Another RL World Cup tie that was never going to be an upset. The Scots were great but the Kiwis were awesome.
Compared with the usual frenetic Friday nights at the Rhinos, 16000 watched in a calm atmosphere. It was my birthday present to younger son Chris. A beer in the German market, two beers and a meal in the Taps at Headingley, the game, two more beers in the Palace down by the Armouries and a B&B at the Holiday Inn. I got him onto his London train at 10am the following morning.
It was a reprise of many a Friday night spent at the Rhinos whilst he was a student in Leeds and a player with the university second XIII. I always got home though, so staying overnight was a treat. The Taps is your typical cheerful boozer with cheap food, full of RL banter. Chris once suggested I stay in his flat. 'Oh right,' I said, 'where are you going to sleep?' 'In the bed,' he said, 'you're on the floor.' Needless to say I didn't risk it, given that a blind public health inspector with no sense of smell would have condemned the whole street as a typhoid/plague/cholera, take your pick, hazard.
As we walked from the German market to the Burley Park train, police outriders stopped us from crossing at pedestrian lights. Who was coming? Royalty maybe? No, it was the Scots team bus, clearly late and in a hurry. What could have been the delay? You can make it up, but it would be libellous.
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