Rugby World Cup

Today was the day Weston has been looking forward to for two weeks, and that Jeff and I have been anticipating for months. Having been warned repeatedly about heavy traffic and possibly ridiculous parking situations, and knowing we had a two hour drive ahead of us, we gave ourselves a good early start, leaving right after lunch, even though the game didn't begin until 4:45. Everything turned out to be super easy, so we got to Millennium Stadium in Cardiff well ahead of the bulk of the crowd. That gave us an opportunity make the first of many bathroom stops, get drinks, take selfies and watch the teams (Fiji and Australia) warm up before the match. We all chose to cheer for Australia, since we will be living there for about a month in the spring. Though the match was pretty brutal, it was very interesting to watch, and we all had a wonderful time! All the more, since our team won. I'm so glad we had an opportunity to do something so unique, and I'm especially glad we could give Weston a gift he appreciated so much.

Joining the crowd for the walk to the stadium

The perfect birthday gift for our lover of all sports

Before entering the stadium, we picked up these free signs to assist us with our cheering.
A "try" is a score in rugby, in case you, like me, need a little education in this game.

Rugby World Cup Selfie

The teams entering the pitch in a blaze of glory

The team from Fiji always performs a war dance, called the cibi, before international matches

Kick-off

Executing a "maul"

The scrum is our favorite thing!

This scrum got out of hand and turned into a bit of a brawl.

Final score: Australia 28, Fiji 13
(Check out the bloody gash on this guy's arm!)

Millennium Stadium 

This is actually a football (soccer) statue, but Clay didn't mind.
He was just happy to have his picture made with any statue.