Harder Than It Looks

On starting this blog, it’s probably fair that I declare and recognize the following: I am English, and have been a fan of international rugby since 2003.

I remember England’s grand slam victory in the 6 Nations in 2003 quite clearly, but obviously not as clearly as the World Cup victory later that year. My mother was so excited about Jonny Wilkinson’s World Cup-winning drop goal that she dropped a glass jug which smashed into a million pieces, but if I´d been holding a jug I would have done the same. Instead I was jumping up and down on the sofa. And I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget being told by my own friends to “sit down and shut up” while screaming and blocking a tv screen in a pub as we knocked the French out at the semi-finals in 2007. Golden memories, no doubt.

However, this year I find myself in a difficult situation: the tournament, which starts on Friday, is being held in New Zealand, while I am currently in Argentina. For those of you who aren’t great on your time zones, that’s a thirteen hour time difference. Luckily for everyone in New Zealand, the games will be on at spectator-friendly times; for all rugby fans in South America, the organizers have given us a selection of kick-offs ranging from 10 pm to 5:30 am.

Not to be undone by the dastardly international timezones, I have decided to give this tournament the coverage it deserves, and have also invested in a projector. I will therefore be watching as many games as possible, and in order to prove my devotion to this cause, I am going to write a diary entry in this blog for every game that I watch.

The entries will focus on the important thing: who is playing; what the time is locally; if I have decided to eat anything, what it is that I am eating; who has been kind enough to join me; how we all feel at the start; how we all feel at half-time; how we all feel at full time. I may also deign to predict scores and provide updates as to how happy both my better half and my dog are about the continuation of the tournament, but that will be decided closer to the time/if I remember. After careful deliberation (two minutes) and much thought, I have decided to call the blog “Harder Than It Looks”, because that sums up both the sport and the practical implications of trying to watch as much of this tournament as possible.

However, it would be only fair to recognize both my own human limitations, as well as the far more significant limitations of ESPN+, the only channel showing it. ESPN+ will not be showing all the games live. Therefore, the amount that I watch live will be determined in a shadowy room by people that I have never met nor ever will, and my diary will be limited as a result. I beg your pardon in advance for any discomfort this may cause.

Also, despite this blog, rugby and everything else, I do have some semblance of a life, and other things that go with it, eg a job. In order to give the tournament the coverage it deserves, I henceforth promise that I will watch the following:

- all England games
- all Argentina games
- as many of the group games as I can
- all knockout games.

Finally, I would like to extend my invitation to anyone reading this blog to come and join me and my projector in a small room with white walls to watch the feast of rugby that is no doubt storming over the horizon. The only requirement is that we know each other and/or are friends on Facebook.

That’s it for now. May the best team win, unless it’s Australia or France.

Swing low.