Todd Fuller: Mood so good for World Cup, PM didn't get booed

L-R: Leigh Utton, Craig Hewetson and Todd Fuller dressed up in specially made suits for the Rugby World Cup games. Photo / Steven McNicholl

Opinion

Todd Fuller is travelling New Zealand as a good old-fashioned rugby fan this World Cup.

The Party has begun. What a superb weekend to kick off the Rugby World Cup: fireworks, live music, parties galore - the rugby far surpassed all expectations.

Day one of Our Cup Challenge to party with fans from every nation at the tournament kicked off with lunch down at Degree in the Viaduct. I haven't seen an atmosphere like that since we last won the America's Cup.

The great mood had swept up the nation and with the mix of all our visiting friends from overseas, there was a concoction of euphoria well before a single ball was kicked.

The first victory of the tournament went not to the All Blacks, but to the Tongan community. From the moment their team arrived at Auckland airport, the fans have been going mad. We walked the fan trail to the ground and it was a 5km trail of Tongan high fives, singing and dancing.

Bad luck to all those who were held up on the trains. I highly recommend the fan trail. We had time to stop and get involved in all the activities - we even threw in a quick beer at the Dog's Bollix - and did it all in under two hours.

At the ground there was a real festival atmosphere. Eden Park feels like a real stadium with the temporary stands enclosing the ground. You could tell everyone was in a good mood because for the first time in living memory, Kiwis didn't boo the Prime Minister.

The opening ceremony was all class - having Jonah Lomu involved was a nice touch - and the match was hard fought, which should help the All Blacks.

We wandered back into town and got right among the chaos - Auckland was truly going off. I got to shut the eyelids at 7.30am. Who knows what it is going to be like if we win the final?

Day two started with us helping out with Ripper Rugby before making our way to the pub to watch the start of what would be one of the weekend highlights: the rise of the second-tier nations. Forget the actual games, most of the fun was watching the Scottish supporters. After that we watched Namibia play Fiji and wondered if their first five-eighths might get a call from Pat Lam.

Then it was off to the French v Japan game, a meeting of two cultures: the French with their cheeseboards and red wine and the Kiwis with, well, with their usual beers.

The French sang and we chanted in our best Japanese. No one expected what we were about to see on the field. When James Arlidge went over for his second try, North Harbour Stadium erupted - all the Kiwis who had turned up in French colours changed their tune and got into the Japanese chants.

North Harbour Stadium had a great atmosphere and a great match - everything a World Cup should deliver.

Day three started with a hair of the dog and a lengthy pub discussion in Albany with the Browns Bay Poms about Steve Thompson's new version of the Liverpool Kiss. The Aussies were in full voice and - oddly enough - we got reminded once or twice who held the Tri-Nations cup.

Our favourite convicts weren't so chirpy at halftime but back at the pub they were already the 2011 champions.

The weekend finished off with a cracker game between Wales and the Japies. The best thing to come out of the match was that Wayne Barnes must surely have refereed his way out of finals contention.

Off to Hamilton tomorrow to start all over again. The toll has already been heavy - bring on the liver transplant.