Rugby, Restaurants and Retail….???

by Andrew Simpson

www.rugbypassion.com

Flight 810 commits a little double movement as we hit the deck at Melbourne's Tullamarine airport. I'm here to cover the historic trail game between Australia's newest Super 14 franchise the Western Force (Perth) and the most successful Super 14 team the Kiwi Crusaders (Christchurch).

The Victorian Rugby Union (VRU) could have been forgiven for spitting the dummy after losing the race for Australia's fourth Super 14 franchise to Western Australia last year but of course that's not the rugby way and VRU President Bill Gillies has "congratulated Western Force on the professional manner in which they have set about starting up their team."

The VRU have also embraced the Crusaders, courting them to become Melbourne's adopted Super 14 team. It will be interesting to see how the Brumbies react to the Crusaders muscling in on what is traditionally their turf. Robbie Deans, coach of the Crusaders, invited the diners at the President's lunch to call them the "Melbourne Crusaders".

As a New South Welshman and Sydneysider it is sacrilege to say I adore Melbourne, but I fell in love with the city on my first visit over twenty years ago and remain in love with it today. As the old saying goes, 'if you can't have fun in Melbourne town then you probably can't have fun anywhere'. The CBD is a catacomb of cafes, restaurants and retail shops. When "you lot" come 'down-under' later this year to watch your lads get hammered by the mighty Wallabies, grab a map and seek out these nooks and crannies. You won't be disappointed by such treasures as Centre Way, Degraves Street, The Block Arcade and Hardware Lane.

A mate of mine reckons 'the only time my wife wants to go to the rugger is when it's in Melbourne'. 'Err, why?' I asked, like a gormless pigeon-chested tosser; Retail therapy or in English, Chapel Street, Richmond Road (outlet heaven) and the CBD.

The other beaut thing about Melbourne is the trams. From my hotel on the other side of town, I take a short walk to Flinders Street and catch the number 70 tram to Melbourne's sporting precinct. The Melbourne Cricket Ground looms majestic, its new stand shining in the setting sun. Rod Laver Arena is going off as the Australian Tennis Open Women's final has just been won by Ameile Mauresmo. Some eight thousand racquet heads are jiving to Pseudo Echo on the lawn out side the Arena.

As I approach Olympic Park the footy jerseys start to appear, plenty of Crusaders, Hurricanes, Brumbies, Wallabies and even a couple of the White ones with the big O2 on the front, but no Western Force.

Neil Finn of Crowded House wrote the song 'Four Seasons in One Day'. I hope to have the opportunity one day to ask him if he was in Melbourne at time he wrote it. So far we have had torrential rain, perfect sunshine and now sticky humidity. Great rugby weather…not!

As promised, coach Deans has brought his All Black stars Rico Gear, Daniel Carter, Richie McCaw, Reuben Thorne and Chris Jack. Coach Mitchell has a few Wallabies at his disposal such as Scott Staniforth, Brenden Cannon, David Fitter, Scott Fava, Matt Henjak and Lachlan Mackay.

The wet conditions make the game such a scrappy affair that in the post match interview Crusaders captain, Richie McCaw claimed that the "ball was like a cake of soap".

The result - Crusaders run out easy winners at 36 - 19.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon