Lions 2005 round-up part two

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After my general view of the Lions tour here's a little bit about the venues and the games (if you were there leave comments and flesh out my memory)

Nice tour round-up from the BBC as well.

Lions v Argentina: 25-25
Date: Tue 24th May
Watched at: Arizona Bar
With me: John & Mr Reasonable (at the start)
Breakfast with rugby, nothing finer. The chairs were bloody awful to watch rugby in but as it was only 7am it's hard to rate this a future rugby watching venue. The game itself can now been seen to herald the whole tour!

Bay of Plenty v Lions: 20-34
Date: Sat 4th June
Watched at: Black Harp
With me: Sean, Just & Paul
The first real game and it was a lot of fun. Passion, a few Lions supporters and plenty of Guinness. We were a little too close to the big screen so the neck had to be clicked back at full-time. Probably a bit too small for future games but a definite winner on the night ((c) S. Fitzpatrick).

Taranaki v Lions: 14-36
Date: Wed 8th June
Watched at: Bar Bodega
With me: Pete & SA Paul
Unfortunately this was probably the worst venue - the big screen was shocking and we had to move to watch the TV. The game itself also was a bit average and, to be honest, fairly forgettable.

Maori v Lions: 19-13
Date: Sat 11th June
Watched at: The Malthouse
With me: Paul, SA Pete, Kath & Dom
The first of the real power games and an absolute pleasure to watch. The Malthouse is big enough for as many as you can muster but this game gaves us more space than we could shake a stick at. The sound was very LOUD - maybe too loud! Great beer, great people and a great result.

Wellington v Lions: 6-23
Date: Wed 15th June
Watched at: Wellington Stadium
With me: Judy
My one and only "I was there" game. The atmosphere was pretty good, the fact I was being taken to the game on an awesome ticket was mighty but, unfortunately, the game itself and the weather were awful. The worse game for rugby. But the best venue for watching rugby.

Otago v Lions: 19-30
Date: Sat 18th June
Watched at: at home
With me: Liz
It had been a long weekend and I was bushed so the delayed TV3 coverage was the best I could do that night. As a venue to watch rugby 'home' has a lot going for it - no queues for beer, food to hand, always the best seat inthe house. Did lack a little bit of atmosphere but hey, I was too tired for much jumping around.

Southland v Lions: 16-26
Date: Tue 21st June
Watched at: The Brewery Bar (Shed 22)
With me: Adam, Sean & Dom
A very relaxed time with plenty of space and good beer. The game itself was actually quite a lot of fun as we sat in the comfy couches and drank a few quite ones after work. Nice game, nice venue.

All Blacks v Lions: 12-3
Date: Sat 25th June
Watched at: The Feathers Tavern
With me: SA Pete, Kath, Jude, Philip, Paul, Kim, Sean, Just, Darren, Melissa, Big Pete, Adam
Despite the lads and lasses getting there early the cold wind and rain seemed to have kept most away. A full (but not packed) bar by kick-off and the nerves quickly subsided as the true Lions form became apparent. A good, solid and warm rugby watching venue that will be used for many years to come.

Manawatu v Lions: 6-109
Date: Tue 28th June
Watched at: Bar Edwards
With me: SA Pete & Dom
I was out of central town and had a cracking time - see, it can be done. A few Irish Lions supporters joined the three of us as we quaffed v. nice beer in a v.nice new bar. The game was a farce but we all got into the spirit of things and when the tonne was racked up the cheer was loud. If you're in Newtown I thoroughly recommend a few beers here.

All Blacks v Lions: 48-18
Date: Sat 2nd July
Watched at: The Brewery Bar (Shed 22)
With me: Big Pete, Sean, Just, Kim, SA Pete, Kath, Paul
THE Game. This was the game we in Wellington were building for and what a game. We all now know how sublime the All Blacks were, how Daniel Carter ruled the roost and how we all celebrated. When I walked into the Brewery Bar it was a sea of red and 2 deep at the bar - 2pm! Over time the red slooowly became black and by 6:30pm it was a keyed up All Black bar. We cheered, we sang, we taunted - we had a blast. Oh, and we drunk a few beers.
After we hit the F69 Bar (awful beer but on a to-be-sunk-frigate), Scorpios and possibly other places. I ended up having coffee on the new Paramount Cinema balcony before queuing for bloody ages to get as much Burger King food as I could. And I got the N2 bus home to Miramar.
What a night!

Auckland v Lions: 13-17
Date: Tue 5th July
Watched at: The Cutting Sports Cafe & Bar
With me: no-one
It was hard to get the motivation to go out for this game.
A very quite time down with the locals (who know fuck all about rugby - well, the bunch that were there that night didn't). On my own and happy about it. Plenty of space, cheap beer but really no atmosphere. The game itself was a let down as Auckland could've won. But I think I was rugby-ed out by then and didn't really care.

All Blacks v Lions: 38 - 19
Date: Sat 10th July
Watched at: Adam's place
With me: Adam, Big Pete, Just, Sean, Mat, Rob, Karen, Dave, Mike, Luka
A cracking time with the projector and big screen at Adams. Beer, snacks and loads of one-eye'd banter. The Lions tried and tried but, well it was all a bit too late really. We loved the Clive Woodward interview after, very funny.



Cheers everyone for an awesome time. My biggest thanks go to the Lions fans who made this place rock - on ya!

(picture from Flickr - I trust Christopher Planchant and his mates had a cracking time)

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