AB Tour Diary; November 21 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!