Wallabies v Springboks

Last Saturday Heather, friend
and coworker Andrew and I went to the Wallabies game against the Springboks of South Africa. We had excellent seats, sitting low and in the corner, right near the action. The Wallabies had beaten the Springboks a few weeks earlier 49-0 but this was a
completely different game. South Africa dominated play and field position for much of the game, but missed three goal opportunities in the first half, allowing the Wallabies the lead on a nicely played breakaway try. The Springboks efforts finally paid off in the second half when they took the lead on a try of their own and appeared to be in control of the match. After a few key substitutions, the Wallabies rallied for an exciting finish. Mat Rogers, one of the late subs, scored a try to steal the win with a little over three minutes remaining. The try was scored in our corner, so it all happened right in front of us. The best part about it was he had jogged around that corner a few minutes earlier before entering the game and had waved at some kids sitting in front of us. When he jumped up after scoring the try, he pointed triumphantly at the kids again. Must have been very exciting for them.
These kids were members of various rugby teams who provided our half time entertainment. We had noticed many of them were wearing rugby headgear and mouthguards in the stands and wondered why. The kids at our end were about five and none of them had headgear. Heather was outraged, saying, "They are so little! Why don't they have headgear?! They'll get hurt!" Turns out the little ones only play touch.
It was a fun evening and a good game, the rain held off and the Wallabies won. They also claimed the 2006 Mandela Plate, awarded to the series winner between Australia and South Africa. This took a little of the sting off of losing the Bledisloe Cup to New Zealand a few weeks earlier. If you look closely at the first picture, you can see the ball going through the uprights. Only the best for Look Right readers. Official game report can be found here.