So I had the opportunity to visit the newly revamped Olympic Stadium in Stratford for the first ever Rugby Match to be hosted at the venue in preparation for the upcoming Rugby World Cup.
The venue will hosts five matches during the tournament so this was an ideal opportunity for event organisers and the like to see how everything goes for a top international game. The match selected for such an event was Barbarians Vs Samoa of which the Samoan's were using this as a useful warm up ahead of the World Cup campaign.
Tickets were only a tenner as well so what an opportunity for the locals to experience such an event. Its always great to watch the Bah Bahs play as they normally throw the ball around and generally entertain with normal try filled matches. After Samoa had done their own 'Haka' the opening exchanges looked as though this would be the case as both sides traded early tries which saw Samoa lead 7-5.
However on 16 minutes the referee got word in his ear from the TMO that foul play had took place a few minutes earlier in a ruck involving Samoa lock Kane Thompson and Barbarians hooker Saia Fainga'a. The result was after it was clear Thompson had punched Fainga'a the referee sin binned the Barbarians hooker for his involvement but sent off the Samoan lock meaning the Pacific Islanders would play the remainder of the contest a man short.
It was a shame really as it seemed to affect the rest of the contest as it turned into a more typical rugby match and not the usual Barbarian entertaining running type of contest these games are more accustomed to. Nonetheless it was still a good watch and enjoyable and after Samoa had stretched their lead to 10-5 the men in black and white scored a try to take a 12-10 lead and quickly went over again for a 17-10 lead.
There was a comical moment when the pitch sprinklers suddenly burst into life which was a worrying moment for the organisers no doubt although most saw the funny side of it. After this had been fixed Samoa brought it back to 17-17 with another try and so both sides went in at the break locked together.
The feeling was that Samoa would tire as the second half went on as they were playing with a man short but credit to them they were staying in the match and making it difficult for the Bah Bah's and had resorted to a kicking game to conserve energy for the last quarter of the game no doubt. However after a five meter scrum from the Barbarians they managed to go over in the corner although it took a decision from the TMO to decide this eventually and the resulting conversion was missed so the Bah Bah's lead 22-17.
Samoa though refused to die and their never say die attitude saw them re take the lead once again after another well worked try and they converted to see the Pacific Island side lead 24-22, this despite being a man down for quite some time. The Barbarians though had the final word and managed to score what proved to be the winning try minutes after and eventually won 27-24 in what was a superb contest from start to finish. Yes it wasn't the normal try fest but it was certainly a great battle between two very physical sides.
The Olympic Stadium is a wonderful venue and I've no doubt the World Cup will be a big success here. I certainly enjoyed my day out there and feel privileged that such a venue is less than an hour's train ride from where I reside. Super stuff indeed!!!
Some photos from the day:-
