Most scenic rugby venue in the world? You decide...
YOU know that moment when you have got to the airport on time, miraculously the check in queue is non-existent, security is similarly deserted and you flop into your preordered aisle seat and let out a contented sigh as the plane takes off on time? And then you remember you forgot to lock the front door or the nagging thought occurs that you might have left the oven on. Last week I enjoyed myself immensely going through what I consider to be, for various reasons, the Top 20 rugby grounds on the planet. I’ve been mentally compiling the list for most of my working career and only once did I slightly hesitate when I grandly proclaimed the John Davies Oval in Queenstown, New Zealand as the most beautiful rugby spot on planet earth. Now it is possible that I am still right – it has been known occasionally – because the John Davies Oval unquestionably sets the bar very high indeed – but my ‘plane taking off ’ moment came when I opened my edition of The Rugby Paper on Sunday morning and turned first to our coverage of the Gus PichotBill Beaumont election story. Bang, it hit me like a ton of bricks. Of course. The Agustin Pichot Stadium in Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Tierra del Fuego. Why hadn’t I thought of that? I had even penned an item on said ground two years ago when it hosted a game between Argentina and Chile in the Americas Championship. The Pumas won 57-12. With a certain, inevitable, synchronicity a picture of the ground then popped up on my twitter feed in midweek with the Argentinian Union amusing themelves during lockdown by posting pictures of their many spectacular rugby venues. You must decide whether the Gus Pichot Stadium tops the Davies Oval – I am tempted to declare a dead heat – but one claim on its behalf that cannot be disputed is that at 54.48 degrees south it is undoubtedly the southernmost Test venue in the world and very possibly the southernmost rugby ground of any description.