The Challenge. Can the Lions lift the Shield?

“It’s our time,” says Lions captain Ma’a Nonu. Wellington have not held the shield in 23 years and Nonu said the significance would not be lost on the Lions. It is (special to me). It doesn’t come around too often. Last time we won it some of us weren’t even born. It’s now or never […]

lions in the house

army Originally uploaded by dubh. Town is fully swinging this evening for the 2nd test between the Lions and the All Blacks. So much so that even some of the more suburban orientated of the Wellingtonist collective found ourselves in Courtenay Place this afternoon, sampling the atmosphere. And what atmosphere it was: a good natured […]

Where to watch the All Blacks

If you didn’t fly down to Christchurch for the first test, don’t have tickets to the Wellington game (Saturday 2nd July) or can’t be doing with all those Aucklanders for the final test (Saturday 9th July) then how about these options. Courtenay Place, “Party Zone” Courtenay Place will be closed to traffic and transformed into […]

The early Friday test build-up

We’re nearly through the Lions tour with just a few more days to go and back to normality for us all. The camper vans are piling up from the South, the bars are hanging Welsh/Irish/English and even Scottish flags and the events coordinators are panicking with the final details. We’re even bumping into Lions fans […]

Rugby fans in town

It’s come to our notice that some bars (Vespa and Jet Bar to date) have barred punters wearing rugby jerseys. We’d like to take this opportunity to both warn fans, particularly out-of-towners, AND to express how much we think this sucks. When the Barmy Army and the rest of the followers hit Wellington we are […]

Barmy Army enthusiasts – a survival guide

Here at Wellingtonist Towers there are two camps regarding the British & Lions rugby tour that’s happening as we write. One school of thought is that it’s a waste of money, time and energy that would be far better spent on Kiwi music; the other is that this is what life is all about. Even […]

Hurricanes down amongst the one-eye’d

If you’re a rugby fan you’ll know that the Hurricanes are already through to a semi-final to be played at either Christchurch or Sydney depending upon how the weekend pans out. A win over the Crusaders this weekend would have a huge psychological advantage at this semi-final To ensure some balance to the unbiased cheering […]

Rugby Registration Day for Kids

Just a quick note for anyone with under 13yo kids who might want to play rugby this year – registrations for Wellington Junior Rugby is this Saturday (Sat 26th). Junior Rugby is non-contact, non-tackle, and is graded to take weight and age into account. There’s more info on the game on the WRFU website, including […]