Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Editorial: Aussie army bellows for its team

Hawkes Bay Today
12 Oct, 2011 03:05 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Feeling confident about our team's chances in the Rugby World Cup semi-final on Sunday?

I met a bunch of fans out to dinner at Ahuriri this week who were feeling very confident.

They were, however, Australians.

"We love Kiwis," one of them bellowed at our group. "Robbie Deans and Quade Cooper are great guys."

So you reckon the Wallabies will take out the ABs, we asked, perhaps a little nervously.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Blood oath," he bellowed back.

Blood oath? Don't you mean "bloody oath", we asked.

"No," he yelled. "Blood oath is what we Queenslanders say. Have you never been to Queensland?"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Well, yes, most of us had been to Queensland but none of us had heard people bellowing "blood oath" in public eateries. I was beginning to wonder whether I was at the Gin Trap or Hogwarts.

Blood oaths aside, it was abundantly clear to us that the Aussies are coming and, as Australians tend to be, they are feeling lucky.

Air New Zealand has put on extra flights to get them here for the weekend. One sports tour company is chartering its own plane.

Napier's Marine Parade had some 20 camper vans parked along its stretch on Monday night. It was the Aussie army touring north, fresh from cheering their team to victory over the South Africans at Wellington.

At least they were giving our cafes and restaurants a welcomed extra boost from the World Cup carnival.

I spoke to a bloke who went to the quarter final between NZ and Argentina. For All Blacks fans it was nail-biting stuff, he said. Thank goodness for Piri Weepu. The Deliverer.

So, are we feeling confident?

I would not go as far as to yell "blood oath" but I have faith in our boys. Quiet confidence.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

On The Up: Digger driver clears 37 tyres from a beach in one day

08 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Opinion

What a friend we have in cheeses: Wyn Drabble

08 May 06:00 PM
Premium
Hawkes Bay Today

'Gut-wrenching': Fury as Hawke's Bay pay equity claims dropped

08 May 04:31 AM

One tiny baby’s fight to survive

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Premium
On The Up: Digger driver clears 37 tyres from a beach in one day

On The Up: Digger driver clears 37 tyres from a beach in one day

08 May 06:00 PM

Tim Dodge thought he'd never walk again. Now he's back, and he's determined to help.

Premium
What a friend we have in cheeses: Wyn Drabble

What a friend we have in cheeses: Wyn Drabble

08 May 06:00 PM
Premium
'Gut-wrenching': Fury as Hawke's Bay pay equity claims dropped

'Gut-wrenching': Fury as Hawke's Bay pay equity claims dropped

08 May 04:31 AM
Premium
Catfishing and strange approaches: Social media's a scary place for under 16s, parents say

Catfishing and strange approaches: Social media's a scary place for under 16s, parents say

08 May 04:04 AM
Connected workers are safer workers 
sponsored

Connected workers are safer workers 

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP