimes even pasting to Word as a safe-guard. Goes back to old Basic and DOS days! We are spoilt with autosave in all Office creations!

Superb still. Thank you for that. Thank you for the downloads.

Peter S.

[Martin]

I'm an England rugby team supporter and have been for over 30 years but without doubt the NZ team is playing at a different level to all other teams currently which we should respect and enjoy. This includes the traditions that teams have whether it be the haka, singing Jerusalem or any other nationalistic association.

In this world of dying traditions and poliitical correctness lets all support these wonderful ocassions.

Finally, thanks for the links Dave.

Martin

[graemek]

Hi Dave & Everybody.
I just played the tape that included Katherine's singing of the Welsh Anthem as well as our Honorary Welsh Woman singing her NZ Anthem.

Both girls were at their absolute best.....words fail me....

the background tension probably added power to it all !!!!

Thanks again Dave...we're all in your debt.

Graemek

[mariannek]

From Richard:
Quote:Special Report: All Blacks vs Wales
Monday, 27 November 2006
Written by Michelle Duff (Queenstown.com)

Hi, Richard
Thank you for that entertaining review by Michelle Duff..... not bad for a female AB enthusiast!!

Shame about the "Haka", though!

Take care, love Marianne

[mariannek]

Dave said:
"Hi everyone, I've made videos of the complete anthem ceremonies from beginning to end - you can see Hayley and Katherine walking onto the pitch at the start and walking off at the end if you look very closely in the higher quality files - and of course the singing of both anthems. Notice how surprised the match commentator was at the end, when he realised the Haka would not be done!"


Hi, Dave
Thank you so much for the videoclips of Hayley and Katherine!!!
Love them and their respective singing of their anthems!! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif
I am always so thrilled to see footage of Hayley anywhere, and may I again thank everyone who contributes material of that kind!!!

I believe you are my "half- century" post, David !!!!
Will that make your day??!! It certainly makes mine!!
What will I be called now??

Cheers, love Marianne

[fusilier23]

gerrit said:

I for one would only rejoice if the haka would disappear from the world rugby scene forever, as I have always associated the haka with a misplaced expression of male superiority and aggression.

Gerrit

You haven't gone girly-man on us, have you, Gerrit? Don't make me have to send Hans and Franz to pump (clap) you up!

[Richard]

Congratulations on 50 posts, Marianne! i.postimg.cc/9fYxy370/smilie-big-grin.gif

Now you're a Junior Member!

Another 50 and you'll be a Full Member, so please keep posting!

Best Wishes from London,

Richard

[postscript]

martin said:

I'm an England rugby team supporter and have been for over 30 years but without doubt the NZ team is playing at a different level to all other teams currently which we should respect and enjoy. This includes the traditions that teams have whether it be the haka, singing Jerusalem or any other nationalistic association.

In this world of dying traditions and poliitical correctness lets all support these wonderful ocassions.

Finally, thanks for the links Dave.

Martin

I completely support your view, Martin The All Blacks are D* Good. When any team is as good as that ANYTHING that fails to go all out appreciating AND RESPECTING their skills is just so much sour grapes, what ever the base cause or intention.

I'm English through and through, not British. I emphasise that point when ever the matter of nationality arises. Having spent a superb week touring Wales, starting with Hayley at Cardiff and completing my week seeing her at Llandudno, I came away with a healthy respect for all things Welsh! I fully support their sense of nationl identity.

So, Welsh Rugby Uniion : SHUT IT! Other than to back down, belt up and humbly apologise.

Peter S.

[Martin]

I also wanted to say that I felt great sympathy for the NZ team forced to perform the haka in the changing rooms before the game. This was utter pettiness and political correctness on behalf of the Welsh RFU. Twickenham should ban all daffodils at future England/Wales matches!!!

I also felt sorry for Hayley and all the other NZ supporters present as this amounted to no less than a national insult.

I admire Hayley immensely for this support she gives her team particularly at a time when we all know she is working on her new album.

Martin