65 of us (29 Club Intermeders, 13 other youngsters and 23 adults) caught the train in from Tawa Station soon after 6pm for a 7.35pm kickoff at Westpac Stadium. The Hurricanes were in ninth place (23 points) on the Super 14 table after a mediocre season despite a good first few weeks, and they were playing the 8th-placed Highlanders (26 points) from the deep south.

The Hurricanes crept ahead after a series of penalties, but two-thirds of the way through the first half the visitors took the lead for the first time 10-9. Only minutes later the home team scored their first try just metres from where we were all sitting - we couldn't have been better positioned, but this photographer wasn't quick enough to record it! At halftime the scoreboard read Hurricanes 17, Highlanders 13. Three minutes into the second half the Hurricanes scored another try to take a 9-point lead. In the final minutes, with the home team ahead by 6 points, the Highlanders were applying the pressure and finally made it over the line to make their score just one short of the opposition's at 21-22. However if the conversion was successful, the match would be lost to the Hurricanes. The crowd willed on the kicker to miss, and he did! A nail-biting 1-point win to the Hurricanes, with both teams scoring two tries.

The pics below show something of the fun occasion it was.