This story starts more than a year ago when we decided that we would follow the Bokke around England in Homer at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Coenraad and I embarked on a mutual mission to secure four tickets for each pool game and a quarter final and after several months and several sources, we had all our tickets.
And so on the 15th September we headed south making a detour via the town of Rugby where the game began. We arrived in Brighton on 18th September and watched the opening game at the Fan Zone which had been set up on the pebbly beach near the famous Brighton Pier. A fabulous bonus of being in Brighton was meeting up with Dorothy and Campbell, two primary school friends from Brighton Beach Primary in Durban, who now both live in Brighton. Greg and Sarah came down for a visit from Kent too. On match day we met up with Mylene and Coenraad for lunch and headed to the stadium early. Bokke fans were everywhere and the atmosphere was amazing. It's ancient history now but Saturday 19 September will not be remembered as the Springboks finest hour. We couldn't believe the final result. It was, however, an epic game and the atmosphere in the stadium was electric. The Japanese deserved the win.
We drove to Cardiff to see the Australia vs Fiji game on Wednesday 23rd at the Millennium Stadium because, as Neil says, it's the finest rugby stadium in the UK. We met up with Robbie to celebrate his birthday at a great restaurant called Steak of the Art, which turned into a big party and a late night. We drove up to Birmingham via North Wales and settled in at Chapel Lane Caravan Club. We met loads of South Africans there too. We met up with Christo and Louis on Friday night and headed to the Balti Triangle for a genuine and original balti curry with naan bread at Adils because Birmingham is the curry capital of the UK! We met up with Mylene and Coenraad, Christo and Louis before the game on Saturday for lunch before heading to the stadium. The win over Samoa put the Bokke in a somewhat better position so we could let our hair down in celebration. Birmingham hasn't got a buzzing city centre when it comes to nightlife, so we watched all the other weekend games at a bar called Snobs.
And so on the 15th September we headed south making a detour via the town of Rugby where the game began. We arrived in Brighton on 18th September and watched the opening game at the Fan Zone which had been set up on the pebbly beach near the famous Brighton Pier. A fabulous bonus of being in Brighton was meeting up with Dorothy and Campbell, two primary school friends from Brighton Beach Primary in Durban, who now both live in Brighton. Greg and Sarah came down for a visit from Kent too. On match day we met up with Mylene and Coenraad for lunch and headed to the stadium early. Bokke fans were everywhere and the atmosphere was amazing. It's ancient history now but Saturday 19 September will not be remembered as the Springboks finest hour. We couldn't believe the final result. It was, however, an epic game and the atmosphere in the stadium was electric. The Japanese deserved the win.
We drove to Cardiff to see the Australia vs Fiji game on Wednesday 23rd at the Millennium Stadium because, as Neil says, it's the finest rugby stadium in the UK. We met up with Robbie to celebrate his birthday at a great restaurant called Steak of the Art, which turned into a big party and a late night. We drove up to Birmingham via North Wales and settled in at Chapel Lane Caravan Club. We met loads of South Africans there too. We met up with Christo and Louis on Friday night and headed to the Balti Triangle for a genuine and original balti curry with naan bread at Adils because Birmingham is the curry capital of the UK! We met up with Mylene and Coenraad, Christo and Louis before the game on Saturday for lunch before heading to the stadium. The win over Samoa put the Bokke in a somewhat better position so we could let our hair down in celebration. Birmingham hasn't got a buzzing city centre when it comes to nightlife, so we watched all the other weekend games at a bar called Snobs.
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