Feeding my live viewing ‘habit’ will be first job to tackle
New HKSI women’s sevens coach can’t wait to start work, but will miss surfeit of televised games
Well the countdown has begun … two more days of work, four more days in Auckland, 24 more days in New Zealand, one Christmas, lots of BBQs, a few drinks, and numerous good-byes to get through before I step on to the plane for Hong Kong.
I am still pinching myself to see if it is true that I am off to Hong Kong to coach sevens. This time last year I would have never been able to predict this happening. It is a wonderful opportunity and I cannot wait to start.
At the moment all I can say is packing is definitely overrated! Having to move out of my flat as well as try and find somewhere to store my gear is making it even worse. I think I am part squirrel given the amount of stuff that I have had to wade through, sort out, pack up, give away or throw out. I will certainly be happy to get on that plane and get to Hong Kong!
My first priority once I get to Hong Kong will be to sort out how, where and when I can satisfy my rugby watching appetite
On the plus side, having to go through all of my stuff has allowed me to unearth wonderful treasures – like cold hard cash (NZ$240 to be exact, whoop whoop!), long lost photos, long lost clothes … and some clothes and photos that I wish I had lost!
Meanwhile, December in New Zealand means it is sevens season. Provincial teams from around the country have been training hard since October in the lead up to the Regional Qualifying tournaments and the ultimate goal – the National Championships in January.
The Central and Southern Regional Qualifying Tournaments have been contested over the past two weeks and the Northern Regional tournament is this weekend in Hamilton. Already during the regional events there has been some great young talent on display. From these tournaments 10 women’s teams and 16 men’s teams will qualify for the Nationals.
Picturesque Queenstown has been the Nationals venue since 2003, but 2014 sees the tournament shift to Rotorua. The best news this year is that the number of women’s teams has been increased from six to 10 teams, after women were welcomed back to the Nationals for the first time this year since 2002. The girls’ inclusion in the 2013 tournament wasn’t confirmed until around September or October 2012 when sponsorship was finally found to cover the cost.
December is also that dreaded time in every New Zealand rugby fan’s year when there is absolutely no southern hemisphere rugby on the television! The end-of-season tours by the All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks are finished and the IRB awards are done and dusted for another year. Our fixation with rugby has been somewhat assuaged by the IRB sevens tournaments in Dubai and South Africa … but now before us stretches a barren period.
All fans spend this time counting down to the start of the Super 15 competition. You may think this is an exaggeration but it is not. In New Zealand we are used to a surfeit of live rugby to watch on television or go and see ourselves.
The National Provincial Competition finished at the end of October and during that you could watch rugby on television five to six nights a week. Over the past two weekends every game from Dubai and South Africa has been shown live.
So when Super 15 kicks off in February, there will be two to three games of live rugby on Friday night starting at 7:30pm. Saturday can sometimes consist of six games in a row, while Sunday morning usually means catching up on the overnight South African games before watching a couple more matches Sunday afternoon.
New Zealand rugby fans – me included – are clearly a spoiled bunch.
So my first priority once I get to Hong Kong will be to sort out how, where and when I can satisfy my rugby watching appetite.
