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AB Tour Diary; November 21 2014
The hoops of Yellow and black - with the Axeman logo - a long way from home, on the walls at Bedlinog RFC.
21 November 2014
NOVEMBER 21 2014
To this point in our tour we've had many wonderful moments, either in seeing the sights of UK and France or loving watching a winning All Blacks team in action. But the whole tour has always seemed to be heading for Wales! Whatever England, Scotland or indeed France have thrown at our tour groups, in terms of things to see and experiences to have - most of us on board the tour coaches have mostly been in a Welsh state of mind.
It's just that there are so many stories to tell and so many slices of All Black rugby history tangled up in our association with the Welsh rugby story. So today was our travelling day to find out what it is like in 2014.
To be sure it was not a good start. The weather as we left the gorgeous Ellenborough Park hotel suddenly turned atrocious and it offered us a soggy welcome into the Principality.
But on the other hand what was most welcoming was our trip tonight high up into the Valleys to the village of Bedlinog where the locals came out in force to offer us a truly typical Welsh rugby welcome. The supper was grand, the beer flowed and this little club's membership made all 70 of us feel very welcome indeed. And when the Treharris Males Voice Choir began their act with typical Welsh songs and humopur we KNEW we were in the land of rugby.
On a personal note the night was capped by finding a jersey from my New Zealand club; the Wellington Football Club from New Zealand's capital city, in a frame on the wall of the clubhouse. As this week I have been elected the President of that very club (we are 'The Axemen' of Wellington) I got the camera clicking for a shot to send back to the club's first newsletter of the new season next year.
All in all a wonderful night in Bedlinog - but at the back of our mind, as we sang our way back to the hotel was a gnawing worry about the test match tomorrow.
But whatever happens the anticipation of the game put us all in a high state of readiness;
Roll on the big game tomorrow!
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Every day there is Rugby History 9 September 1978
Click to show A monumental performance - by a Wallaby?
Yes it's true! Number eight forward Greg Cornelsen scores 4 tries as the Wallabies thrash NZ 30-16 on Eden Park.
A-Z of Rugby
Click to show ‘B’ INTERNATIONALS
These games have become an anachronism in modern rugby. ‘B’ internationals between second – or ‘B’ teams - of countries were played mostly in the second half of the 20th century. The British, Irish and French were the countries that mostly embraced the idea. For a time, some of the hardest games of each European season came in the international ‘B’ matches. The Wales v France ‘B’ teams, in particular, had some robust encounters between 1970 and 1989 when they met annually.
Internationals involving ‘B’ teams were never as popular in South Africa, Australia or New Zealand, though each dabbled with the concept of fielding a ‘second’ national team at some stage.
South Africa actually used to call its ‘second’ selection the ‘Junior’ Springboks. Australia fielded a ‘B’ team for the first time in 1988 when it met New Zealand. In 1991 New Zealand ‘B’ met Australia ‘B’ in Brisbane. New Zealand won an exciting match 21–15.
In 1992 England B toured New Zealand, playing two ‘tests’ against a New Zealand second team that was called the ‘New Zealand XV’.
Modern marketing phased out the concept of ‘B’ games. In the 1990s they were replaced by ‘A’ internationals. The new concept was a marketers way of enticing the paying public to believe they are not seeing second-rate players in action.
So the short history of ‘B’ teams came to an end. Ironically, this was followed by the decision of many countries, led by Wales, for economic reasons, to not even field an ‘A’ team any more.
10 Questions to well known sporting people
Today's KQ Rugby Quiz
How many Wanganui club players were in the combined King Country-Wanganui team which beat the 1966 British Lions team in Wanganui?
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28 November 2014 (11 years ago)
Karen
This was a wonderful night spent with some amazing Welsh people