The game was the final All Blacks game at Carisbrook, the current stadium in Dunedin. A new stadium is being erected across town and will be done by next fall for the Rugby World Cup which is being held on the South Island next September.
There was lots of extra fanfare at this game since it was the final All Blacks game at this stadium. There were fireworks, a HUGE pipe and drum band, Maori dancers, a streaker (unplanned), and a helicopter landed to take a piece of turf from Carisbrook to the new stadium, Forsyth Barr. We actually got to walk around the new stadium today as they had an open house. We were basically walking through a construction site, but it was cool anyway. You can see a bit of it in the first few pictures of the All Blacks photo album (linked below).
The All Blacks performed a rarely seen haka called the Kapa o Pango haka. Their traditional haka is the Ka Mate haka. Check it out.
My favorite thing about rugby, besides how hot many of the players are, is that the players do these cheer stunts (basically!) to get the ball when it's thrown in from the sides. They literally boost and toss each other up, just like cheerleaders do, to get the ball. I love it.
The craziest part of the game was the wave, known as the Mexican wave in British English. As the wave was starting, Vanessa was like "Put up your hoods. Now." And while I was a little befuddled, I did as told...thankfully. While the concept is the same as ours, in addition to raising your arms when the wave comes your way, you also throw your (plastic) beer bottle. If there is still liquid in it, that just makes it a better bottle to throw. This tradition is done with much gusto and enthusiasm in the Terraces.
All's well that ends well...and it's totally appropriate that there is a bottle flying through the air in this picture.
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