A month with no golf – Mon Dieu!
4 days after the culmination of the greatest sporting event in the world, I am just about recovering, though have vowed to become tee total, at least until the weekend. I am, of course, referring to the Rugby World Cup! You see, my two sporting passions are rugby & golf and for the past month, one of them had to give – needless to say, in this instance, the round ball lost out.
What an event!! There were some massive highs – I was fortunate enough to be in Marseille when England beat the Aussies which rates as my No. 2 high. My No. 3 high was when England beat France a week later in Paris. What was my No. 1 high?? I will tell you; it was watching France beat the All Blacks on a TV in a French street in the middle of a tiny fishing village just outside Marseille. This was followed by a street party of repute with, amongst others, English, French, Welsh, South African, Australian, American & Canadian fans. World in Union – you betcha!! My only regret was that I wasn’t in Cardiff to see the reaction of the New Zealand fans.
Having been on the Lions Tour to New Zealand in 2005, and having witnessed first hand how ungracious their fans and press (if you can call them that) were in victory, I always wanted to know how they would react in defeat. Their reaction to this defeat had to be the No. 1 low of the whole tournament - one word….. Pathetic!! To put this in context, the behavior of the Aussies after losing to England was exemplary and we all drank together afterwards. Further, I was at the final last weekend and again the behaviour of both fans after the game was one of camaraderie, fun & festiveness. And guess what…. I am a staunch English fan and South Africa deserved to win that game, they deserve to be World Champions.
I shall be going to South Africa in 2 years time to follow the Lions – it promises to be a fantastic tour with the best of the British & Irish playing the World Champions. Will I be going to New Zealand in 4 years time – no way! I shall certainly be watching it on TV supporting Rugby first and England second, but I shall spend by hard earned pennies playing golf. Which reminds me, address, head down, swing……
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