13th December 2009
Well hello from the Emirates Executive Lounge in Joburg airport! Somehow we've managed to wangle 7 hours in here to kill some time before our next flight! Its nice to see how the other half live!
Day 2 started for me with Australia vs Kenya in the cup quarter final with the Kenyans running out winners in a game which they dominated from start to finish.
Game 2 was the first cup semi final between Fiji and Argentina. A very tight game which went from end to end with both teams in the running right up til the final whistle. Fiji pulling away in the final minute and taking the victory by a narrow margin. The reason I don't have scores is because the stadium clock and scoreboard was broken so I've no idea of scores as we had to allocate one person to solely keep scores on the sideline.
30 minutes after my last game it was straight back on the field to take charge of the bowl final, Wales vs Russia. An excellent game again going from end to end. Wales came out on top and thoroughly deserved their victory although really should of won by a lot more than they did!
New Zealand came out cup winners beating Fiji in the final.
Saturday brought food and drink however we were picked up from the hotel at 7.15am to go to George airport to start our 30+ hours worth of travel and airport stops to get home.
Overall its been a thoroughly enjoyable 2 weeks but I'll be very happy to get into my own bed.
See you all soon
Andrew
12th December 2009
Well apologies for not being in touch sooner. Unfortunately we only have one plug adaptor between bout 5 of us so trying to charge phones and laptops has been tricky.
Anyway to summarise the past week its been quite busy. Meetings and 1:1 sessions with Keith Lawrence our referees manager filled part of the week. Training matches and video sessions have filled the other half.
On Thursday we went to Cango Wildlife Ranch about 60km from where we are over the mountain road. Its a bit like a zoo with tour guides walking you around raised platforms over the animals enclosures. Crocodiles, lions, tigers and the reptile cages were some of the attractions to find. For a set donation fee you could pay to go into the animals enclosure and have your picture taken with them. I couldn't resist the 3 new white tiger cubs. Photos on facebook to follow!
Back to the rugby!
Fiji vs Portugal was my first game on day one. Fiji running out convincing winners by about 40 points. Sounds easy but I can assure you running about in 30oc plus heat is not easy.
Wales vs Samoa was game 2 with the Samoan's winning quite comfortably.
Last game of the day was France vs Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe literally ripped a pretty poor french team apart and were victors by roughly 20 points.
Day 2's appointments are out and we've all been given one game so far. Kenya vs Australia is my first game in the cup quarter final. Really looking forward to that however they're talking of temperatures close to 40oc today which will be almost unbearable for a pasty white scotsman like myself!
Speak soon.
Andrew