Touring with the Emirates Lions Down Under Ep2
2020-03-01
The Emirates Lions team arrived in Melbourne ahead of their Vodacom Super Rugby match against the Rebels on Sunday 29 February and checked into the very impressive Crowne Plaza Hotel on the banks of the Yarra river.
We left Sydney Sunday morning still reveling in the aftermath of the very vibrant and exciting Mardi Gras which took place on Saturday evening. The second biggest Mardi Gras in the world was a must see for most of the members of the Lions touring squad and they formed part of the 200 000 crowd that lined Oxford Street to experience this colourful display.
Everyone was up bright and early on Sunday morning to catch the bus to the airport for their transfer to Melbourne. To abide the time while waiting for their flight some of the guys reverted to playing some card games at the airport. It was a full flight where paninnis and potato salad were served. The flight lasted a little over an hour and was not enough to watch a full movie on the in-flight entertainment service.
Arriving in a very hot Melbourne (30 degrees) the backs were the duty boys, making sure all the luggage was collected from the carousel. The Lions weren’t the only team that arrived in Melbourne as the Sydney basketball team, the Sydney Kings, were also in attendance and were being interviewed by a television crew. Sure wish we could borrow some of those guys come line-out time.
On the bus ride to our hotel the boys sang Happy Birthday to fullback Andries Coetzee, who celebrated his 30th birthday.
The team checked into the Crowne Plaza and found that the hotel is undergoing some major renovations. This means getting to the rooms and back to the foyer taking two lifts and walking a short little detour.
Still, it is a very impressive looking hotel and from the rooms overlooking the river the sight is quite something to see.
While management had a meeting in the team room, Rupert Oberholster (strength and conditioning coach) had a walk with the squad to the Fitness First Gym in Flinders Street where they trained for over an hour.
After gym the whole touring squad had some down time before embarking on another walk, this time to have supper all together at the very famous South African franchise Nandos where 36 chickens, 45 sides, chips, bread, salads and soft drinks were devoured.
Andries Coetzee was again serenaded for his birthday as he blew out the candles on a chocolate mouse (specially arranged by team manager Mustapha Boomgaard).
The boys were surprised at the restaurant by replacement loose forward Ruan Vermaak, who had just arrived in Melbourne on a very long flight from South Africa to replace the injured Vincent Tshituka.
Everyone retired to their rooms for an early night ahead a hard week.
Annemie Bester