29.10.2011

We are fortunate to be in New Zealand during a very special moment for this country. There are very few places in the world where passion for one sport is so immense as here. Obviously I mean rugby.

The local national team, so-called All Blacks, after 24 years won the world championship last Sunday. For over 6 weeks it hosted a great tournament here. The final game between NZ and France was a real cliffhanger The tight score of 9:8 says it all. Thanks to a fortunate coincidence I managed 4 weeks ago to see live the the pool game  between those two teams. It turned out to be the preliminary final, which was won decisively by NZ then.

It is strange for NZ to have won only twice the world championship in 24 years. All Blacks have with all the teams they have played against, the best winning trackrecord of all teams. Their leadership in the world’s number one rugby team ranking is stunning. Interestingly, the French team has been their nemesis in world cup tournaments eliminating them a few times.

This love of rugby rubbed off Wojtus and myself. As part of our sports activities we often run passing  this egg-shaped ball in a characteristic spinning way to each other. Having seen many test-matches the whole family became expert in the rules of this fascinating game. Maybe we will manage to make it a bit more popular in Poland.

Concluding we want chant just like the locals …

Go All Blacks!!