Hurricanes Over

Wellington is in mourning today. The local rugby team -- the Wellington Hurricanes (more evidence of the weather-obsessed city) lost in the semi-finals of the Super 12 tournament (includes teams from South Africa, Australia and NZ) last night. They were routed 47-7 by the Crusaders from Christchurch. I've been to 2 games so far and am getting up to speed on the rules, thanks especially to my friends Faith and Warwick who are such fans that they even got married in Westpac stadium!

Now that the Hurricanes are out, all attention is shifting to the upcoming Lions Tour of NZ. The UK team is arriving next week, to great excitement. They'll be here through early July, playing local teams, as well as the national All Blacks and the Maori All Blacks. The papers are full of details on all of the players. The Prime Minister is scheduling the upcoming election around the tour to make sure that the country is not distracted. Wellington is expecting about 15,000 fans (the British fans are called the Barmy Army, if anyone knows why, please let me know), including Prince William. More on this to come, no doubt.


Rugby at Westpac Stadium