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In his brilliant 2010 autobiography, Life, legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards devoted a memorable passage to slamming the city of Dunedin much like one of his beloved open G chords.
He stated “But my god, there are some black holes. Dunedin, for instance, almost the southernmost city in the world, in New Zealand. It looked like Tombstone and it felt like that. It still had hitching rails.”
To someone who grew up in the blistering hot, sunshine-for-all climate of Brisbane, any mention of Dunedin, especially during rugby season, was spoken about in fearful tones, with tales of a faraway land bathed in rain and darkness every day of every year abound.
Turns out this spectral, scary spot of land at the bottom of the earth, inhabited by monstrous rugby playing farmers whose place of worship was named ‘The House of Pain’, is actually pretty bloody nice and friendly these days.
Spectacular scenery, a thriving underground arts scene and a massive university presence all give off a pretty postcard picture of Dunedin. For those after a comedy show, the Wallabies are in town this week, and heaven knows they could do with a lecture or tutorial or two in things such as ‘Tackling 101′, ‘Aggressiveness 101′ or even ‘Absolutely anything to do with winning a rugby game 101′.
(AAP Image/Dean Lewins)
If the players’ minds are elsewhere or they are rather more interested in other pursuits (much like their sightseeing tour of ANZ Stadium on Saturday), there is Cadbury World smack bang in the middle of Dunedin. It’s supposedly a favourite fact-finding destination for Nathan Grey, which is all too apparent when you consider his defensive schemes are as useful as a chocolate teapot.
The playlist for the week, which they’ll be listening to in between sand dune sprint sessions and Sportscraft modelling shoots, includes such Dunedin-inspired Keith Richards Rolling Stones songs as No Expectations, Paint It Black, Stop Breaking Down, Emotional Rescue and of course, (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction. Believe it or not, Happy did not make the final cut.
Lastly, if they want to see the past, present and future of rugby in Australia, they can always tune in to the Shute Shield decider between Norths and Warringah at North Sydney Oval, in case they missed University of Queensland defeat GPS in the Brisbane decider at Ballymore last weekend.
The only Bledisloe encounter previously held at the beautiful Forsythe Barr Stadium was a high scoring, roller-coaster of a game in the innocent, nascent days of Ewen McKenzie’s reign as coach in 2013. Salad days in retrospect, especially as the cold, old-school fear of Dunedin is creeping back, and I don’t want to alarm anyone, but there may be a boogie man or boogie men in the house on Saturday, and much like the stuff of nightmares, they’ll be wearing black.
Join The Roar rugby editor Christy Doran, former Wallaby Matt Toomua and a cast of regular and special guests as they look at the biggest issues in the game on The Roar Rugby Podcast. If you’re looking for great odds on the next game check out Aussie bookmaker PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.