I was convinced that if I created a Twitter account for this rugby trip and made myself available in Kobe on the day of England's match against USA, then it would result in finding ticket(s) to the match last minute. Convinced! I had to start tweeting, and hashtagging (yawn) and I worked hard at convincing Paul that our itinerary must include Kobe on this day.
And I was bloody right!
The day before a guy (actually called 'Guy', thanks Guy!) reached out to me on Twitter to say he had a spare ticket because he had seen this tweet:
Did I want it? Did I heck! I almost replied yes straight away until I remembered one tiny teeny thing called my Rugby Trip Travel Buddy... Paul! (My spirit is so used to being solo, it is hard to remember others like travel companions on occasions like these.... Note to self: I must try to remember not to drive off in the campervan without him. As tempting as that is....)
So I sat on it overnight, mulling it over (he was fine for me to go, he would go watch the match in a pub) and then what happened next was just a spot of fate!
A colleague (thanks Natasha L!) messaged in the morning to say she had a spare, and cost free, ticket donated by someone she had met during breakfast in Kyoto. Did I want it?!
Guy's spare ticket - Kobe Stadium pack, similar to my Tokyo Stadium pack meaning I attend all matches at Tokyo Stadium during the pool stage.
We ended up with two tickets, seated separately, but for £90 total!
That would NEVER happen at Twickenham.
What also wouldn't happen at Twickenham?
This:
Red Rose crown handmade by Thandar at Orsted!
This is England warming up right in front of my face! At Twickenham, a person like me (as in with no connections to a rugby club.. ) wouldn't be allowed so far down next to the pitch!
But Kobe Stadium has a capacity of 30,000 compared to 80,000 so I suppose it is not a mad stretch to allow fans to be so close to the pitch. I did get photographed and filmed a few times waving my England Rugby flag with the Japanese ladies standing next to me! (I converted more people to support England as their second team, you're welcome England Rugby).....
The match was hot, very hot. The roof was closed, I was very uncomfortable with my crown of roses and jeans, but hot is the head that wears the crown so the saying goes (!)
Anthems - the Star Spanky Banner sounded pretty good, admittedly.
It was a fun match, with a fun English crowd sitting around me. There were many tries, including one annoying one by USA.
I am not here to review the match, you all know what happened (spoiler alert: England won), but I do worry about their performance. Are England just in low-gear mode against two low-risk teams (Tonga and USA), and will they kick it up a gear for Argentina this Saturday? I don't know, but I will be watching as I will back at Tokyo Stadium for that one.
I do get a bit embarrassed by the English crowd though! After being around the Japanese, the British drinking and yobbo-ing feels cringe. I was stone cold sober though that evening.
That said, it was two Americans who stripped off to their American flag underpants and were looking for an opportunity to climb onto the pitch. Also, I hadn't seen such a large police presence in the stadium at Japan v Russia and France v Argentina!
I drove us back to the campsite after the match, and the sat nav crapped out in a tunnel so a 12 min drive turned into 35 mins. I was not pleased! Then I had to sleep up in the hot stuffy campervan penthouse, argh. However, there were other England supporters camping too (I wish I had known so we could have carpooled!) so it was nice to mingle in the dark, amid the mozzies and wild animals!
I went to the loo at 1am and set off the disabled toilet assistance alarm! (I thought the green button was 'flush' 😂).
The next morning I went to a park near to the campsite and found this huge slide! So I had to go down it. Then I had lunch by a pond before we left for Osaka, which was about an hour away. We stayed in a Capsule Hotel! I will share my review of capsule hotels in due course, but it is safe to say it is a thousand times more comfortable than camping!
Divya + Campground x England Match ÷ Japan
=
Lots of new things!
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