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An English Rugger Bugger
Sep. 29th, 2015 07:57 amThe Rugby World Cup came to town over the weekend and not wishing to pass up the opportunity, we decided to try and get tickets for the event. Alas, due to its popularity, between all of our interested friends, we only secured access for one match but fortunately that was at Elland Road, where we got to see Canada v Italy.
In all honesty, I have always preferred League to Union and Saturday largely confirmed this. Italy's kicking game became frightfully dull and even the England v Wales match later on - supposedly an exciting and tumultuous game - was somewhat boring to me. Canada were frightfully unlucky not to get a result, partly due to a controversially disallowed try but also because they tired to play quick and incisive rugby. Their first try was one of the tries of the tournament so far and counteracted Italy's tactical kicking game. This is one of the reasons why I prefer League, as kicking is far less important meaning quick on the ground rugby is favoured, making it far more exciting.
This wasn't to say that the game was bad - we were expecting an Italy walkover but Canada proved far more resilient than expected - while the atmosphere was electric with a good number of Italian and Canadian supporters in attendance. We were honorary Canadians for the day and the lady immediately next to me gave us some Canadian flags to wave. Seeing this, the Italians in the row in front of us demanded we sing the Canadian national anthem, I song I only know the opening two lines from, and that's thanks to Terrance and Philip from South Park. The seats at Elland Road are incredibly compact, clearly being constructed at a time when everyone was thinner as the leg room in particular was abysmal. It was the first time I had ever been to Elland Road, despite living in Leeds over five years now, and the stadium has clearly seen better days. Pitch invasion was clearly straightforward and another highlight took place towards the end of the game when a fan in a full moose costume invaded the pitch and had to be chased by three security guards. His head fell off during the pursuit but he put it back on as he was lead away, much to the cheers of the entire stand.
The camaraderie was one of the highlights of the event, with the build-up around the stadium another delight. We were threatened with a stabbing by a girl dressed in a penguin suit for refusing her Heineken offer while there was a long queue forming for the personalised DHL signs. I picked up a program for the extortionate price of £10 - I regretted not saying "Ow fuckin' much?' to the vendor as I bought it - while we wisely avoided drinking as £5 for a pint of Heineken really is too much on anyone's level. This meant we didn't really get much from the hospitality suite, bedecked in black tarp and speckled with blue lifts to create quite a magical scene, so we just walked around the stadium and soaked up the atmosphere. There was loads of cool stuff to see including a troupe of dancers entertaining the crowd and some territorial army folk lifting them up for some reason.
We had parked at Wolfie's work some 20 minutes walk away, which was a good idea considering the traffic. We had initially picked up Panthras from the station and noticed just how busy it was, yet down here the traffic was surprisingly light and we got home very quickly. We chilled for an hour at home watching the South Africa game before heading into pudsey to catch the England debacle. We had initially intended to go into Leeds to experience the Fanzone in Millennium Square - a place we had visited for Wales's first game the previous week - but fearing it would be overly busy, we opted to stay locally and watch the match in a local bar. Consequently, we found ourselves enjoying a fish supper in Weatherby Whaler before going to The Erv Inn, our favourite craft beer bar to catch the match. We hadn't been to The Erv Inn for a while and sadly their range of drinks was no longer as good as it once was, but as soon as the music was turned down and the match commentary on, the atmosphere built and it was an enjoyable place to watch the game, even if the result was somewhat disastrous. I'll admit that I always struggle supporting England - my loyalty to my country is wavering at best let's say - while backing a team which wholly or predominantly plays in London is difficult for me as I strongly believe a national team should tour around. Consequently I couldn't get into the game as much as the passionate England crowd - well the thirty or so of us who were there - but the manner of defeat was particularly harsh, and Panthras in particular was struggling with the decision not to kick three minutes from time.
We tried a few nice beers in The Erv Inn but soon drank every variety of beer they had, so after the match it was time to go home, where we enjoyed some more beers and nibbles while watching Match of the Day and the rugby highlights. This was the first time watching MOTD in years and it was an eye opening experience as I don't really follow premier league football that much these days. Comparing Tyrone Mings to Lionel Messi was an odd extraction from the MOTD crew while Ruud Gullit made no sense whatsoever, but it was good watching the highlights once more as well as sharing a great evening with a good friend.
