The Man Show

Sorry to those I did not see while home for 10 days 2 weeks ago. It was a whirlwind trip, can't wait to head back for good in October. Hope y'all had a great 4th of July.

Right after Mere flew home, I was left in Australia for a couple of days before I flew out. Without my partner in crime, I was left to figure out how to spend my free time. Hmmmm....what's that? A beer tasting followed by a rugby match? Sign me up!

A couple of mates from work and I went to a beer tasting at the local bottle shop and followed it up with the British and Irish Lions vs HSBC Warritahs (from New South Whales) rugby match. A warritah is a native flower in Australia - I know, very intimidating mascot (just like the Buckeyes), and HSBC is a corporate bank known for laundering drug money. Yay sponsorship! I'll give some background on the rugby, as it is not so straight forward. (Mere, you may want to skip ahead to the pictures as your head might explode trying to figure out the rugby).

Unbeknownst to me, there are actually 3 different types/leagues of rugby: Rugby Union, Rugby League, and Australian Rules Football.

Rugby Union is what the rest of the world plays (ie: New Zealand 's national team - the All Blacks). Australia has a national team (Wallabies), and also local teams such as the HSBCWarritahs.

Rugby League is similar to Union, but has slightly different rules. The NRL (National Rugby League) is filled with teams across Australia that play against each other. Manly's team is the Sea Eagles and they play about 10 minutes from where I live.

Aussie Rules Football is an entirely different animal, which I haven't seen any of as it is hugely popular in Victoria, but not so much in New South Whales/Sydney.

Still with me? (Mere, you can start reading again)

Now, the British and Irish Lions is basically an all-star team made up of the best players from England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. They travel every 4 years alternating between Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, this is known as the Lions tour. So it's a pretty big deal as they are in Australia once every 12 years. The combination of Irish/English ex-pats in Australia, and the fact that their fan base travels well (especially leaving rainy/cloudly UK for Australia), makes for an army of red (their colors) in the streets/pubs/stadium.

The Lions game match vs the Warritahs is a warm up for their test match (3 game series) vs the Australian national team, the Wallabies.


The match was held at Allianz Stadium in Moore Park in Sydney. After the beer tasting and a stop at the Local Taphouse in Darlinghurst (which was a full blown Lions den, complete with English beers on tap) to meet up with some mates.

There were probably close to 40,000 people at the match

There are a lot of similarities to American Football, including an opening kickoff:

Below is a scrum (similar to a faceoff), which occurs after every stoppage of play. Each side basically voltrons (forms) into a battering ram. Both teams then engage as the ball is dropped in the middle, and try to kick the ball backwards to gain possession.

Below looks like a scrum, but this was actually a fight after the lions scored on a try (touchdown, crossing the goal line with the ball. These are worth 5 points with an ensuing extra point kick through the uprights worth 2. They also kick 'field goals' worth 3 points throughout the match).

I was able to figure out most of the rules on the fly, and while it's no NFL, it was awesome to see a live sporting event.

The Lions dominated the Warritahs 47-17. Each time they score, they play Chelsea Dagger by the Fratellis (the da-dada-da, dada-da, dada-dada-da song that is played when Blackhawks score a goal. Sorry, too soon?)

I think the Lions would have been better off with the below:





And just like when I first started the blog:

Countdown til Motes reunion: only 75 days...F*CK!