I’m excited. Tonight I get to use our NZ Barbarians membership card for the Bledislow Cup match (ABs v Australia) at Eden Park. How I came by this membership card is the subject of an earlier blog post, suffice to say it is all legitimate and they know we are coming. So, we dropped the children off at various friends houses where they will be staying the night and  head over to Eden Park. 

The NZ Barbarians lounge is situated in the ASB Stand at the Cricket Avenue end of Walters Road so we make our way there and, with a flash of the membership card, we enter Gate 9 without the need to show a match ticket.

In the Club Rooms we were made very welcome by John Mills the club president, it is clearly a rare event for anyone from Wales to make an appearance in the lounge.

We are introduced to Waka Nathan the former publican and ‘pork bone’ shop proprietor who played for the NZ Maori and the All Blacks and went on the 4½ month (!) tour of the UK in 1963 during which he beat Wales, lost to Newport 6-3 and broke his jaw against Llanelli. He played in 14 All Black games between 1963 and 1967 (breaking his jaw for a second time on the All Blacks tour to the UK in 1967). He never lost a test and went on to be the main figure in the selection and management of the Maori team travelling with them on the 1982 third tour of Wales. He now lives in Howick, a suburb of Auckland,  with his wife and has three daughters with a 29 year old son living in Baglan Bay, South Wales (do the maths –  I kid you not !).

We also had a chat with Gary Braid, a former All Blacks involved the evening’s capping ceremony. The award of physical caps to players on the occasion their ‘first cap’ was brought to a halt with the onset of the second world war and did not start again until 1997. The NZRU is working through a list of former All Blacks who’d not been awarded a physical cap. He’s very pleased to receive his cap and, despite being sacrilegious on so many levels, he lets me try it for size. I think it suits me.

As kick-off approaches we say our goodbyes and head to our seats which are in the uncovered temporary stand behind the post at the other end of the ground. The weather is no great and we don’t fancy sitting at the back of the open air temporary seating after the luxury of the BaaBaas lounge. So, we hatch a plan to see if we can ‘find’ alternative seating.

Walking along an internal balcony in the ASB stand we look down into the hospitality area. We’re surprised to spot Welsh butcher Trystan Aubrey (aka Tucker) who I play rugby with,  entertaining the diners with an explanation of the various meat cuts from a hind quarter of beef as he proceeds to butcher it. This demonstration of professional butchery skills is interspersed with various jokes. Only in New Zealand does this pass a corporate hospitality entertainment.

We manage to ‘blag’ our way in into the main hospitality lounge which overlooks the pitch from the back of the middle tier.  Here we enjoy  a chicken curry and some drinks. Ten minutes before kick-off everyone leaves the lounge and takes their seats in the middle tier. We decide that out vantage point from behind glass in this lounge is a better option than being perched at the top of the uncovered temporary stand behind the posts and elect to stay where we are. A good decision as the hospitality staff unprompted bringing unfinished bottles of wine (which have been left by spectators who have now taken the seats) to our table. After the anthems are sung and we notice a number of  empty seats in the middle tier which it would be a shame not to use. Perfect.

The All Blacks dominate Australia with tries by Ma’a Nonu, Kevin Mealamu and Sitevini Sivivatu delivering a one-sided victory 30-14.

Afterwards we popped back to the NZ BaaBaas lounge for a post match drink and then head back to St Heliers. We smile all the way home. What a great evening out!