Wellington Rugby has caught a stray from none other than Bart Simpson while the rest of the country has gotten away with just a shout-out on the fabled animated show.
In the latest episode of the long-running show, ol’ Barty Boy stumbles across a crypto website which lets you bet on the beautiful game - rugby union in Aotearoa.
“Ooooh, New Zealand rugby,” he says. Several hours then pass in Springfield time with the implication being that Bart has been laying bets down on the rugby teams in our capital city.
“Whatever rugby is, Wellington sucks at it!”.
Obviously, the bets didn’t pay off, which isn’t totally true to life. The Hurricanes, Wellington’s Super Rugby team, currently sit at fifth on the table. They're behind every other New Zealand team apart from the Highlanders, who are all the way down the table at number 10 (out of 12).
I reckon the only reason it was Wellington catching a stray and not the Highlanders is because the world would not be ready for a battle between Dunners’ breathers and Bart Simpson. Matt Groening has spared us all.
Commenters on the TikTok are half full with people sympathising with Wellington and their rugby teams, and another half roasting them.
“They’ve done Wellington dirty,” said the All Blacks, commenting on their own post.
“Wellington is the kind of place where parents tell their kids 'It doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you have fun’,” another added.
“Saaaad to welly,” a third wrote.
“Don’t tell Ardie Savea that!” one more said.
The nod to Aotearoa and our national sport comes from Season 34, Episode 20 of ‘The Simpsons’, titled ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillars’.
Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa, Maggie and the rest of the Simpsons crew get the Covid lockdown treatment in the episode, according to the synopsis on Rotten Tomatoes.
“When a plague of insects shuts down Springfield, the Simpsons face their greatest challenge yet - spending time in lockdown with each other,” it reads.
