Random People At Rugby World Cup

Editor’s Note: Mat Brown’s blog will be moving to a new platform in 2008. Please bookmark the following url so that you can continue to enjoy his entries for MediaZone Rugby.
http://blogs.mediazone.com/BrowniesRugbyBunker/

One of the best things about attending matches at the Rugby World Cup is that you never know who you’re going to run into.  I’ve been here in France for about a month now and almost every game I’ve gone to, I’ve seen someone I know from my rugby past.  And I’m not talking about pre-arranged meetings with definite times and places, these are the kind that just happen.

E-mail Brownie at MediaZone’s MailbagOne of the first guys I ran into was Bernard Frei, the sponsor of Brownie’s Rugby Bunker on World Cup Tour, outside of Parc des Princes before the South Africa vs. Samoa match kicked off.  I assumed that he’d be at some of the matches but seeing him there was a complete coincidence.

The next person who I saw out of the blue was Scott ‘Sammy’ Littell.  Sammy is from Milwaukee and has been to all of the world cups.  He toured with the Oxy Olde Boys to Australia in 2003 and is reputed to have an awesome rugby museum in his basement back home.  I vividly remember distracting bartenders in Brisbane while he liberated memorabilia for his collection.  I saw Sammy before the USA vs. Tonga match in Montpellier.

Twice I ran into Lyndon and Jay from the Hawaii Harlequins, once in Cardiff and once in Paris but unfortunately never had a real chance to talk to them on either occasion.

It was also in Cardiff that I ran into Neil Lakin outside of Millennium Stadium prior to the Australia vs. Wales clash.  Neil is a buddy from the Oxy Olde Boys and I ended up bunking at his mate’s place in Caerphilly that evening after a big night out at The Swan Pub.  If you watch the Brownie’s Rugby Bunker episode from the Canada vs. Fiji match I mistakenly called it the ‘Swamp’ Pub.

One of the most exceptional bits of happenstance was seeing my old club (Rigas Miesnieks) and national team (Latvija) coach Uldis Bautris in the press room in Cardiff.  What made it so entertaining was that I’d seen him exactly twice before then in the last eight years; once at the South Africa vs. Australia semifinal in 1999 at Twickenham and once in the pool stages in Australia in 2003.  Uldis is a tireless worker for rugby in Latvija and still coaches Miesnieks.  

One of the biggest shocks was running into Viz in St. Etienne before the USA vs. Samoa fixture.  I figured he might be there but we hadn’t actually talked since the USA Sevens in San Diego so it was pretty cool when he strolled up and we did the open just like the old days!

Back in Paris I saw Eric Taber at the Italy vs. Portugal game.  Taber was a little different in that we’d traded a few emails but when we saw each other at Parc des Princes it was just coincidence as we’d made plans to connect later in the week.  Taber is a former intern from The Rugby Club and also a Maggot and Oxy Olde Boy.

Tomorrow I’m on a train to Marseille and no doubt will run into even more old friends at the quarterfinals!