Mission Statement: Chris Matthews' objective is to be
corrupted by all the sights, sounds and smells of the Wellington
Sevens.
10:40pm - Good night!
It has been a HUGE day but tomorrow is only going to be
bigger, louder and better both on and off the field. Join us
tomorrow for day two previews and live updates once again from
1pm.
10:15pm - The final eight is decided....
New Zealand, who beat Samoa 19-5 to top Pool
D, will play France tomorrow after a 10-10 draw
between Australia and Les Bleus played out in the second to last
match of the evening. Obviously the big surprises to emerge out of
Pool play are Canada, who shocked Kenya to top Pool D, and Tonga
who upset Fiji 17-14 and drew with Wales to top C.
The Cup quatrer-finals tomorrow are as fellows:
-
View Photos
-
Related
2:33pm - Canada (1st Pool D) v Samoa (2nd Pool
A)
2:55pm - Tonga (1st Pool C) v England (2nd Pool
B)
3:17pm - New Zealand (1st Pool A) v France
(2nd Pool D)
3:39m - South Africa (1st Pool B) v Fiji (2nd Pool
C)
9:20pm - And the fans flock out of the stadium
Five hours. That is probably the average amount of time
most fans stay here on the opening day. The majority arrive at 4pm
and quite a few leave at 9pm.
Indeed thousands of ticket-buyers are now flocking out of the Stadium, despite there being three matches to go - including New Zealand v Samoa. Price of drinks, too many drinks, work hours and wanting to save it for another day were the main reasons given to us, although the former point seemed to be the main problem. Read tvnz.co.nz tomorrow morning for a response to this little pickle from tournament General Manger, Steve Walters.
8:36pm - Popularity Contest
The parade of nations, with the representatives being
the16 teams of course, just did their annual march around the field
and it's always intriguing to discover who New Zealand fans like
and dislike.
Predictably the New Zealand team got the biggest cheer, although the brass band nearly topped them when they performed a haka. The second fav team Kiwis like to support is probably Kenya with the Pacific nations not far behind.
Not surprisingly, Australia was booed for their umpteenth time today but it is also worth nothing that France, England and South Africa were far from well received. Which if you read between the lines says that Kiwis don't - in general - like rugby nations who they see as a threat. They are after all, the only other four nations who have ever qualified for a Rugby World Cup final, with France the odd one out having never won it.
7:55pm - Twilight Saga
Dusk is always my favourite time of the night. It's when
the strong fight on and the weak surrender both on and off the
field.
Take Kenya for example. Seemingly crusing into the Cup quarterfinal's tomorrow after beating crowd favs Australia, they inexplicably dropped their final match to supposed dolly's Canada 21-14. Stunned beyond belief, the Kenyans slumped to the ground as the final whistle blew knowing they had blown their royal chance. The upshot is that Canada, yes Canada, are a chance of topping Pool D and avoiding a likely quarter-final against New Zealand, if, and that's a big IF, Australia can beat France at 9:34pm.
6:30pm - The people have taken their seats
It's only taken a little over five hours but I can
comfortably now say the Stadium is three-quarters-full, even though
most of them are more interested in slapping giant beach balls.
Which means of course eight or so thousand are partying in the
concourse or by the good old rave zone.
New Zealand meanwhile have just demolished Japan 54-0 and will
top Pool A if they can beat Samoa just before 10pm tonight. Who
they will play in the quarter-finals is anyone's guess with Kenya,
France and Australia all still well in contention to come out of
Pool D.
5:15pm - 44 reasons your daughters should stay at home
On my travels to the front of Stadium, where it is worth
mentioning the rave zone is pumping dirty house beats to throngs of
kids who couldn't care less about the on-field action, I came
across the most popular 44 young men this hack has ever seen.
Girls, and lots of them, were craving for their attention and I
guess it was sort of symbolic of the sexual tension in the air. The
44 lads from Wellington were dressed as the life creating substance
of sperm and did a pretty good job of it too. Check out our
Facebook page
if you want to see
a photo of these life-changing show-stoppers.
