Rugby

Saturday night we took Emma, Hannah, and Esther to their first rugby match. Rugby is the most popular sport in New Zealand. The national team, The All Blacks, are a legend in rugby. Like football, it is a winter sport, so we are only here for the beginning of the season. There are 3 main competitions within the rugby season. The first, which has just begun, is the Super 14. The competition consists of 14 regional teams from New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. The Auckland team is The Blues. We saw them play Natal, a South African team, and they got beat. Mark's brother came along with us to the game. It's been great to do things like that with him.

The second competition (and the best) consists of the Test matches. This is where the national teams square off against each other with national pride on the line. It's like all-star games crossed with the passions of the biggest NCAA rivalries.

Mark is a rugby fan and it has rubbed off on me. I really love it. The athletes are amazing. They are big, fast, and strong. Not only that, they have great endurance and technical passing, catching, and kicking skills. They make very well-rounded, impressive athletes.