I will never understand rugby. Never. It is the most confusing game ever. Grown men running forward, but throwing the ball backwards and sometimes kicking it but then giving it to the other team. Someone please explain how that makes any sense? There is only one place in the world where rugby would make complete sense to everyone and it’s Australia. The Australians love their sports quite possibly more than Americans. My friends and I headed down to Skilled Park in Robina for a Gold Coast Titans game last Friday and oh my gosh was it worth it.
We took a train, then a bus, and then walked a little ways all decked out in our bright blue shirts and face paint. We probably looked like real fools because I’m pretty sure everyone around us was wearing maroon and yellow for the Brisbane Broncos, but we didn’t care. We had a sign and we had pride and that’s all that mattered. Once we found our seats, we watched some of the 20 and under game that takes place before the professionals take the field. Finally, it was time for the game to start. With our freshly refilled XXXX Golds in our hands, the girls and I cheered on the players, none of which we knew the names. Luckily, the people in front of us were kind enough to tell us when it was appropriate to praise the team and when it was ok to be upset about a call. We got a little rowdy just for fun and the fans were playfully teasing us whenever we would cheer for the wrong reasons (which happened a lot more often than it should have). The rules we finally did understand was that a try is worth four points and then they get to kick it through the uprights. However, unlike American football they have to kick the ball from where it entered the “end zone” and the kick is worth two points. Unfortunately, the Titans only scored once and the Broncos took the game. It was hard for us to tell whether there is a true rivalry between the
Broncos and the Titans, but a lady next to me explained that the two teams have never really gotten along, mostly due to their close proximity to each other. It reminded us a lot of Red Sox and Yankees rivalry or even Celtics and Lakers, just a little less intense. The fans were joking with each other instead of trying to rip each other’s heads off and arguing over players and statistics. At the end of the game, we ran to the bottom of the stands in hopes of meeting a player, we met him, but didn’t have enough time to grab a photo or an autograph or even a name, but I promise we met him!! I hope to get to another game in the near future because it was so much fun. Australia has a professional rugby league and a professional rugby union. The Titans are the NRL (the league), so we hope to make it to a Union game just to add another check to our bucket list.
Next weekend, a few of us are trying to make it to Brisbane and go to the XXXX beer factory and the Brisbane Zoo aka the Steve Irwin Zoo. It should be a lot of fun and Brisbane is only about a 40-minute train ride away, which means we have no excuse not to go at least once. Keep your eyes peeled for another addition to the blog!