In all honesty, I have always preferred League to Union and Saturday largely confirmed this. Italy's kicking game became frightfully dull and even the England v Wales match later on - supposedly an exciting and tumultuous game - was somewhat boring to me. Canada were frightfully unlucky not to get a result, partly due to a controversially disallowed try but also because they tired to play quick and incisive rugby. Their first try was one of the tries of the tournament so far and counteracted Italy's tactical kicking game. This is one of the reasons why I prefer League, as kicking is far less important meaning quick on the ground rugby is favoured, making it far more exciting.
This wasn't to say that the game was bad - we were expecting an Italy walkover but Canada proved far more resilient than expected - while the atmosphere was electric with a good number of Italian and Canadian supporters in attendance. We were honorary Canadians for the day and the lady immediately next to me gave us some Canadian flags to wave. Seeing this, the Italians in the row in front of us demanded we sing the Canadian national anthem, I song I only know the opening two lines from, and that's thanks to Terrance and Philip from South Park. The seats at Elland Road are incredibly compact, clearly being constructed at a time when everyone was thinner as the leg room in particular was abysmal. It was the first time I had ever been to Elland Road, despite living in Leeds over five years now, and the stadium has clearly seen better days. Pitch invasion was clearly straightforward and another highlight took place towards the end of the game when a fan in a full moose costume invaded the pitch and had to be chased by three security guards. His head fell off during the pursuit but he put it back on as he was lead away, much to the cheers of the entire stand.
The camaraderie was one of the highlights of the event, with the build-up around the stadium another delight. We were threatened with a stabbing by a girl dressed in a penguin suit for refusing her Heineken offer while there was a long queue forming for the personalised DHL signs. I picked up a program for the extortionate price of £10 - I regretted not saying "Ow fuckin' much?' to the vendor as I bought it - while we wisely avoided drinking as £5 for a pint of Heineken really is too much on anyone's level. This meant we didn't really get much from the hospitality suite, bedecked in black tarp and speckled with blue lifts to create quite a magical scene, so we just walked around the stadium and soaked up the atmosphere. There was loads of cool stuff to see including a troupe of dancers entertaining the crowd and some territorial army folk lifting them up for some reason.
We had parked at Wolfie's work some 20 minutes walk away, which was a good idea considering the traffic. We had initially picked up Panthras from the station and noticed just how busy it was, yet down here the traffic was surprisingly light and we got home very quickly. We chilled for an hour at home watching the South Africa game before heading into pudsey to catch the England debacle. We had initially intended to go into Leeds to experience the Fanzone in Millennium Square - a place we had visited for Wales's first game the previous week - but fearing it would be overly busy, we opted to stay locally and watch the match in a local bar. Consequently, we found ourselves enjoying a fish supper in Weatherby Whaler before going to The Erv Inn, our favourite craft beer bar to catch the match. We hadn't been to The Erv Inn for a while and sadly their range of drinks was no longer as good as it once was, but as soon as the music was turned down and the match commentary on, the atmosphere built and it was an enjoyable place to watch the game, even if the result was somewhat disastrous. I'll admit that I always struggle supporting England - my loyalty to my country is wavering at best let's say - while backing a team which wholly or predominantly plays in London is difficult for me as I strongly believe a national team should tour around. Consequently I couldn't get into the game as much as the passionate England crowd - well the thirty or so of us who were there - but the manner of defeat was particularly harsh, and Panthras in particular was struggling with the decision not to kick three minutes from time.
We tried a few nice beers in The Erv Inn but soon drank every variety of beer they had, so after the match it was time to go home, where we enjoyed some more beers and nibbles while watching Match of the Day and the rugby highlights. This was the first time watching MOTD in years and it was an eye opening experience as I don't really follow premier league football that much these days. Comparing Tyrone Mings to Lionel Messi was an odd extraction from the MOTD crew while Ruud Gullit made no sense whatsoever, but it was good watching the highlights once more as well as sharing a great evening with a good friend.
