WellingtonNZ.com,
New Zealand 

US Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner is a Rugby fan, and being based in Wellington has already proved worthwhile.

The annual NZI Sevens Rugby tournament is a part-costume, part-sport festival that grips the whole city for three days in February, and clearly had an impact on the normally reserved diplomatic corp.

“I dressed up as Tom Jones and spent the whole day there … it was a great introduction to Wellington,” Huebner grins.

No stranger to Rugby, Huebner played the game since his days at college in Princeton and was a regular at Hong Kong’s 7s tournament while based in Asia.

The US appetite for Rugby is strong in certain areas, he says - mainly the east coast, but also in his home state of California.

In fact the US team has defended the gold medal for Rugby at the Olympics for 90 years…the two times champions were the winners in 1924, shortly after which the International Olympic Committee removed the game from the programme.

“It’s the longest unbroken streak in history,” Huebner smiles.

Since arriving in New Zealand in 2008, Huebner has discovered there’s quite a difference in approach to the Kiwi national game.

“Most Americans aren’t quite sure what rugby is, here you’d be hard pressed to find someone who isn’t a fan.”

And having tasted the madness that descends on Wellington’s streets come 7s time, he has an inkling of what to expect when the Rugby World Cup 2011 New Zealand kicks off.

“It’ll be like the Sevens, times 10.”

The US international Rugby side, the Eagles, will be hosted in Wellington for five nights during the Tournament and in the wider region for their other pool games.

RWC 2011 will be a fabulous focus for the Americans who follow the sport, and Huebner expects a huge number of his countrymen to visit.

“Anybody who comes to Wellington for the World Cup is going to have a similar experience to what I am having … warm, friendly, exciting, it is going to be a good time for anybody who visits.”

As the American ambassador to Samoa and New Zealand, Mr Huebner is promising to back all three throughout RWC 2011 - unless they come up against each other.

“I’ll make that choice when the time comes,” comes the diplomatic answer.

The only must-do he has already scheduled is attending the United States match against Ireland in New Plymouth on the tenth anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York.

“I’ll be there that day.”

With his minders, the US Marines, not so keen on him pulling on his own Rugby boots - “putting me in a group of guys knocking each other down is a bit scary to them” - Huebner is hoping for a call up for the Diplomatic team in their annual match against the Parliamentarians.

“I’m looking forward to that,” he laughs.