Murray Kinsella Reports from Sydney

ANY THOUGHTS OF a winter dip at Bondi Beach were quickly shelved.

“Watch out for the sharks, mate.”

This local fella wasn’t messing. The beach was closed for swimmers and surfers on Friday morning after the latest shark sighting. This is the fourth day in a row it has happened at Bondi.

The beach reopened later in the day, but it’s hard to shake the warning from your mind.

This all comes after a 34-year-old woman, Leah Stewart, was attacked by a great white shark while swimming off nearby Coogee Beach two weeks ago. She was rescued by an off-duty lifeguard but required critical surgery, including an arm amputation.

Local reports say that mother-of-one Stewart is no longer in a critical condition and was briefly brought out of her induced coma.

With further shark sightings since, new arrivals to Sydney are being warned as soon as they mention the beaches in the Eastern Suburbs of the city.

It’s all a reminder of how different a place Australia is, even though much of it seems so familiar.

The feeling of déjà vu must be strong among Andy Farrell and many in his Ireland set-up, given that so many of them were here only 12 months ago for the Lions tour.

They will certainly be avoiding the water as their preparations for their opening game of the Nations Championship against the Wallabies at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium next Saturday now ramp up.

Ireland arrived earlier this week and acclimatised by doing some touristy activities, but they’re now into their work. Farrell’s men are staying close to the Sydney Opera House and using Leichhardt Oval, home to NRL’s Wests Tigers, for training.

Sydney is a city where they can go about their business without any great fanfare. Their team bus and training gear will get them some interest, of course, but they won’t be overly bothered.

The 42,500-capacity Allianz Stadium is sold out for next weekend’s game and rugby union will always have a loyal fanbase, although the big local Irish community certainly helps.

Yet there’s no doubt that Sydney is better known as a rugby league city, with nine of the 17 NRL clubs based in this neck of the woods. The NRL is in full swing right now, while State of Origin, which is played annually between New South Wales and Queensland, is heading into a deciding Game III in 12 days. Excitement is building. 

Sydney Swans, the local AFL club, are going very well this season too, but much of the sporting interest right now revolves around the football World Cup.

The Socceroos confirmed their progress into the Round of 32 today with a 0-0 draw against Paraguay today.

The game kicked off at midday in Sydney, with many businesses giving their employees a half-day to go and enjoy watching the Socceroos. 

This morning’s Uber drivers to and from Bondi were from Greece and France, respectively, and they were keen to talk football. Greek native Peter has been in Sydney for 40 years now, but remembers his native land’s Euro 2004 success in Portugal as one of the best times in his life. He still delights in Cristiano Ronaldo’s tears. 

Hamza, meanwhile, reckons the French are looking good for glory at this World Cup.

The fanzone at Tumbalong Park in Sydney. The 42 The 42

Back in the city centre, it felt rude not to take the game in at one of the official fan zones for supporting Australia. The Aussies are very much getting into this World Cup, as is always the case. They love their sport.

Their game against the US last weekend kicked off at 5am, but that didn’t stop thousands of people from turning up at a fan zone out in Bondi. They’re early risers in Australia anyway, but that’s impressive stuff.

Today, there are well over 3,000 people at the fan zone in Tumbalong Park at Darling Harbour. There was great excitement despite two spells of rain during the game. It did become clear early on that both Australia and Paraguay looked happy to share the spoils, so it wasn’t quite a raucous atmosphere.

There was no alcohol allowed in the fan zone, so there were plenty of families involved. A yellow flare was lit at one stage, but six policemen waded into the congested crowd of young fellas with alarming speed and snuffed it out. 

The action up on the three big screens was, in truth, dreadful but Australians are happy and proud to have earned a knock-out spot against as-yet-unconfirmed opposition next Saturday. It will be a 4am kick-off here in Australia. That won’t stop them from coming together in their thousands once again.

Later that day, the Wallabies will host Ireland with an 8.10pm start locally and they’ll hope to grab back some of the sporting attention that faded away after the Lions tour last year.

That series showed just how much interest rugby union can still generate in Australia, even amid such demanding competition from other sports, but winning games is the currency that really counts here.