A night at the Raa Raa

There’s something special about a night out at a great game. I had an opportunity to go to the rugby last week and check out the Wallabies taking on the might of the New Zealand All blacks at the Bledislow Cup.

If you are going to a major sporting event in Sydney, let me start by making this helpful suggestion, it’s an excellent  idea to pre-book your parking or get there very very early. Just my luck this event was very popular and little did I know the 80,000 plus crowd were all heading for ANZ stadium, just like me and my sports minded client, bah! 😦

When you have made a decision to brave the crowds to see a competitive event, you might as well see it courtesy of a corporate box.  This being my first live sporting adventure in quite some time, I grabbed the opportunity to accompany my associate (Mr Communication)  for a total experience. The idea was we would enjoy all the luxuries that a box offers and end the evening in a bit of our own live action.  These activities were to be better placed in the privacy of the five star Hotel Suite that awaited us post match.

With all the dramas of finding parking (which by the way was a fair distance from the venue), luckily we were ushered into an awaiting shuttle bus.  Our comrades were a herd of green and gold cattle and we all sped along at a fast pace and found ourselves delivered at the doorstep of the ANZ Stadium.

Trying to find the correct gate for entry proved especially testing. Mr Communication grumbled that the alphabet could not have been my strong point at school.  Unfortunatly, I had recommended that we take the particular route that ensured we ended up going around the longest and most incorrect way to our entrance.

Anyway, after a hike that would have challenged Sir Edmond Hillary, we finally reached our designated gate.  As you can imagine we were thrilled to find our seats and looked forward to celebrating a major event.

Mr Communication was the host of the box so I had to be on my best behavior and that can be quite difficult as I can be quietly cheeky. Unfortunately, our guests were running very late so one glass of wine became another and on an empty stomach I realised I was feeling the effects of a good night far too early.  It was a good move to get the entrée rolling .  First off there was confit of ocean trout with a fennel salad and chicken and cucumber fingers with chive mayo.   The guests begin to arrive and I was warming up and feeling excited with the game about to start.

Everyone stood up and sang the national anthems which really got the crowd buzzing and the game commenced.

About the same time as the game starting, the  main course arrived.  This was a generous serve of Beef Stroganoff and rice with an accompanying Italian roll and butter.  By now our guests were very thirsty and the drinks were flowing at a vigorous pace. I had to keep up with all the guests requests as well as making sure Mr Communication was well taken care of, no complaints from him.

This was like a Gladiator event with the two bouncing off each other and the physical interaction between the players made for spectacular viewing. Now, I’m not a rugby expert and I did pick  up that the game was very stop/start and that this made it a little annoying at stages. Our box was really going off with all screaming for the Wallabies except for one brave sole that decided the origin of her birth made it mandatory she interact with and support the All Blacks.

The food just kept coming, desert was a hamper with passion fruit cake, vintage cheese, Charleston Brie with lavosh,  mixed nuts and preserved fruits. The coffee followed with a yard of chocolates as an accompaniment.

Thankfully the food was good as the game finished with the Wallabies losing by a miserable point. The group I was with was not happy so we drowned our sorrows with more beverages.  Right on cue supper followed and you guessed it MORE FOOD!  Amazingly most of our group were able to tackle the pepper steak pies, chicken and lemongrass wonton and mini pizzas with pumpkin, fetta and rocket.

The night was coming to an end and so were the food and drinks. It was time to make the trek to the car park beyond the shuttle bus trip.  There were hordes of disappointed Aussie supporters milling round and a smaller but elated Kiwi mob.   Finally made it back to out vehicle and headed to our upmarket hotel and engaged in an exciting event of our own which was predicted to be just as spectacular as the game we had just experienced.