08 September 2007

Rugby World Cup - National pride at stake

Last night saw the kick off of the Rugby World Cup series, as France and Argentina battled it out for victory in the first game of the series.

I must admit I was feeling fairly ambivalent towards the series until I tuned into the game by accident. It was just before the kick off, when the national anthems were being sung.

National pride was definitely at stake and watching those big Argentinian bruisers singing their anthem, all choked up with emotion and in some cases with tears running unashamedly said something. It was enough to draw me in. Imagine the emotion of being a young guy in your early twenties, from one of the supposedely weaker teams, being chosen to play in the opening match. Awesome

The French, of course, were more cavalier when singing La Marseillaise, which in itself is a very stirring anthem and sure to get the adrenalin pumping.

It was a great match. I have been watching the development of Argintinian rugby for some years now and am pleased to see the way they have risen to being a truly international team. I was supporting the southern hemisphere and was happy that the underdogs won.

Of course there can only be one winner - no prizes for guessing who I will be backing.

4 comments:

myonlyphoto said...

Nice photo, I don't know how it relates to rugby but I really like it, thanks for visiting my blog, anna :)

Max-e said...

Hi Anna,
Glad you liked the picture.

The emblem of the South Arican Rugby team is a Springbuck. They have been called the Springbucks for many years now. In Afrikaans they are called the "bokke", which translates to buck. More recently there is an African derivative the "ama bokke bokke", which is almost a term of affection.

The followers of international rugby will know the Aussies as the Wallabies, the New Zealander's as the Kiwi's and the British as the Lions. They are the arch rivals of the Springbuck.

By the way Wales and Canada will be playing today.

myonlyphoto said...

Max-e thanks for your reply, not it all makes sens. So Wales and Canada is playing today - I hope someone wins lol? Thanks for message. Anna :)

myonlyphoto said...

...I met now it all makes sense...