The Rugby World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Not as big as the Fifa World Cup or Olympics, it is bigger than the Cricket World Cup in terms of the number of countries which follow it with some degree of seriousness.
This year, I have finally been able to watch it and I have absolutely loved it. Neo Sports is broadcasting the event live and they built it up nicely by showing games from the last Rugby World Cup. The France-New Zealand quarter final from 2007 where the home team France upset the Kiwis was a classic.
Two things which have struck me most about the Rugby World Cup –
1. Players keep playing even if they have their head injured and bloodied. They don’t care about the blood and the pain seems incidental. This is how one should be in life. I often tell my staff who seem too delicate for their own good – ’soldiers don’t care about fever when on the war front’. Awesome stuff.
2. Each match has players giving it so much that it seems like each match is a final, as some one remarked one twitter. The scoring of rugby means a large lead can be taken care of and a game can change with a couple of trys. Given the event comes once in 4 years and many players see it as their last chance to try and win the cherished trophy, a lot of passion and spectacle is insured.
The picturesque New Zealand with beautiful mountains in the back drop is a dream setting for the live drama. From the quarters, which occur this weekend, all games are on weekends. I urge you to catch as much of it as you can!