Munster Rugby and Tin Whistles

Last weekend I crossed one more item off of my to-do list by going to a rugby match. I've accepted that I'm not going to master all of the rules before I leave here, but even without always understanding what was going on, the evening was still really fun. Unfortunately the weather wasn't spectacular, but the real rain held off until the match ended.

We had tickets for the stands, meaning we stood on wide steps right behind the end zone (no idea if that's what it's actually called or not). We had an amazing view - the field was feet in front of us.

Thomond Park is big, with a capacity of over 25,000, and it seemed to be almost full when I was there. However, the entire place goes absolutely silent whenever the kicker sets up. It feels like a weird interjection of golf or tennis into football.

Watching guys get thrown up in the air in order to catch the ball from the sidelines is a bit funny.

Despite being within feet of getting a try (similar to a touchdown) that would have won them the match, Munster was unable to get the ball over the line and fell short of victory.

In completely unrelated news, as part of my traditional music class, my tin whistle group performed in our end of the year recital. Imagine somewhere between 100 and 200 college students taking part in a complete beginners recital featuring whistles, dancing, bodhran (drum), and singing. It was a pretty entertaining sight. (Thanks to Lindsay for the picture!)