Abuse from crowd riles rugby fan

it, how to deal with it positively.”

Mr Sheed said the company subsidised the cost of the course for participants, most of whom were customers or their children. However, 40 per cent of the group were not associated with the brand, and Audi paid for them to travel from around the country to participate free.

Depending on feedback, the course may be rolled out nationwide.

“Part of our business is driver education and I think a lot of people have a role to play in increasing driver education in the community.”

Racecar driver Andrew Waite, 24, spoke to participants, drawing on his own accident at the V8 Supercars in Pukekohe last month.

“You never know what’s around the corner, whether on the race track or the road, and developing the right Pretending a row of blue road cones is a small child running in front of your car can be distracting, especially when you knock down a few of those cone “children”.

But apparently, as my professional driving instructor Tim Martin said, that is okay.

“You don’t want your first practice run to be that accident; you need to know how to get yourself out of trouble.”

It was a far cry from being behind the wheel of my Honda Civic on the driving techniques can be the difference between life and death,” he said.

Hamilton student David RandallLeon, 18, said he had been driving since he was 15, but learned a lot yesterday.

“It was great fun and experience too. You learn skills that you didn’t think were possible.

“I learned about vision, like how having to look just not one or two car spaces in front of you but planning out your next step before you get to it.”

The Wintec mechanics student was also surprised by the difference safety features played, and said cars with modern technology felt safer. A life-long rugby fan says she is “completely and utterly ashamed” of some All Blacks supporters after being subjected to abuse at Eden Park on Saturday.

The woman has returned to New Zealand after living in England with her English husband for 40 years, and has sworn to never attend another rugby game at Eden Park after seeing the behaviour around her at the test.

The couple, who have attended All Blacks tests in Europe and been on a Lions tour of South Africa, have never experienced what she called “downright racist and sexist” remarks to opposition supporters.

Her husband was called a “f****** whingeing Pom”, and they left the ground feeling heartbroken by the experience.

Her husband was wearing an England shirt and hat, and was subjected to a torrent of abuse she described as “feral racism” filled with swearwords from some AB supporters.

“In the end, he got really angry and said stuff that he’ll regret for a long, long time because he’s never been that upset at a rugby match before,” she said.

The woman said a young female English supporter sitting near her was near to tears and looked frightened by the abuse.

The complainant acknowledged that foul language would be heard at rugby games, but didn’t accept that the language she heard on Saturday night was reasonable.

A spokeswoman for the Eden Park Trust said the matter was being dealt with internally, and security and log reports were being examined into the “unfortunate incident’’.

Nick Brown, general manager of public affairs for New Zealand Rugby, said the Applaud campaign was launched to tackle anti-social behaviour at rugby games.

“We want fans to cheer loudly for their favourite team and respect their opponents at the same time,” he said.

“We are really sorry to hear that this English supporter’s experience was spoiled by the behaviour of a few people in a match where the crowd was generally very well behaved.”