The Rugby World Cup started this morning in Sydney, and as ever, the Australians made a great spectacle of it with fireworks, drumbeats and kids moving in formation to create Rocky, the event mascot.
But the strange thing was that when their prime minister, John Howard, got up to make his opening speech, he was roundly booed by the crowd. Now I know that politicians are not universally popular figures and that aussies are a naturally irreverent lot, but you’d expect their nationalism to shine through at a moment like this. Very odd.
Still, John will no doubt get his own back through his weblog!
