Normal service resumed as Kiwis and Cooks serve up a treat

Saturday’s double header at Salford which culminated in Italy beating England left me really flat. Things had been coming along quite nicely with the World Cup build up; the media coverage, the ticket sales, the squads flying in and England returning from South Africa. Then the talking stopped and the action started. It wasn’t so much that the players popped that balloon, it was more like one of those helium filled ones you buy the kids that slowly sinks to the floor.

Boy was I down this morning. Reading the Internet forums only made it worse, as fans laid into Steve McNamara and Kevin Sinfield. Most comments came from people who hadn’t seen the game, but hey, let’s not allow the facts to get in the way of our prejudices.

I was in two minds whether to still go to Doncaster for the New Zealand v Cook Islands match this afternoon. My mood wasn’t the best, it was live on Premier Sports and it was £20. As the morning passed, the dark clouds lifted and I was up for another game.

Doncaster’s only a short drive from Wakey. The roads were clear and with REM, The Jam and Dolly Parton on shuffle on the CD player, a very pleasant 35 minutes it was too.

There were 1412 at Featherstone yesterday to watch Papua New Guinea beat Scotland and I was expecting something similar today, but it was soon clear that a bigger crowd than that was in attendance. The figure was given as 4638 which was bigger than the crowd that bothered to turn up in Salford yesterday for the England fiasco and the biggest crowd for a rugby league match in Doncaster for some time.

Both the Kiwis and the Cooks have done great work in Doncaster this week, with the haka by the children at Norton school, one of the highlights of the week.

Pre game, there were groups from both the Cook Islands and New Zealand doing traditional dancing in front of the stand which the fans were filling. It wasn’t the coldest day, but I’d got my England jacket and World Cup beanie on, whilst the dancers were wearing less than I do, when I’m topping up my tan on the beach at Scarborough.

The match went to form. The Kiwis were too strong, running out 50-0 winners, but the mood in the ground was of fun. We were seeing something different. The youngsters in the crowd were shouting for the team that had visited their school, with as many shouting for New Zealand as were wearing green Cook Island t-shirts. In general, the speccies were very appreciative of what the Kiwis had to offer, but were all willing the Cooks to score. Phil Bentham getting a round of boos, when the video ref ruled out a Cook Island ‘try’, but it was all good natured.

After the game it was good to see both sides come over to thank the fans and to receive a generous round of applause for a good afternoon’s rugby.

It was then back home to watch it all again on Premier Sports. Good, solid coverage from the World Cup broadcasters. The signal was lost for a short while, early in the first half, and so TV viewers missed the first two Kiwi tries. I like Premier Sports’ coverage of rugby league. It’s good, honest coverage of the game, with intelligent commentary, rather than the knockabout bluster we get from Eddie and Stevo on Sky.

The fact I won’t have to suffer those two spoiling the World Cup coverage is a plus in my book, but I do worry about Premier Sports’ capability to broadcast all 28 matches live. The technology always seems a bit iffy. It’s like Premier Sports are still on dial-up, whilst Sky are on SuperFast broadband, but I’m quite happy with cheap and cheerful. We’ve got the BBC for the glamour matches anyway, though I expect I’ll tape them both to compare and contrast when I get back from the game.

So thank you New Zealand and Cook Islands, as my daughters would say, you’ve turned my frown upside down. My glass is half-full again and no matter what happens, we’re going to see some sights and have some fun over the next few weeks.