Go 'tahs!!

Last night I went to my first Australian sporting event - a rugby union game in Sydney. I left campus with Chelsea, Laura, Alex and Ashley and we grabbed a bite to eat before getting on the ferry to go into the city. We took a quick train ride from Circular Quay to go to Bar Century to meet up with Chelsea's friend Joe and some of his mates. The drinks were cheap and the bar was decorated like an older style sports bar. After about an hour, Laura, Alex, Ashley and I left the bar and walked a few blocks down to Hyde Park where we picked up a bus to Moore Park. Unfortunately, while trying to get off at the right stop by following a man with a Waratah's jersey on, we got off a little early because the man in fact did not get off the bus like we thought he was going to. Whoops! Luckily a couple of nice old men walked by wearing jerseys and Ashley asked them for directions. It turns out we were not far at all rom the stadium.

We walked into the stadium and went to our seats, which were really close considering they were "category C" when we bought them. Laura and I went to the bathroom and to get a beer which was actually reasonably priced considering we were at a sporting venue. When we came back, a man was sitting in our seats next to Alex and Ashley, and it did not take long to realize how incredibly intoxicated he was. He turned out to be a friend of the guys who were sitting in front of us, and they told him to move. He did, but sat down right by Laura and became pretty distracting. The situation was a little uncomfortable, and there were plenty of empty seats in front of us, so we got up and went to the third row. We were a little sad to move because the guys in front of us had been very friendly and were explaining the different rules of rugby union to us.

There are two different types of rugby here: Rugby Union and Rugby League. Rugby union is a little slower paced with 15 men on the field per team whereas rugby league has seven men per team. Rugby union is what most of the world calls "rugby." When a player puts the ball down in the end field, it is called a "try" and the team scores 5 points. The extra points, or conversion play, is when the ball is kicked through the goal posts by the goal kicker (2 points). If a penalty is awarded to a team, they might get to take a kick which is 3 points. Also, during play the ball can be kicked through the posts (called a drop goal) which is also 3 points. Most of the plays are started through "scrums" which is where the two teams arrange themselves and push against each other for the ball. The ball cannot ever be passed forwards, just backwards, and only the player with the ball can be tackled (normally lower on the body). Also, after the ball goes out of bounds, the play where the ball comes back in is called a "lawn out" and the person who throws it back in is the "line hooker." This is pretty much all of the knowledge I picked up while at the game, or a little wikipedia searching beforehand :)

After moving seats, the game became very exciting and the lead kept changing. We were really close to the action! Also, some of our new mates came down to apologize for their friend and take our group picture in front of the field. The Waratahs ended up winning 39 - 32! We left the stadium and found a bus to Circular Quay for half price (game special.) The next ferry wasn't for another 45 minutes, so we ate at Hungry Jack's. A fun night overall!

This morning I got up and went to church with Mary and Heather for Palm Sunday. It was St. Mary's church, right here in Manly. There were a lot of older people attending, and the dress was definitely casual. It was a very pretty church, but like Mary, I wasn't that impressed with the homily. Oh well, that is where we will be going next week for Easter. I can't believe it's next week!! Another short school week of work and then a five day weekend. Cheers!!