Now some of the more noticeable of you forum members could have noticed how your favourite/hated Perthite has been strangely missing the last month or so. Well let me fill you in, I am currently traveling up in the northern reaches of Europe to spread the word of the greatness of all things BLR. (Rugby, Perth, Western Force, Beer, Guitar solos) So far I have been met with mixed successes, I met a girl from Portugal who moved to Cologne to go to University and join a rugby team while there. I also saw some bloke wearing a Western Force jersey in the middle of Glasgow, although he may never wear it again after he nearly messed himself after I punched him on the arm in joy over seeing a fellow Force fan.

Anyway, to the matter at hand, I am going to a few matches in the Autumn tour and was originally planning to go to all the Wallaby games besides the Italy game until the RFU politics screwed my plans over. First game was Scotland v New Zealand at Murrayfield.

I have been to five sporting stadiums in my entire life. Subiaco where the action is about 30 metres from the stand, Rugby Park which consists of a single stand which holds about 500 people, Members Equity, which has little modern facilities, MCG which is good but not suited for rugby and finally the almighty Carisbrook of which I love to death but is hardly what would be rated a world class stadium. So needless to say Murrayfield would be my first major rugby stadium.

As I walked to the game I saw the kilts with the Scotland shirts out on display, sometimes with the Scottish hat with the fake orange hair stitched on. At the same time there were the large groups of All Black fans walking around as well, mostly as part of All Black travel or some similar travel company. As I walked to Murrayfield, even three hours before the match, the bagpipes were pulled out along the roads, many pubs were full, and the steady stream of people going to, and around the ground, was flowing on and on. This happens at games at Subiaco as well but to see the colour, vibrancy and sound of the masses was something that would surely be unique to Scotland. In saying that the Scottish were under no illusions, some only had the wish that the All Blacks don’t score in triple figures.

I witnessed a group of friends standing around talking about the game and they mentioned they think it will be 43-9. Then the ‘joker’ of the group piped up saying “Yeah, to Scotland.” Of which was followed by raucous laughter by the whole group. Perhaps that is the difference between the Scots and the Southern Hemisphere nations, and perhaps why Scotland is rarely at the pinnacle of sport. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa HATE losing with a passion and before a game we can be arrogant and in most cases always expect a win, even against huge odds, and if we lose we take the loss as if it was a personal attack and sulk for days on end.

As I got to the game I was plenty early so I decided to get a few beers and my new favourite food, Chips covered in curry sauce. I sat down and waited for the game to start and within the hour or so I had to wait I managed to down around about 4 pint of Tennants. On my trips I have seen it as my personal mission to destroy everyone who attempts to out drink me so by this stage I was a seasoned drinker so the four pints only made me want to go to the toilet. But anyway, I had just gone to get another beer when I saw people running to the stadium, the anthems were starting. I luckily got there in time to see around fifty or so Scottish Tattoo members playing the anthems. It seemed fairly stock standard as far as anthems go until mid way through the band stopped and the rest of the Flower of Scotland was sung entirely by the huge Scottish contingent of the crowd. I think it is something really special hearing such a large amount of people singing their national anthem of their own cues, if I was Scottish I would have a tear in my eye every time.

I am sure you watched the game or at least heard what happened so you don’t need me to explain what happened. All you need to know is the referee(Barnes) was terrible for both sides (like he usually is) while Scotland night was one of a lot of effort but probably not enough skill to pull off their attempts against even a second string All Blacks side.

One thing bad about the difference between Murrayfield and Subiaco in particular is that Murrayfield doesn’t have the massive discomfort that Subiaco as a whole has. After my copious amounts of beer it seemed all my late alcohol filled nights caught up to me and for the last 20 minutes of the games I struggled to stay awake, and I may have dozed off a few times. But all in all I managed to last the distance and see a decent game of rugby for the first time since the game before the Brisbane Bledisloe.

Besides the streakers(clothed) the post game was fairly uneventful, crowds of people blocking the streets, even blocking a van for supposedly the #1 strip club in Edinburgh, complete with a stripper in the front seat. As expected the pubs jukebox I stopped off at later was surrounded by large burley Kiwis playing all the greatest hits of New Zealand (I know, hard ask) and imagine my surprise when blaring over the jukebox comes the Haka, surrounded by Kiwis doing the various actions, who would have thought the Haka would be such a requested sound clip that it would be essential to a jukebox in downtown Edinburgh.

To conclude, it was a good game, entirely different to anything back at home but I cannot wait until I can support the Wallabies in person, being as much of an arrogant, cocky Australian supporter as possible. Next up, France v Australia on the 22nd of November, I will have to be content with watching England v Australia in a coffee shop in Amsterdam as the ticketing plan of the RFU is pretty disgraceful. Not that I am bitter or anything.