An attempt at a panorama at the game.
Sara and I were at the the game on Saturday, having left Wellington on Friday evening and driven part of the way, stayed over in Taihape and continued on to Auckland in the morning.
We visited the fan zone on the waterfront before the game and met people from Khandallah in the pub!
We arrived at the ground in good time and enjoyed the build up. The stadium has improved since our previous visit in 2004 to see England thoroughly beaten after Simon Shaw was sent off (hmm oh so familiar).
We had reasonable seats, undercover, that proved to be useful at one point in the evening.
I was really looking forward to the game, and wanted Wales to do well as they had played some good rugby in the tournament and were a positive team. However the game was ruined after 20 minutes. I thought the sending-off was harsh and it proved to be the deciding factor. Wales still deserved to win as France were totally inept. Incapable to attacking and using their advantage.
The final has been ruined. So we paid all that money to go to the semi and saw 20 minutes of real competition. The final has been downgraded at a significant cost. Joe and I are flying up on Sunday and returning by coach on Monday. Not a cheap weekend and now for a downgraded game.
After the game we walked along the fans walkway back to the city for a drink before going off to bed. It was up early for a long drive home.
