Today’s rugby game in Apia, Western Samoa, was historic because it has never happened before. This is the first time the All Blacks have played in Samoa. It took a lot of pressure from behind the scenes for it to happen today. It must have been hard for the All Blacks to adjust to a temperature of around 30 degrees. It’s also expensive to take a large number of players to a small country. The stadium in Apia has just 8,000 seats, not enough to pay the costs. In addition, the Samoan team also had to pay to travel as only one team member is currently living in Samoa. The rest of the team currently play in European or New Zealand teams.
However, it was a great success for fans. Samoans love rugby maybe more than New Zealanders. Samoa had a half day holiday so local people could watch the game. Samoa was in a holiday mood with flags lining streets, and people dressed in bright blue, or blue and red which are the colours of the flag. John Key accompanied by 11 other MPs also arrived in Samoa this morning to watch the game.
The game began with traditional challenges – a haka by the All Blacks and a Samoan haka which was a little different. Then the game. Although the All Blacks won – 21 to 16 – it was a very close game with one try each but a number of penalties, mostly for being offside. The Samoans defended vigorously, with many hard tackles. The crowd shouted enthusiastically.
And in South Auckland where nearly 100,000 Samoans live, they too shouted enthusiastically at the television screen.
Will the All Blacks visit Samoa again? Who knows?
Vocabulary
- behind the scenes – to lobby privately, action which is not public e.g. John Campbell, from Campbell Live TV3, worked hard to make this happen
- adjust to – make necessary changes to get used to something new
- currently – right now
- vigorously – with energy
rugby words: a try, penalty, offside, defend, tackle
Grammar
- Use present perfect for this structure – it has never happened before; e.g. I have never done this before.
This is the first time the All Blacks have played in Samoa e.g. This is the first time I have + past participle - It took a lot of pressure to … e.g. It took a lot of time to finish this homework. It took a lot of effort / courage / hard work to …