Go Chiefs!

Friday night I went to a Chiefs game, and they won! For all you KC Chiefs fans out there, I thought of you, even if I was at a rugby game, not football (or “grid-iron” as they call it here). The Waikato Chiefs are a professional rugby team based in Hamilton, but due to how the rugby team areas are divided, they are considered Taranaki’s team as well. This is due to a recent change in shifting the teams around which happened last year. Until then, the local team was the Hurricanes. Later this year the Hurricanes and Chiefs are scheduled to compete at the Taranaki stadium, so there is already talk of that being an interesting game in terms of fan loyalty. Speaking of fans, one of my friends at the game was wearing a KC Chiefs jersey he got when traveling in the US. There were some Denver Broncos fans sitting just in front of us who were quite amused by it.

The Chiefs beat the Australian Brumbies in a close game with a final score of 19-17. According to those around me who are far more knowledgeable in the rules and strategy of rugby, it was not a well-played game by either team. I even heard a couple comments that based on the way they played, the Chiefs should have lost. That being said, nobody was complaining when they won the game J

Like any good traditional event in New Zealand, the haka was performed prior to the start of the game. In the case of the All Blacks (New Zealand’s national rugby team), the team performs the haka. For this game however, there was a very traditional looking group complete with traditional clothing, war paint, and weapons that performed the haka. All other times I had seen the haka was by the All Blacks in their rugby jerseys, or groups mainly wearing everyday clothes. After Friday night though, I must say it is even more convincing and intimidating to see when it is done by such a traditional looking group. Attempting to visualize the haka from the perspective of someone who has just stumbled on New Zealand (such as James Cook maybe), I can see how a large group meeting you on the beach with the haka as a greeting would be quite menacing.

Once the game began, it was an action packed 80 minutes. Rugby games have two 40 minute halves, with the clock running almost non-stop from start to finish for each half. From what I can tell (I do not claim to be an expert by any stretch of the imagination), the only time the clock stops is for major injuries, or if something really needs debating between the referees. Due to the constant running of the clock, the game feels that it moves much faster than a football game. There is much less time spent “re-setting” after each play. What is a touchdown in football is called a “Try” in rugby and is worth 5 points. The kick after is worth one point, and a penalty kick (field goal in football speak I think) is 3 points. Other than that, except for noting the uniform difference in that rugby players wear only shorts and a jersey, I cannot comment in any detail on the differences in the game because I have not yet figured out enough for it to make sense to you. Maybe one day I will though, after I figure out cricket, and then I can educate those of you who may have any sort of interest in the games.

The rest of the weekend was lovely and sunny and involved the beach, a new chicken recipe (send me an email if you would like a copy of it) and planning for my sisters rapidly approaching visit (can’t wait!).

Americarna is next weekend, I will try to snag photos of some cool American muscle cars to post J