The parents might well have preferred to stay in bed, or to have indulged in a leisurely breakfast at home.
But, most parents appreciate they have only a slender window of opportunity during which to enjoy their children’s sporting endeavours. There may be fumbles but there will be fun, and in most households the result will be the least important element.
The payoff for parents comes at secondary school when sporting skills are blossoming and entertainment value provides a dividend for sideline time spent.
No-one playing these amateur games would consider their time wasted. And, no-one watching would, either.
The perfect example of where sporting spectacle tops results is embodied by the Harlem Globetrotters. Who would suggest watching these geniuses of the basketball court was a waste of time because they are not collecting points towards a competition win?
Then, of course, there are the Olympic gymnasts and figure skaters, and the freestyle skiers, competing in events where, for the majority, the results are, again, relatively unimportant. Are these athletes and their spectators wasting their time?
So, now we are waiting for the North-South rugby clash - a game on which nothing very much depends - to start, pending a New Zealand Rugby decision in the middle of Covid-19 restrictions.
There are no points to be had, no provincial parochialism at stake, no playoff to make.
It is one of those rare occasions in professional rugby where it can be said: It is just a game. Who wins, who loses, will barely matter.
One northern sports journalist has suggested playing the North-South game will be a waste of time. Well, perhaps so for any sports journalist whose raison d’etre is analysing result sheets and points tables.
But, who would be so obtuse as to suggest watching 30 of the world’s best rugby players together on a field where the result is secondary to individual displays of skill is a waste of time?
What a breathe of fresh air this game is likely to be. Those dour exchanges where only points matter will, hopefully, be replaced by sublime displays of ball-handling skills - the sorts of skills children dream of achieving or perhaps more accurately parents dream of their children achieving.
As for the professional rugby players and administrators involved, there is their own enjoyment of the sport they have chosen, but also their heavy reliance for their pay packets on providing a spectacle entertaining enough for rugby fans to devote 80 minutes of their weekend to. They will not see this game as a waste of time.
Here’s hoping for 80 minutes of entertaining, anything goes, champagne rugby - the sort of stuff that keeps us tuning in to watch the Highlanders, even when the points do not go their way.
And, even though some rugby fans might find the match a waste of time, it would be interesting to know how they employed their time in a better way.
