So this week after working for a very long time, I headed to the London 7’s for finals day. I had been looking forward to this for a very long time. For starters I was told the wrong date when the tickets were organised and my friend M who was supposed to come with us, was not back from Malaysia in time. Sadly I was horrifically hung over, in fact I have not been this hung over since the tequila incident in January. Thank god it was not that bad, or I would not have been able to go. But when you get up in the morning and your flatmate says to his friend down the phone that ‘Nic has just gotten out of bed and she does not look that special this morning’ that it’s bad enough. So we were off to a good start, missing my friend and hung over.
After I had managed to hold down my piece of toast, we boarded the train and headed out to Twickenham. I was dressed in my All Blacks gear complete with black pompoms. It turned out that my flattie had also forgotten to let me know that there was a dress up theme of Hawaiian. Great another fail.
However, my saving grace was my three friends who came along to fill some spare tickets that we had. We met in a bar and the first thing that was said to me is that there is a bottle of Jager with my name on it. Uh oh. So we headed to the ground just in time to see Australia lose badly. On the way there, the girls knocked back some Jager, but the smell was enough to make my stomach turn. Apparently ‘last night’s Nic would have drunk with us’, well last night’s Nic spent her morning trying to keep toast down.
So we got settled in our seats, which was great, and proceeded with the business of knocking back the cider and cheering with our pompoms. The three guys behind us were quite fun and thought it was sweet that the four of us were all dressed in our All Blacks gear, even the token Aussie that was with us. Every time the kiwis warmed up in front of us or were on the field they would point them out to us.
After a while it became apparent to us that there were quite a few kids around and that we would have to be careful with our language etc, which for the most part we were. But at one point when N and I were dancing to ‘Tonight’s gonna be a good night’ and shaking our pompoms for all that we were worth, when one child turned around and had judgement in his eyes. He was looking at us with such pity and disgust, we were not even drunk. We were just having a good time. And then it was all on. The 7’s are all about having a good day out and having a bit of a boogie between the games. These kids were taking the lead from their parents who had booed NZ during their games and the kids were just being kids, but it had still hurt. So from then on we sung our wee hearts out. We cheered every try and had a great time. And to be honest I now know what it’s like to dance like no one’s watching or caring. (actually I already know what that is like – see me at the pub most Friday nights!)
After the games were done we began the pilgrimage back to the station. Not before having our photos taken with the line out statue –some serious and some very funny ones. We were all very tired and ready for home, so we got a nasty cheeseburger from the side of the road and hung out with some friends whilst we waited for the crush for the trains to subside.
So what did I learn? Fate will always ensure that your friends are with you. There seems to be a fashion among English kids at the moment to have long unkempt hair at all ages. For some reason the Kiwis get booed at the 7s. There are loads of Fijians in London! There should be more occasions where pompoms are needed and accepted. They just make life a bit more fun.
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