When I was a youngster I was quite a passionate supporter of the Welsh rugby team. That was in the days of Gareth Edwards - one of the greatest rugby players there has been. Then I went through a period of complete disinterest in the game until I went to live in Scotland where, eventually, I ended up supporting the Scottish side whenever the rugby internationals were being played. Coming to live half my life in New Zealand, however, suddenly meant that I had to take some hard decisions.
I've never been a nationalist and supporting a team just because I was born in a particular country has never seemed rational to me. Seeing the All Blacks from the perspective of living in their country suddenly gave my rugby interest a new lease of life and when I'm here I support them fervently. When I return to Scotland , though, something inside me compels me to support the Scottish team. Privately I have some difficulty when the two teams meet.
So when the All Blacks played England at the weekend I fully expected them to win. England had other ideas and their play was superb bringing the All Blacks' 20-game unbeaten streak to an end by 38 to 21.
Why am I mentioning all this? Because of the All Blacks' attitude. They took the defeat on the chin full of praise for England as the side that deserved to win. There were no excuses from the All Blacks - no mention of fatigue or dramas with a virus during the week: just a simple acknowledgement that they were beaten by a better side on the day.
To me that is the true essence of sport. It is the way most of us would like to see the game instead of the disgraceful incident in the game against Wales which hopefully will have brought to an end the All Blacks' lamentable behaviour on the European tour.
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A really entertaining game.
ReplyDeleteAll the better for our winning.
Certainly an entertaining game!
DeleteSo you named your son after the rugby player? (is the only comment I can think of...)
ReplyDeleteI don't think, Monica, we actually named our son after Gareth but it must have been in my mind because Gareth Edwards had been such an icon.
DeleteSo you have two masters GB!!! Just kidding. I have the same problem when cricket is being played. Sometimes I cheer for West Indies, and other times when our team is playing dreadfully, I cheer for another underdog team.
ReplyDeleteIt can be a bit difficult Virginia not having a passion for a particular team. I did support the England team at cricket though because my office was just over the road from the Lancashire County Cricket ground and I was a member of the LCC.
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