4:04pm - Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oh, no, no, no
Not so long ago boos quickly became laughter when the
Kenyans embarrassed Australia 35-10. The Wellington crowd always
loves giving our trans-Tasman neighbours a good ribbing and they
had plenty of ammunition as Australia was simply woeful.
The smiles in the crowd quickly disappeared in the next match
however when Scotland shocked the home boys New Zealand by holding
a 7-0 halftime lead.
They defended tenaciously and were well worth their advantage until
New Zealand predictably overpowered them with captain DJ Forbes
scoring a hat-trick of tries in the 29-7 win.
2:50pm: Best and worst dressed
The race for best dressed and all that cash ($25,000 if you
remember rightly) has been happening at the front of the Stadium
and there have been some contrasting entries.
At the elegant end of the spectrum, Evena Tepaa, 28, and Gaia Chinnah, 29, from Hamilton and Auckland respectively, looked simply dazzling (please excuse my awards season talk) dressed as chandeliers. They were completely metallic in colour and had all the pieces, which they got from the USA, hanging delicately off them. But it doesnt come cheap - each costume cost $150 to make.
And at the other end of the rainbow, the dark side that is, there is the self-proclaimed Zombie Bitches. Im not sure what their chances are of winning but nevertheless, their mums would be so proud. If you want to check out photos of them go to our Facebook page.
2:34pm - On your best behaviour
The crowd is gradually increasing in size along Fran's
famous walk and that is where I bumped into a policeman who told me
that there has been no trouble so far. When quizzed about liquor
levels, he was adamant that he hadn't seen anyone who was
outrageously drunk. Which is good news.... but give it a
couple of hours and I can see him getting a little bit busier.
1:40pm - Old People
Now I don't want to offend anyone, especially since the Baby
Boomers rule the land and all, but the crooked crew dressed up as
the elderly is taking this getting into character thing a little
bit too far. They are plodding along with walking sticks and taking
aim with verbal sprays to anyone who gets in their way. As my mum
always told me, there is a fine line between being funny and being
a dick.
Meanwhile the action on the rugby field and the, ahem, fashion
field has got underway. So far I can report that the South Africans
have taken the first win of the day, beating the USA 21-0 and
England are currently coasting to victory over the Cook
Islands, who did give the Poms a hell of a fright last year.
The fashion in the fields, or the best dressed with $25,000 up for
grabs, is currently in full flight so I'm gonna go check it out and
report back with some photos very soon.
12:40pm - Where the bloody hell are ya?
Welcome to tvnz.co.nz's live text coverage of the Wellington Sevens. This is my third year covering this orgy of costumes and colour and, while I don't yet consider myself a veteran, I can lean on some prior knowledge.
And one thing I have learnt is that the smorgasbords of crazy kids NEVER turn up on time. The temptation to top up early is far too much. Even a promotion enticing people to run for cash between 11am-midday couldn't do the trick and we're not talking about pocket change here, they were giving away serious money.
Dave Falealili, 25, who won the men's race and dressed up as Redfoo from electro group LMAFO, won $1000 and was "stoked".
"I gonna spend it on things like education," he joked. "But nah it's pretty much covered my weekend so I'm pretty happy."
And so he should be, but someone who will be absolutely livid is Cushna Litwick who came third in the girls' race. The prize was $150 but she walked away before the official prize giving and the cash was handed to fourth place. Gutted! So if someone knows Cushna or sees a girl walking around in a blue tracksuit and pink wig can you please tell her the bad news?
Add a Comment:
Post new commentThe Hoff said on 2012-02-03 @ 13:30 NZDT: Report abusive post
Where the bloody hell are ya?? I am in Cairns mate! Can't make the sevens this year but will be keeping tabs on the fun this weekend. Ex Wellingtonian aka the Hoff.