DPA
Sydney

Kick-off for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final in London couldn’t come at a worse possible time for fans down under but they intend to make the best of the situation.
In Sydney, the game between Australia and New Zealand’s All Blacks starts at 3 am Sunday - an hour earlier in Brisbane as Queensland doesn’t have daylight saving.
In New Zealand the match begins at only a slightly more civil 5 am, but who wants to watch rugby over a cup of tea or coffee while still waking up?
So the dilemma facing rugby fans is whether to stay up all night to watch the game in the early hours of Sunday, or catch a bit of sleep and wake up in time for kick-off.
Recording the game and watching it at a civilized hour is out of the question for serious fans - cheers from neighbours watching the game live will wake them up anyway.
“It’s terrible for kids - they want to be woken up for the game but I doubt they’ll be able to see it through to the end,” mum of two Julie Hill told dpa.  
England’s World Cup organisers must have shunned the thought that two teams from the antipodes might end up battling it out for the final, so set the kick-off at the unusual time of 4pm Saturday London time (1600 GMT).
The official reason for the time - neither afternoon nor evening - is that London public transport needs time to get 80,000 spectators away from the ground before nightfall.
A cheeky online petition from Australian fans even asked for the kick-off time to be changed but organisers were unmoved Wednesday, pointing out the time was agreed in - consultation with governing body World Rugby - back in November
2013.
Pubs in Sydney are planning long nights of beer and coffee for the thousands of fans from both sides expected to flood in.
Fan website greenandgoldrugby.com is giving advice on how to pace the weekend and which pubs will be open in the early hours of Sunday.
Australian players Scott Fardy and Ben Alexander own The Dock pub in Canberra which is offering a free beer for anyone who can match Fardy’s beard.
Sydney’s Coogee Bay Hotel can fit 2,000 people in its various bars with giant screens set up for the game.
“We have a 24 hour licence and normally close at 4am for cleaning, but we’ll stay open all night as we expect thousands of rugby fans to come and watch on the big screens we set up,” hotel manager Owen Bevan told dpa.
“We don’t expect any trouble from fans after a night of drinking. This is rugby after all, not football, and the Aussies and Kiwis get on well even if there is a bit of friendly banter.”
Fans around the world can watch the game at midnight Saturday in Hong Kong at The Globe pub, noon Saturday in New York City at The Australian bar, and 11am Saturday in Houston Texas at - yes - the Springbok Bar.