I was lucky enough to receive tickets to the Tri Nations final between Australia and NZ on Saturday night. The package included pre game drinks and dinner at the XXXX brewery which was most enjoyable especially with the entertainment provided by MC David Fordham and comedian Paul Martell. A comedian who can do excellent impressions always gets a thumbs up from me. Dinner as per normal in these situations was pretty ordinary but the beer was the ‘right price’ which more than makes up for it.

After dinner we were given our tickets and made the trek from the brewery to Lang Park. Once in the stadium we had just enough time to purchase a few beers and sit down to watch the anthems. The Haka is always entertaining only to be topped in comedy stakes by the singing of Waltzing Matilda, a tradition that makes no sense to me whatsoever.

The game was ok and pretty exciting during the parts we were winning but in the end we copped a pizzling, luckily I was able to secure Australia with a 4.5 point handicap so I wasn’t totally disappointed. I was surprised at the cheering from the 52000 who packed out the stadium. I am not sure if it was the section I was in or whether it was my imagination but the Kiwis drowned out the Aussies in the cheering stakes. I would be interested in your thoughts and impressions on this if you saw the game but it was very noticeable to me.

After the game I made a quick escape back to the brewery for, well, a few more brews, at the right price of course.

All in all not a bad Saturday night. Oh, almost forgot, my appologies to about 30 pogs who walked through the Caxton in the hours from 11:30 till 2. When I ask you about the weather I would expect almost any reaction other than the typical rolling of the eyes you all seemed intent on providing. Perhaps if I asked you about your shoes you would have been more receptive……