1998 Rugby Trips

France Vs Australia 21/11/98

In November 1998, Shaun, Jeff and I set off to Paris. Jeff informed us that the bus left at 11.30pm on the Friday night from Waterloo station. True to form we were running late, so the plan to catch a Brit rail train from Putney to Waterloo had to be abandoned. We finally managed to hail a black cab to drive us to the station. The taxi driver felt confident that we would just about make our bus on time. About 5 minutes away from Waterloo, Jeff bothered to look at the tickets and discovered we were actually meant to be at Paddington by 11.30. Shauny was less than impressed by the nervous giggles of Jeff and myself. We made the bus with 2 minutes to spare. We had a great weekend, made better by the Wallabies crushing the frogs. Even though 2 months have now gone by, the bus misadventure is still not something anyone should discuss with Shauny.

Me, Shaun and Jeff outside the Stad de France before the game

Australia V France

Watching the game (notice the absence of beer - only non-alcoholic beer sold

In the Oz Cafe post match

After a few beers

Ireland Vs South Africa 28/11/98

The next weekend we caught an earlier bus with the flat downstairs and some of Lenny's other South African friends (who we'd first met skiing in Andorra last Xmas) and headed for Dublin. We arrived at 8.30am Saturday morning to be informed that we couldn't get into our rooms until 2pm. This was pretty ridiculous considering the bus for the rugby ground left at 1pm, which meant none of us knew where to find our rooms when we came home after a few beers early the next day. Partly to frustrate the South Africans but also in the spirit of the underdog we were avid Irish supporters. Unfortunately the saffirs got up in the end. My friend Crossy, who lives in Galway, met us in Dublin after the game for beers and we had a huge night. Another great weekend, but the time actually spent in Ireland was just over 24 hours.