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Published: September 18th 2006
After a late night at the Peña, I awoke the next morning to smell of fresh croissants and the sounds of bacon and eggs sizzling on the grill. It seemed that the birthday weekend would continue and that Laurence was busy preparing a wonderful breakfast. After breakfast was finished, we headed out for an afternoon coffee, after which I was heading to a rugby match that was being played in the Belgrano neighbourhood. I headed north in the subway along the D’ line and emerged in a very posh neighbourhood filled with foreign embassies, mansions and beautifully tree lined boulevards. You could smell the money. Having found the rugby club, I bought my ticket and headed in. The place was spectacular. Clay tennis courts and Colonial style mansions made for an excellent clubhouse and superb sporting compound. The place was buzzing as this game was going to be broadcast on ESPN+ and was important for the home team’s (Belgrano) chances of making the playoffs. They were playing the number one team (Alumni) and were definitely the underdogs given their number 7 ranking in the league. I found a single spot in the small grandstand that was decorated in yellow and brown
Electric!
What a great way to start a game(hell of a colour scheme) and watched the end of what looked to be an under-21 match. After this game ended, the drums began to beat and a parade of younger players sporting jerseys, mohawks and painted faces; waving flags and yellow umbrellas entered the grounds. They were singing Belgrano songs and chanting Belgrano slogans. The atmosphere was electric.
The game was great, although the Argentineans seem to prefer kicking the ball to running the ball, but you could see and understand the skill that was present in the Buenos Aires Rugby Union. It’s no wonder that Argentina continually ranks in the top 8 countries in the world. It doesn’t hurt that beef is almost free and that all of these boys come from the upper classes and are well fed. Speaking of upper class, wow these people have money. Not a single dark face in the crowd and at times I would have thought that I was in Spain. In Argentina, rugby isn’t a sport that everyone can play and is reserved for the elite. Public schools don’t offer the sport and it is costly to become a member at these very expensive clubs. I met up with
a group of South African ‘Old boys’ who were touring in Argentina and were competing in the ‘Vintage’ Rigby tournament that was staring that coming Monday. It is always good to meet a group of travelling ‘old boys’ for a free beer or two. At the final whistle, the home team had managed to win a major upset over Alumni with a final score of 21-19. The crowd went nuts, streaming onto the field to celebrate with their team. It was incredible to see the passion with which Argentineans take their rugby and was definitely an eye opener since I though that it was only fùtbol that really stirred the emotions of the people in this country.
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hi
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mahoffer@hotmail.com
i am german...and i was also surprised by passion here in sports. But, as you said, is not only soccer. Being argentina the leading country in the world of polo, i noticed the sema feelings at polo games. Argentina is amongst the 5 best players in basketball today (4th in the world cup last month, and gold medalist in the olimpic games), and they have some of the best tennis player (i guess it was last year in roland garros that the final was played by 2 argies)....it is a nation of sports... Martin