As well as multiple rugby pitches, the school has a sports complex, an all-weather Olympic-grade hockey pitch, an integrated athletics track and a cricket oval. The Black Caps cricketer Tim Southee is one of the school\u2019s alumni. So are Jonah Lomu and Connacht<\/a> outhalf Josh Ioane, who both won scholarships here, which is probably just as well as the annual tuition fees at King\u2019s College are the equivalent of about \u20ac16,500, rising to \u20ac26,700 for boarders. <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019d have to be a millionaire to live around here,\u201d said the taxi driver, although he was actually talking about the view of the harbour near the Wallabies\u2019 team hotel in Double Bay in Sydney.<\/p>\n You could barely see the water for all the boats glimmering in the harbour and, as if on cue, the taxi stopped at lights alongside a new Aston Martin with customised number plates. At the wheel was a lady who did not look too dissimilar to Angelina Jolie. In the passenger seat sat a perfectly-groomed white poodle. <\/p>\n The Irish team were based in the same hotel in Sydney used by the Lions in both 2013 and 2025, down the road from Circular Quay and a stroll to the Sydney Opera House.<\/p>\n The media weren\u2019t in too shabby an area either \u2013 the CBD (Central Business District), which is very central and a short stroll from Darling Harbour. <\/p>\n While more spacious suites are preferable for working than the four walls of a hotel, a caf\u00e9 with good coffee, good wifi, power points and, if possible, good food, is the ideal. Jimmy has been serving great coffee and all of the above, save for the power points, at Nook JR for 15 years. And when the laptop battery ran out, there was a ground-floor business centre across the road.<\/p>\n There was also the CBD Hotel bar, with big screens on each floor and a dedicated sports bar on the third. One flight up, it also had a power point in the corner as well as wifi, which can be an issue in Australia. It\u2019s the little things that matter. It also had good lager, good bar food, pleasant staff and stayed open beyond 6am for the conclusion of the Socceroos\u2019 World Cup exit<\/a> on penalties. That was asking too much.<\/p>\n Corner-hotel bars proliferate in Sydney and the Kent Street Hotel, run by 4 Pines Brewing Company and within walking distance from the CBD, was a regular home-from-home for Argentina\u2019s World Cup games.<\/p>\n Tickets had to be purchased in advance and three of us were the only ones not attired in Argentina replica jerseys (about 90 per cent Messi, 10 per cent Maradona) to watch La Albiceleste play their round-of-16 tie against Egypt. <\/p>\n The kick-off was 2am Sydney time. All eyes were transfixed on the large screens, not mobile phones, and they occasionally broke into chants but were gradually reduced to a shocked silence. With a dozen minutes remaining, and nearing 4am, it wasn\u2019t looking good. Messi had missed a penalty and Argentina were 2-0 down. <\/p>\n![\"Australian](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/NYCMLNJNYJCGVAFZMKPDYUGQRY.jpg\")
Australian soccer fans in Sydney react with disappointment after their team was eliminated from the World Cup in the round of 32 against Egypt on July 3rd. Photograph: David Gray\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n