First time in two months I haven't missed ESPN

After much anticipation, though still knowing nothing about the sport, I went to my first professional rugby game yesterday. And it was AWESOME. As in the case of soccer, my thick American skull has prevented me from understanding how all the clubs and leagues fit together, but I can tell you that the South African Springboks fell to New Zealand's All Blacks, which means they are mathematically eliminated from the Tri-Nations tournament (add Australia). And even though they lost, they didn't really fall apart until the very end, so I've decided that any event where you have to scalp tickets to get a seat amongst thousands of loud, face-painted, flag-bearing fans is going to be great no matter who wins. Even the national anthems were outstanding, although they reminded me how far from home I am. Still, it's pretty cool to think that in Marion, MA I'd never even have known about a rugby tournament exclusive to the only three countries in the southern hemisphere who play it. Did I mention that every seat in the stadium comes with a big plastic bongo to beat on?