The Next Chapter... Redundant Rugby blog over and out!

If you are reading this then you are probably one of the loyal few who have stuck with this blog, like me, for the last 6 weeks and 46 games of footy. More than just a few actually! The stats show that many posts have been read by around a hundred people. Altogether the blog has had over 3000 page views.

Delving deep into the posts reveals these 3 facts about me:
1. I love rugby in general and the All Blacks in particular
2. I was made redundant on the verge of the RWC and took that as a sign to start blogging
3. My marvellous wife Megan is pregnant with twins, our first children, and she's been in hospital for the last fortnight. It is a high risk pregnancy and she's been watched like a hawk.

Amazingly all of these strands are resolving themselves at once.
1. The tournament is about to climax with the ABs, quite rightly, in the final.
2. I have accepted a fantastic freelancing gig that I have been putting off starting until the tournament ends. After 6 weeks of sifting around watching footy it is time to start earning again.
3. After 30 weeks of pregnancy our twins need to be delivered now - by that I mean tomorrow! Friday the 21st of October. The day of the 3rd/4th playoff and two days before the grand final. The twins need out, and that means no waiting for anything.

In lots of ways this blog has been a magnificent escape. An escape from working every day and from addressing the responsibilities of my impending fatherhood. But as they say all good things must come to an end.

Megan goes into theatre tomorrow for a planned C-Section, and after that our lives will never be the same again. This tournament (and the blog) which have seemed so important to me for the last 6 weeks now seem somewhat irrelevant. The results of the next 160 minutes of rugby mean nothing in comparison for our desires for a healthy outcome tomorrow.

Would I sacrifice an All Black victory for a healthy Megan and two boys (they are identical but we don't know which) or girls? You bet! Any day of the week.

Not that I think we'll have to. I'm pretty sure the next two games will deliver a victory to Wales, then a victory to the All Blacks. Astonishingly that will give the same result as in the inaugural tournament 24 years ago.

But the only delivery that matters to us now, is the one taking place tomorrow morning.

I can't imagine a circumstance that would make me feel the need to finish the blog, because its natural full stop will be when Megan and I finally get to meet our Pebbles and BamBam. We can't wait.

Thanks for reading over the last few weeks. It has been a blast.

Go Wales. Go Black. Go Megan. Go Pebbles. Go Bambam.