the one with all the rugby

So last night's Munster - All Blacks (New Zealand) rugby match was ajdjksdkfks AMAZING! One of the best rugby matches I have seen! If only Munster was able to pull it off in the end and win it, it would have been fabulous. The All Blacks have been playing a few matches over here and they are quite good, quite intimidating and have the reputation for being the BEST national squad. Munster is one of the 4 Irish professional squads (one for each province) and they play in mostly inter European games, they won the Heinekin Cup last May and are right now ranked the number 1 squad in Europe. So because it is professional, not all the guys are from Munster, and a few are from abroad, but most are Irish. So on Saturday the Irish national team got beat quite badly 22-3 by the All Blacks. So last nights match was a big deal for a few reasons - brand new stadium, last night was the opening game - 30th aniversary of Munster defeating the All Blacks in Ireland, which still is a huge deal and it is the All Blacks. So it was quite intense! Especially since both teams were not playing with their usual squads, as the Irish team (which many of the Munster guys play for) and the All Blacks played each other on Saturday. So it was just amazing to watch, from the first minute to the last. It was close the entire game, with the biggest gap being about 6 points. So Munster scored an easy try at the end of the first half, and they were up 16-10. So the second half was intense, the NZ missing both of the penalties they had, and a few times it was close for both sides.... until the 76th minute. When a questionable call against Munster got NZ close and they scored a try. And then missed the kick to put it at 16-18. So the last few minutes were intense with Munster trying to get close enough for a kick, but to no avail. It was crazy, the stadium and just the whole game. Even though Munster lost, it was still an amazing match!

One of my favourite parts was right in the begining, the All Blacks do this little ritual at the begining of every international match called the Haka. it is a Maori traditional war dance and it is quite intense and intimidating. I remember seeing it for the first time last year while watching the world cup. And so last night 4 of the members of Munster are kiwis and have played international rugby for NZ. So the 4 of them did a haka, with the rest of Munster behind them, then the All Blacks went. It was sooo awesome.



The Munster-All Blacks Haka.

So I was watching the match and attempting to knit, but I only got a few rows done, as I was spending too much time yelling at the tv!

Other than the rugby match yesterday not up to much. Sunday was my lazy day, I didn't go hiking. I've just been exhausted the last week, like absolutely no energy and after getting completely soaked/windblown on Brandon last week, I wanted to have a nice quiet Sunday. So that was nice.

I've spent the last few days at work, actually doing work related things. Of course when I have things I want to get done at work, I have things to do. haha! I spent Monday researching and emailing people at wac about what I need to do to get my Maryland teacher certificate. So I can do that when I'm home in December, as it takes a few months. So when I'm applying for jobs in March/April I actually have one and then I can just apply for whatever states certificate I need. And today I spent looking up more stuff for my parents trip and emailing my mom a list of hotels and such so she can book them. In two weeks they'll be hoping on a plane and I'll be meeting them in London on Thursday morning! Crazy how fast it has been! And I get my results on Friday!! eeeeek! Fingers crossed I get the 1st honours I want!

Anyway, as it is a Wednesday I'm off to the pub to see my fellow mountaineers and catch up on all the craic!