Bastille Day a dress rehearsal for Rugby World Cup 2011
Thursday 14 July 2011, 9:25AM
By REAL New Zealand Festival
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French people and supporters around the country are getting ready to celebrate their French connections as part of Bastille Day celebrations. For many, it’s a dress rehearsal for the main event, when the French rugby team arrives in New Zealand for Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011).
Whether it’s rugby or REAL New Zealand Festival events, Francophiles won’t be disappointed: there are many opportunities to experience and celebrate French culture and traditions throughout New Zealand in September and October.
The French team will be based mainly in Auckland, but they’ll also spend two weeks in Napier and several nights in Wellington. On September 14 (exactly two months tomorrow), they’ll play their first Rugby World Cup 2011 pool match (vs Japan) on the North Shore. France’s other two matches are in Hawke’s Bay and Wellington.
At present, the REAL New Zealand Festival has over 600 events throughout the country, and there are many with a French flavour. As well as that, the New Zealand towns and cities who will be hosting France have been planning a very warm welcome the French team and its supporters, as do fans in other parts of the country.
The French team’s official RWC 2011 welcome will be held at Orakei Marae, Bastion Point on 3 September 2011.
In Napier, the whole town has come together to support the four teams they are ‘adopting’ – including France. In the French Quarter of town, they’ll be celebrating their adopted team by speaking French, learning the French national anthem and eating traditional French food, and they have a comprehensive list of public events throughout the region.
In Tauranga, our very own Tommy Kapai Wilson will be showing international visitors around the region, and demonstrating the very special connection between the Normandy Coast and the Te Puna Rugby Club, thought to be the only French/Maori Rugby Club in the world.
In Wellington, visitors and locals can experience the talents of Gerard Gargouil, one of France’s top caricaturists as part of the Festival Carnivale.
And it’s fitting that there’s a comprehensive French Festival in Akaroa (where New Zealand’s first French settlers arrived).
Finally, if more rugby is what the doctor ordered, there’s a great match in Queenstown between the Classic All Blacks vs French Classics match. It’s always an epic battle on the rugby field between New Zealand and France and this match is shaping up to be no different. The big names in the Classic All Blacks lineup are Jeff Wilson, Christian Cullen and Andrew Mehrtens. The French Classics team is expected to feature a number of players responsible for the All Blacks' 1999 Rugby World Cup demise at Twickenham.
To find out more about adopting France as a second team and learning more about French customs and greetings and to listen to their national anthem go to www.nz2011.gov.nz/get-involved.
For anyone following the French team around the country during the Tournament, visit www.realnzfestival.com to create your own itinerary of events and experiences in between matches.