Thematic mix of Maori tradition and rugby heritage kicks off the World Cup in mesmerising fashion in Eden Park
The last time New Zealand hosted the Rugby World Cup, in 1987, the players were unpaid, the stadium was half-empty and the highlight of the opening ceremony was a performance by a local band of marching girls.
In 2011, the ambitions are loftier, and the tournament, the world's third biggest sporting event after the Olympics and the football World Cup ? as New Zealanders have been reminded almost hourly for the past few months ? was launched with a string of events across Auckland. It began with the arrival in the city's harbour of a fleet of 26 waka (traditional Maori boats) and culminated in a high-spec audiovisual ceremony and a burst of fireworks.
One of the most keenly anticipated parts of the evening had been the pre-match face-off in the opening game at Eden Park: the New Zealand All Blacks' haka versus Tonga's Sipi Tau. And they were good, intense, snarling things.
But there was no way they could equal the foundation-shaking haka of earlier in the day. After a week of spine-tingling "flash mob" street haka, there were more haka throughout Friday, many more ? most potently by Rotorua's Te Matarae i Orehu culture group, whose stadium-filling performance was the highlight of an event that ticked all the opening ceremony boxes: mesmerising, spectacular and at times a little mawkish.
The event, a thematic mix of Maori tradition and rugby heritage, focused around a massive circular screen stuck to the centre of the field. It framed a torrent of images ? animated Maori koru symbols became a sea of yachts, of distended hammerhead sharks. Then came an extended tracking shot through the landscape of New Zealand ? the "stadium of four million" World Cup organisers boast of ? that looked as though it might have been spliced together from Peter Jackson's Tolkien out-takes.
Along the way, lava-like imagery hinted at the volcanic terrain upon which Auckland is built ? in a country acutely aware of the seismic potential of its land. The shadow of Christchurch ? a city that remains very much in recovery mode after the massive earthquake of February ? was more explicitly addressed in the red and black stripes of Ethan Bai, the schoolboy tasked with embodying the amateur roots of the game. A Billy Elliot on the left wing, Bai bounded about a miniature field, grasping a rugby ball half his size, fending off the challenges of a hundred or so burly blokes before being hoist 20 metres aloft.
Helpfully, the official script explained precisely what was going on. "The rookie faces a number of challenges which he must overcome," it advised, "ascending into the air to capture a rugby ball." Obviously.
And then Ethan approached the imposing silhouette of the promised "mystery sporting legend" ? whose identity has been a matter of some speculation in New Zealand in recent days. The silhouette belonged unmistakably, as just about anyone, not least Mike Catt, could tell you, to Jonah Lomu, the towering former All Black of Tongan descent. "Do it for Christchurch, my friend," said the veteran to the rookie, as Ethan dotted the giant glowing egg over the line.
Soon it was time, as tradition dictates, for "The World in Union", this time accompanied by battalions of Pacific drums and ukuleles, and hundreds dancing around a seven-metre high replica of the Webb Ellis Cup.
The giant trophy's gleam was matched only by the grin of the New Zealand prime minister, John Key, a man who has, in the eyes of opponents, "superglued himself to the All Blacks". He, in turn, was outshone, however, in the cultural stakes at least, by the IRB chairman, Bernard Lapasset, who greeted the crowd in a laudable burst of Maori language.
As a volley of fireworks cascaded over the stadium, city and waterfront, Eden Park, filled to its 60,000 capacity, returned to its normal shape. Much expanded and beautified, inside and out, in the lead-up to the tournament, Eden Park is a dazzling sight ? the gaps in its gums filled by temporary stands, which will be dismantled at the tournament's conclusion and shipped to east London for next year's Olympics.
Tonga were well beaten, if not comfortably, by the All Blacks. The biggest cheer of the night, however, was for the Tongans' single try ? narrowly edging out the gasp at the sight of All Black pin-up Sonny Bill Williams replacing his torn shirt.
The arrival of the Tongan team earlier in the week, and the eruption of enthusiasm that greeted them, had palpably lifted the energy and profile of the World Cup as a whole. South Auckland Tongans decamped en masse to the central city, transforming the mood.
"It's awesome, mate," said Tonga's New Zealander Johnny Latu as he headed from the city to the stadium amid a sea of Tongan red before the game. "We're a tiny country, and we don't play very many sports, but we're blessed with some big athletes who can play rugby. This World Cup feels like it's happening in our backyard. Feels like we're in Tonga. It's a real buzz."
Some had voiced concerns over whether people would turn up to Queen's Wharf, the part of the redeveloped waterfront exuberantly christened "Party Central" by the prime minister. But on opening day, at least, the problem was the very opposite. The full house sign for the site, home to the expo centre Cloud (variously renamed by locals as the worm, the stocking and the discarded condom) and its neighbouring booze barn, a shrine to the sponsor's product, went up 20 minutes after the doors opened at 3pm. Those who narrowly missed out would be entitled to curse a giant rugby ball, which when inflated at Queen's Wharf cut its capacity by 3,000 to 12,000.
In the lead-up to the game, Crowded House's Neil Finn and his brother Tim played to the crowds. And just in case the atmosphere and lager were dulling New Zealanders' nagging anxiety about consecutive World Cup near misses, replacing it, perhaps, with mental replays of 1987, when the All Blacks hosted and won the first World Cup, the Finn brothers took care of that. They chose to open with an old Split Enz favourite, History Never Repeats.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/sep/09/rugby-world-cup-2011-opening-ceremony
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