Kiwis gain early jump on Aussie Olympians

PHIL WALTER/Getty Images

TRANS-TASMAN RELATIONSHIPS: Australian and New Zealand Olympic team members relax as they watch the Bledislow Cup test at the Bejing athletes' village.

PHIL WALTER/Getty Images

TRANS-TASMAN RELATIONSHIPS: Australian and New Zealand Olympic team members relax as they watch the Bledislow Cup test at the Bejing athletes' village.

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New Zealand's Olympic athletes, nervously counting down to their day of competition, got some welcome distraction on Saturday as Bledisloe Cup fever hit the Olympic village.

While the rest of the sporting world in Beijing remained oblivous to the trans-Tasman rugby clash, a small corner of the athletes' village was heaving with national pride - green and gold versus pure black.

Despite their Olympic task at hand, the New Zealand and Australian camps had not forgotten their love for the oval ball game.

"Where can we watch the game?'', asked a desperate sounding Graeme Ede, tugging the arm of every Kiwi in sight, mere seconds after walking off his flight from Auckland.

The Commonwealth Games gold medallist had plenty on his hands with clearing his guns through Chinese customs, but the shooter seemed more concerned about watching Southbridge's other sporting star, Daniel Carter, take revenge on  Australia.

Ede should not have feared, as the Australian Olympic Committee came to the fore. Feeling brave after last week's win in Sydney, the AOC invited the entire Kiwi contingent to watch the match on Saturday afternoon.

"That was really nice of the Aussies to invite us,'' a dry Ede smirked yesterday, "but it didn't really go as they expected, I think.''

With the colours flying bright in the Wallabies section of the village, about 30 early arrivals from New Zealand sat down with more than 100 Australians who were anticipating Robbie Deans' golden run to continue.

"The crowd was pretty big,'' said Ede who is enjoying his first Olympic experience.

That mood however changed rapidly after Tony Woodcock's early double blow. The Wallabies never recovered and the AOC brass must have regretted inviting those annoying New Zealanders into their midst.

Being the good losers that they are, most Australian athletes and officials found excuses to leave as soon as the writing was on the wall.

"We were vastly outnumbered, but the numbers dwindled pretty quickly as the game went on,'' chuckled Ede, whose first day in the village could not have started better.

"It was great to see the All Blacks lifting their intensity in that game and it has definitely given all of us a bit of a lift as as well.''

- © Fairfax NZ News