Rugby World Cup 2015

The Rugby World Cup tournament is being held in the UK this year so I was on a mission to get tickets.  I remember watching games in our tiny temporary apartment in Westminster when we first arrived in the UK four years ago...thinking excitedly that watching Rugby matches instead of American Football games on the weekends was just one of the cultural differences we would encounter during our stay.

There was a lottery for tickets and I was lucky enough to score tickets to two different matches - the first was Ireland v. Romania at Wembley Stadium.  On the day of the game we all got decked out in green and made our way to the overground train.  The moment we boarded we were surrounded by a sea of green.  Nearly everyone was on their way to the match and nearly everyone was rooting for Ireland which made for a really fun vibe.

We arrived at the stadium early enough so that the kids to get their face painted and we could buy some flags and stop for photos.


Outside Wembley Stadium:





Our seats were quite close...in the end zone (not sure if that's what they call it in Rugby) about 15 rows up.  I love that we were close enough to see the players faces when they were warming up and when the ball got close to the try line (again, no idea if this the right terminology).



The game was very one-sided and Ireland won 44-10 but since we were in green, we didn't mind one bit.  And more scoring usually means more excitement.  One of the highlights of the experience was introducing the "stadium wave" to the kids - they loved it.


When we were leaving the stadium C said she really wanted to come back to watch another game.  That was until we got outside and some drunk hooligans kicked a rugby ball high up in the air in the middle of crowd and it came crashing down into C's face.  Unfortunately it put a damper on the evening but J managed to secure the ball and gave it to C so she not only had a story to tell (and a black eye) but a momento from the game.  Poor thing...