You see, it’s been 12 years since the Springboks played the All Blacks at Eden Park. And had I known it at the time, I may not have attended the match — because the Springboks haven’t won at Eden Park in the modern era.

Having only lived in Sydney for a handful of years at the time, my motley crew of South African mates and I decided to hop over the ditch to Auckland to watch the Boks in action against the All Blacks. Being on a budget, we did what any group of lads would do — we stayed in a backpackers’ hostel. The room slept 6 and we were only 5…

Problem solved. My mate Pravesh suggested we allow his French work colleague to take the other spot.

When we arrived at the airport and were introduced to said French colleague, he was dressed head to toe in black trackie pants and wearing an All Blacks jersey. He said he didn’t even like the All Blacks but simply wanted to wind us up. As you can imagine, things went downhill from there.

Every activity or suggestion we made, he wanted to do the opposite. If we said let’s go for beers, he wanted to go for coffee. If we said let’s go explore the city, he said he wanted to have a nap. And to top it off, he didn’t change his outfit the ENTIRE trip. Yes, he wore the same black trackie pants and All Blacks jumper the entire weekend. You can imagine our elation at being bounced from nightclubs because of his attire.

You may be wondering where I’m going with this. Just hold on…

Let’s fast forward to the actual game. Obviously, the Kiwis wiped the floor with us. They used to do that all the time back then. However, when you come out of Eden Park, you come up to a main street with lots of bars and restaurants. We stuck out like sore thumbs with our Springbok jerseys in a sea of black. But you know what? The Kiwis grabbed us around the shoulders and ushered us into bar after bar, and we didn’t buy another drink that night.

They were humble in their victory…

And the lesson I learnt that trip was this: the best way to support your team is to be around people like you. And not your mates French colleague…

That’s why you should get your tickets to the Boks & Beers events on the 6th and 13th of September. Join your fellow South Africans as we finally overcome the Eden Park hoodoo.

– Rudi