Rugby 7s

July 25

When I originally booked my flight to Taiwan, my sister had already informed me of the World Games. Knowing that I would enjoy seeing the events, I left a couple of extra days in my schedule to allow me to see a couple of events. Since the Wenzao program ended on Friday and I wouldn’t leave for Taipei until Sunday, Saturday was left as the prime day to go to the World Games. The event that I wanted to see the most was the Rugby 7s competition. I had never watched a rugby game in person before, so I figured that this was an ideal time to do so.

I ended up going with Christine, one of the girls from Indonesia. We were supposed to meet up with the other two girls from the US, but that fell through. The games themselves turned out to be a blast. Neither of us really knew what to expect, but we both ended up really enjoying the games.

My favorite part was getting to root for the Americans. When I bought the tickets, I didn’t think that the Americans had qualified for the competition. When I checked the schedule the night before the games I was surprised to see the inclusion of the US in the match-ups.

Following an early setback to Argentina, the Americans came back to defeat Japan in a thrilling overtime game. Taiwan also lost the first game and won the second, meaning that the two would face off in the 5^th place game.

As the game drew near, I began to prepare by pulling out my flag and getting it ready to go. A minute later, I looked around me and noticed that there was a guy about my age doing the same thing with his Taiwan flag a few seats down. When the two teams came out, I did my usual screaming and waving the flag, fully aware that nearly every other person in the stadium was rooting for the other side. Seeing this, the guy with the Taiwan flag came over and tried to cover up my flag with his. Our brief encounter amused the crowd as they looked on.

When the game began, the US got off to a great start and scored a try (like a touchdown in American football). When the Americans then capitalized on a Taiwan mistake to take a 14-0 lead, I playfully taunted the crowd by turning around and waving the flag. The guy with the big flag came over and handed me a foot-long Taiwan flag for me to hold. When I sat down and started waving the Taiwan flag, the crowd started applauding.

That wouldn’t be all they would applaud at. Soon, Taiwan actually came back and took the lead in the game. Even though the US was losing at that point, it was still a lot of fun because the crowd was so excited. There is a different aura at games when national teams are playing, as opposed to local teams. It is much more exciting. However, the United States would regain the lead and withstand a last chance for Taiwan to win the game. The final score was 21-19 to the Americans.

After the game, I turned into a celebrity for a few minutes. People came up to me and asked to get a picture with me. It is the first and likely the last time that there will ever be a line to get a picture taken with me. While this was going on, the American team came around to high-five people. When they came around, I gave one of them my flag. Giving a flag to a national team is something I have always thought would be fun, so I can now cross it off my bucket list early in my lifetime (hopefully).

The US-Taiwan game turned out to be the last close one, as both South Africa and Fiji dominated their competition to take 3^rd and 1^st, respectively. Just a couple of minutes after the final game, the skies opened up and it began to downpour. About the only people that didn’t take cover were Christine, me, the guy with the Taiwan flag, and his girlfriend. Hooray for umbrellas.

For dinner, we picked up Seiko and went to a night market. We decided on a place that we were able to pick the type of meat that we wanted, along with all of the vegetables. They then cooked everything together and served it with unlimited rice and tea. It was a good dinner, and a good way to end my last day in Kaohsiung.