'Your hospitality is unmatchable'

Henry Goodburn is not miserable at missing the Wales-Samoa game in Hamilton because of his hosts' kindness. Photo / Natalie Slade

A tourist stranded by car trouble has praised New Zealanders' hospitality after his mechanic missed a Rugby World Cup match in order to host him for dinner.

Welsh rugby fanatic Henry Goodburn's rental vehicle broke down twice near Napier and he missed his side's match against Samoa in Hamilton on Sunday.

Malcolm Reid of Malcolm Reid Auto & Electrix in Napier sacrificed his ticket to see Canada play France there that night after Mr Goodburn was told it would take five hours to get a replacement rental to him.

Instead, Mr Reid and his wife, Beverley, invited Mr Goodburn home to watch the day's matches over beers and a roast pork dinner.

When Mr Goodburn finally made it to Hamilton at 1am on Monday, he sent an email to the Herald titled, "Your hospitality is unmatchable".

"I'm not miserable that I missed the game, as instead I experienced true hospitality from some extremely generous people," he wrote.

Mr Goodburn said his host gave him a tour of Napier's sights and vineyards before dinner, a "fantastic gesture" in itself.

Mr Reid was reluctant to discuss missing the Canada-France match - the only World Cup ticket he had - and labelled the sacrifice "nothing".

"I just felt really bad for him. I thought, 'Well, we've got to try and brighten up his day a little bit'," Mr Reid said.

"That's just the way it is ... It's nice if you can find a friendly face when things aren't quite going right.

"If I was overseas I would just hope someone would do that for me or my kids.

"If they can go back overseas and say New Zealand's not a bad place to be, that's good for us."

Mr Reid said they set their guest up with a plate of roast pork and vegetables in front of the television.

"We made him eat it on his lap so he didn't have to take his eyes off the television."

Mr Goodburn, a Luxembourg-based Welshman, is touring New Zealand for a month during the cup.

He said the Reids' hospitality turned around what was shaping up as a bad day - and the fact that Wales won 17-10 didn't hurt either.