Lions fan ends up sleeping in All Blacks’ home – but did not know who they were

Alex Edwards had arrived in Auckland at around teatime. The Briton had envisioned spending this dark wintry night with hundreds of fellow rugby union fans, but instead found himself in an empty car park.

Little did the 31-year-old know, however, that a few hours later he would end up sleeping in the home of two New Zealand stars.

Edwards, who has taken a 12-month sabbatical from an IT job in London, is traveling around New Zealand in a camper van, following the British and Irish Lions – a team made up of the best players from Britain and Ireland – during their five-week tour of the country.

Earlier this month, on the eve of the Lions’ pre-Test warm-up match with the Auckland Blues, Edwards drove to Ponsonby Rugby Club near Eden Park, the country’s largest stadium.

“I was expecting a car park full of Lions fans but there was no-one there,” Edwards tells CNN.

READ: All Blacks overpower Lions

‘We were having a cup of tea and a chat’

Confused by the absence of singing and drinking and the usual merriment associated with touring fans, Edwards knocked on the door of the local rugby club and that is where he met Sandra Wihongi, who helps run the club and is the mother of All Blacks Rieko and Akira Ioane.

Edwards says: “I asked to sleep in the car park, but she said ‘there’s no point you staying here on your own you may as well sleep on the floor at ours.’

“When I got to the house she introduced her husband and the dog and the lads came in a little bit later while we were having a cup of tea and a chat.”

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Edwards, however, did not immediately recognize the New Zealand behemoths, who still share a room at their parents’ house.

It was Reiko, 20, who scored twice on Saturday as the All Blacks won the opening match of a three-Test series against Warren Gatland’s Lions. Akira, 22, is a Blues flanker who has played five times for the national team.

“It was only after they started talking about having to prepare for the Blues game that I realized who they were and I was taken aback,” Edwards recalls.

“I felt like a bit of a lemon. Everyone in New Zealand worships the ground they walk on and I didn’t have a clue.

“They were great hosts, and really nice people.

“The lads were pretty chilled and focused on the game they had on Wednesday night. They might have been a bit surprised but they weren’t fazed at all.”

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Edwards slept on a mattress on the floor for two nights, returning home sheepishly after the Lions had been beaten 22-16 by the Blues.

The brothers watched the match in its entirety on their return home and talked about the victory with Edwards, who describes watching the play-by-play analysis with the players as “good fun.”

Following the All Blacks’ convincing victory on Saturday, Edwards spent the evening at Ponsonby with Sandra and her husband Ed.

“They were just really nice people,” says Edwards.