RWC 2015 ~ The Blonde B

It's been 5 years since Jonathan has been in England.

5 years!

And you would never know. He looks and sounds as British as I do.

He completely blends in to the background of the British landscape except when he needs to pay for anything. He gets completely confused by the British coins (they make no sense really) and ends up asking the shopkeeper who looks completely baffled why a British guy has no clue about British money.

"It's because I'm Spanish" he says to them and then they look even more confused!

It's quite cute and it's exactly what I used to be like when I first arrived in the UK. Fresh-faced 18 year old starting at Durham with a mixture of feelings in my tummy.

My friends used to play "What Charlotte doesn't know..." with me. They would ask me:

"Do you know how to play British Bulldog?" - No

"Do you know what Monster Munch is?" - Huh?

"Have you done your Duke of Edinburgh?" - What the Queen's husband? No!

"Have you ever tried Domino's pizza?" - Nope

People forget, I might look and sound British but I am culturally different, well I was more culturally different when I was younger. Now I get to play the same games with JoBro.

JoBro was visiting as back in January, when he turned 21, I bought him a very special present (do you remember?).

On Saturday morning we jumped on the train to Twickenham and joined the crowds. Excited rugby fans draped in their country's colours enjoying beers and burgers, clutching at their tickets or simply soaking up the atmosphere. We were joining the Rugby World Cup Fever!

Wales vs Australia in the last few matches of the Pool stages.

The atmosphere emulated that of the Olympics, with smiley volunteers happy to lend a helping hand. I was glad not to be volunteering this time. Although I had the most wonderful experience at the Olympics, it felt good to be an actual spectator and be as surprised by the event as the rest of the fans.

Beers, burgers and Welsh men dressed up as rugby players - hope you are proud parents Mum & Dad!

Usually Millenium Stadium in Cardiff veterans, it was our first time at Twickenham and we weren't disappointed.

Twickenham had pulled out all the stops. There was a buzz in the air and was excited to be here with my brother about to watch one of the greatest games on the planet.

The fan's zone was packed! Too much so. We watch the Scotland match which was on before the start of ours but trying to get a beer to enjoy before heading to our seats was next to impossible!

Well it was impossible. So many little beer guys walking around selling bottles of Heineken but they would always run out of beers as soon as it was my turn! Tut tut tut

Inside the stadium, we found our seats and found some beers and ogled the Welsh players during their warm up.

Well I did. Don't know about JoBro...

I had rugby fever!

Don't you find watching rugby (or sport in general) quite an emotional experience? I do.

The fans are infected with patriotism, it seeps through their skin and feeds the atmosphere with an energy which is hard to put into words.

As the national anthems play I can't help feel a sense of pride for Wales and I get a little teary.

As soon as the anthems are over there is a roar from the crowds and the players are off!

Patriotism is replaced by a wanting and a need and greediness to win! All those eager faces of fans are flashed up on the screens at home as people ohh and ah and doh! all the players moves and tackles.

I couldn't quite remember where our seats were as I had booked them over a year ago, but I was more than impressed with my seat choice - a pat on the back from me!

However, annoyingly there was a FREE seat next to me! How much of a crime is that? I was fuming! Why waste a seat when there were so many who would have died to fill it? My mother for one, big Wales fan.

We were surrounded by a jolly bunch of fans and that's the way rugby is. Everyone is happy to be watching the sport, fans are courteous and welcome friendly banter.

A Scottish couple cheering on Wales and a couple of Australians who simply made the match commentary a whole lot funnier.

The match was intense. Both sides had incredible defence and hardly any tries were scored during the whole 80 minutes.

Australia had the most impressive move whilst tackling - they would flip the Welsh players over as soon as they passed the try line. This meant that although the Welsh players had the ball in their hand and they were over the try line, they were like upside down turtles and couldn't put the ball on the ground.

This happened 4 times. 4 times!

We were even lucky enough to see the Dan Biggar shuffle live. If you have no idea what I am on about please click here.

Don't you think this would be the worst job in the world?

Sat looking at the crowd without being able to peep behind you to follow up with the match. How do they do it?

I wouldn't be able to resist a cheeky peek.

Australia beat Wales to the clock. Wales put up a good fight and had the clock been running for another 10 minutes it could've been a Welsh victory.

It didn't change much though, Wales were still through to the quarter finals along with Australia!

We beat England to the post (somehow, miraculously) with, not even our 2nd team, I would say our C Team as we were 8 players down (injured) even before the start of the World Cup.

Warren Gatland is a superstar! Just goes to show you need a good team to win, not just star players.

After it was all over and we'd heard from the captains and the man of the match we had a massive Fan-Girl moment.

We jumped over the stalls and down to the seats nearest the pitch.

The Australians paraded round the pitch like proud lions greeting their fans along the way.

Then we spotted some familiar Welsh faces and we did all our best to grab their attention.

Rhys Webb was being interviewed on live TV and we caught his eye.

It's all in the eyes. He was looking directly at us whilst we kept big smiles on our faces and made camera signs with our hands pleading with him to come over.