I’m baaack! I see you’ve all been busy guessing what I’m stitching (those of you who haven’t yet should go here and do so now), and I will put up a new picture for you soon, but right now I would like to talk about rugby.
Number 20 on my 35 before 35 was to attend a world cup rugby match. I thought since it was taking place in England it was an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed! As it turned out, I actually attended three matches – all the ones that were taking place at St James’ Park (Newcastle United FC’s home ground). We got to see South Africa vs Scotland, New Zealand vs Tonga and Samoa vs Scotland. The two Scotland ones had the best atmosphere – so many Scots had come down for it that it was almost like a home game for Scotland! The best match, surprisingly, was Samoa vs Scotland! New Zealand won theirs but were fairly disappointing – obviously they ran all over little Tonga but they didn’t play nearly as well as I was expecting them to. Scotland played terribly against South Africa and thoroughly deserved the beating they got! But Samoa vs Scotland was a fairly even match and definitely the most exciting of the three. In the end Scotland deservedly won – although I was actually torn with that match as if Scotland had lost Japan – who had been doing surprisingly well during the group phase – would have gone through to the next stage. Anyway, enough talking – here are a few photos.
South Africa v Scotland
New Zealand v Tonga
Samoa v Scotland
It wasn’t always that easy to tell what was going on from the stands (especially when we were nowhere near the screen!), but all three matches were great fun to attend and I would definitely do it again!
So, another item off the list. What’s next?
Confuzzledom 
Oh wow lucky you to get to go to three games! So jealous! I agree with you about Japan though – such a shame they didn’t make it after their performance.
Yeah, we had asked for tickets to 2 and my dad then got us the 3rd game as a Christmas present. He was really lucky to get all the tickets he applied for.
I’ve never been to a rugby match. In fact, come to think of it, I’ve never been to a live sports event. I must do something about that. It looks like you had a lot of fun x
It is fun! I’ve also been to live football matches and the Formula 1 and rugby has by far the best fans.
Hurrah! I’m glad you had a great time and enjoyed it!
Did you get to Barter Books at all when you ooop north???X
No, we did go to Alnwick but we were in the gardens then had to get to Newcastle asked we were meeting someone. I have been many times though.
I’m glad your world cup experiences didn’t disappoint. We’ve been to two games now – Scotland v USA and Ireland v Italy. Both matches were enjoyable, although perhaps Ireland’s had the edge over Scotland, because Scotland were not playing well in the first half. Both Scotland and Ireland had loads of supporters there and the atmosphere was excellent. What I thought was great was that, although the two home nations far outweighed the opposition in terms of supporters, there was respect shown for the other teams when points were scored.