Every year, Michigan Rugby sends a few select players to travel to Wellington, New Zealand for the summer and have the opportunity to learn and play with the local club, Poneke FC. Kiyan Jacobs, Noah Alvarez, Regan Plank, and Sam Glusker are currently there and documenting their experiences. This entry concerns May 27th through June 2nd.
Sam arrived last Tuesday afternoon, with only a half hour to spare before we headed to practice. I had been to three practices already at this point, and, as guys were walking around the locker room saying what’s up to each other, I found myself knowing most guys’ names. Lucky for an exhausted and jet-lagged Sam, practice Tuesday was relatively chill. We were technically on bye this week, but the coaches had organized a friendly scrimmage for us against Petone, a competitive club that the premier teams would be playing that weekend as well. Upon finding this out, the four of us were very excited, as it would likely mean more chances to leave our American mark on the field. Practice itself was capped off with a game of Australian Football, which we quickly came to find out is very similar to our makeshift version of Gaelic Football that we play all the time in Ann Arbor. Post-practice locker room conversations stuck on the subject of the Rugby League match known as State of Origin, which was taking place the next day, a huge deal in Oceania. We saw this as a great opportunity to spend some time with our teammates outside of practice, and planned to have people over the following night to watch the game.
We woke up on Wednesday morning eager to seize the day. Although Sam was off at his first day of work, Noah, Regan, and I walked through the business district of Wellington and then back down towards the harbor, where we landed at the iconic Te Papa museum. Our visas let us in for free, and we explored the complex. We learned about topics such as voyaging, native marine species, and, most interestingly in my opinion, New Zealand’s involvement in the WW1 battle of Gallipoli, told through massive life-like sculptures of soldiers in action, accompanied by their stories. After a full day at the museum, we walked back to our apartment, prepared to greet our teammates for the game. Through hanging out with our new friends, we got to hear all about life on the other side of the world, and compare our drastically different cultures with one another.
Practice on Thursday was strange, as we finally got to see the impacts of Wellington winter weather. It was pouring all day, and the fields were completely soaked. Because of this, we were moved to a run-through at the indoor facility, a turf region of the clubhouse. However, since every side had to practice, our slot to use the facility didn’t begin for an hour. Beforehand, we took part in a CrossFit-like partner circuit in the team’s gym, where we battled through weighted squats, weighted crunches, and burpees woven in with sprints. When it was time for our turf practice, Noah and Sam went to work with the backs while Regan and I polished up our lineout calls in preparation for Saturday. We finished with team pattern work before heading upstairs for a team meal. We left practice feeling confident and ready to take on our first real test of our time in Wellington.
Friday was full of lollygagging, as Noah, Regan, and I went to the best minigolf course in the city and then explored a bunch of shops up Cuba St in a hunt for the jorts store, which we’ve observed to be very in-style in New Zealand. Saturday was much more eventful. We woke up early in the morning and were picked up outside of our apartment by one of our coaches before driving to the north side of the bay, where Petone is located. The Petone facilities were very nice, and we eagerly awaited our noon game time as we warmed up. Immediately after kickoff, I noticed the difference in speed, along with how much better this team was than the team that we had played the week before. The four of us ended up playing the entire game. By the time the final whistle sounded, although we lost, I for one felt much more satisfied than I had the week previous, as I had had the opportunity to leave it all on the field. Additionally, the much higher level of competition has finally given us a true New Zealand rugby experience. We were pushed to play faster, run and tackle lower, and keep up with the much higher level of technical skills we were playing around. We rewarded ourselves with sausages and conversation with our teammates before getting a ride home. However, our day wasn’t over. We quickly showered and took a quick nap before meeting up with some of our teammates and walking up to Sky Stadium for a much-anticipated Hurricanes game. We had the opportunity to watch both the last game of the regular season and the homecoming game of Ardie Savea, arguably the best player in the world right now. To put a cap on the whole thing, the Hurricanes wiped the floor with Moana Pacifika in the high-energy environment.
On Sunday, we traveled south to Owhiro Bay, where we took part in some active recovery through a hike along black sand beaches and volcanic Red Rocks. Monday was a public holiday. Noah, Sam, and I spent the morning at the harbor, stopping at a produce market and some surprisingly good food trucks on the way to get groceries. We also had time to go to the highly recommended Zealandia, a bird sanctuary/ecological reserve near Wellington. We spent hours walking around the Jurassic park-like complex, observing native species around the valley.
This week, we finally began to feel at home in New Zealand. It’s really crazy how natural and full of life, both literally and figuratively, this city is. Everything is so close to each other, and a ten-minute bus ride can take you from a dense cityscape to a coastal area with zero light pollution. In terms of rugby, we’re really seeing where New Zealand gets its reputation from, and I’m excited to continue to challenge myself and immerse myself in the culture.
