Wyn Drabble: Panic stations before we go LIVE

We saw our rugby telecast live. But only after some anxious moments. Photo / File

Of course we intended to watch the Super 15 final. Live. I don't know whether it was just assumption or whether I had seen it advertised somewhere but we were geared up for a 9.30pm telecast. Live.

So there we were enjoying a glass of wine and a televisual peep into the rigours of life in the agrarian sector, courtesy of Country Calendar.

Suddenly, and for no apparent reason, Mrs D suggested that the game might have been played in the afternoon. Perhaps we had been stupid and missed it. We'd better check.

In a panic, we decided to flick to Sky Sport but I put my foot down.

"We might see the score," I suggested. "If we need to watch a replay, it will spoil it."

I located the replay times in a TV guide but I was too late - Mrs D had already flicked to Sky.

We were horrified. There on the screen were the Crusaders and the Waratahs and it was 15 minutes until halftime. In all the panic, I cannot remember the exact score but it was something like 35-0 to the Crusaders.

"Unbelievable," I scoffed. "So much for being top of the ladder."

But Mrs D was in no mood for huge winning margins. She had missed the high-scoring first 30 minutes and that had ruined the thrill of watching a replay.

We decided we should call our son in Lower Hutt. He would be watching and might be able to explain why the game had already started.

It was then that we heard the names Andrew Mehrtens and Justin Marshall from the telecast.

"They'll be the sideline commentators," I proffered, displaying my knowledge of the way the rugby world works.

But then I glanced at the screen, trying hard to dim my vision of the top left-hand corner where the score would be displayed. Mehrtens and Marshall were playing. They weren't on the sideline talking into monstrous microphones. They had shorts on. And red jerseys.

Then we realised why the team strip looked a little old-fashioned and why the pixellation wasn't up to scratch. They were screening archival footage of a historical encounter between these two teams.

We checked as many TV guide sources as we could to clarify times but none of them matched so we called the son anyway. He confirmed that kick-off was 9.30pm (our time) even though the various guides were at odds with that. Panic over.

I had to laugh. We had done exactly what I had read about once in a Dave Barry book. The Florida couple he described were what I shall call for the sake of decency, a bit "under the weather" (this will soon become a clever pun).

They were watching a movie on TV when a concerned newsreader appeared in a "newsflash". A major tropical cyclone was heading towards them and extreme protection measures were called for.

Remember, these two were under a different sort of weather. They knew that, despite being at a crucial stage in the movie, they needed to take urgent action like boarding up windows and having bleach on hand.

And he, being the male, knew that it was his job to protect his partner. So they both (remember they were "under the weather") walked around in dizzying circles and ... did nothing. They couldn't.

Through the haze of their mental state, a realisation gradually dawned. They were watching a film they had once recorded. The warnings were recorded.

Anyway, we saw our rugby telecast. LIVE. But only after some anxious moments. And I must say I preferred the archival score.

• Wyn Drabble is a teacher of English, a writer, public speaker and musician.