Rain + Rugby: A match made in Kiwi heaven?

So for the last two weeks I have been lucky enough to attend two Super Rugby games supporting the mighty Waikato Chiefs. For those outside of New Zealand and have zero idea what a) rugby is and b) the super 15, let me briefly explain.

a.) Rugby (specifically rugby union): a 15-man contact sport based on running an oval-shaped ball over a rectangular field. Unlike football, players need to pass the try line (ie. into the inzone) and actually touch the ball down to score a 'try'.

b.) Super Rugby: think all the professional American national leagues but spread the teams across New Zealand (5), Australia (5), South Africa (6), Argentina (1) and Japan (1). This is the highest level professional rugby played outside of international competition. I know confusing.

As I have always had roots in Hamilton, the team I have grown up to cheer are the mighty Chiefs! Hamilton is a great town to be watching rugby as the town, and surrounding Waikato, comes out in force. The first game fell on a perfect autumn evening. Literally got to go watch in short shorts and a singlet and only needed a thin cover until the very end. This game was the Chiefs vs the Blues, an Auckland based team. The geographical distance between the two cities often means that crowds are drawn in to prove which NZ city in the northern part of the country is the best on the field. I can happily say that is Hamilton. We get the bad end of alot of jokes but we are pretty good at rugby.

The Chiefs took on the Hurricanes in this weeks game and there could not have been a better time for the 'Hurricanes' to come to town. Most people I know often greet me being from New Zealand with an amusing excitement over a tropical island. I have no idea where these people receive their information about New Zealand, but this summer proved that 'tropical' is not what we are - well to be fair the tropics do have a fair amount of rain. This game landed right in the middle of a storm. I am not kidding about this storm, there has been some pretty bad flooding and water restrictions in the biggest city in our country. However, the rugby must go on.

And it did. While the rugby played, the fans stayed and sat in the rain, and boy did it rain. To be fair at half time there were a lot of empty seats but I was surprised by how many soldiered in the cheap seats. Lucky for us our seats were perfectly positioned to be hit with the full force of the rain. We were not so forward thinking, but there was a couple there that had wrapped themselves fully in a tarp. Now I've sat in freezing cold rinks cheering on my fav hockey team but sitting in rain is a whole different matter. I think Nathan and I sat for 10mins during the first half before we decided to make friends in VIP.

For the remainder of the game we watched from the top balcony. Though we didn't have seats, we were given chicken nuggets and pies. We also were given (more forced) to take Chiefs flags and patu's and yell loudly while the boys where fumbling in the rain.

Thankfully we won both games, holding out position at the top of the table. Shout out to my work, Les Mills Hamilton, for sponsoring the Chiefs and hooking us up with the free tickets. I do love watching live sports. Theres something about them that makes strangers bond - chanting, hugging and sitting on the edge as one. For me, it also gets rid of a lot of homesickness.

It is true when they say sport can bring people together and thats a large reason as to why I chose to make it a career. Sport has done some much in my life and opened so many doors, I would hope that one day I will be able to do the same for someone else.