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Unless you have visited New Zealand it is very difficult to appreciate just how high a priority rugby is in the nation’s entire way of life. In England football dominates the media. In New Zealand, football is irrelevant. The biggest challenge to Rugby Union in New Zealand is Rugby League!

In the late 1990’s I was fortunate to play rugby in New Zealand for Otago Boys High School and was selected for the New Zealand Schools team in 1997 prior to going to Leeds University to do a Physics degree.
I have since re-visited the country twice on England tour in 2003 and again in 2008 – both times were big learning experiences!

The England travelling fans will soon discover how passionate the entire country is about rugby and I hope we can give them a lot to cheer about to enable them to hold their own in the banter they are bound to experience from the New Zealand public!

However, the New Zealand fans might not be quite as confident after the way that Australia defeated them at the weekend.

Cheers, Tom