Fiji V Wales: The Best Game Of The Rugby World Cup

Fiji 38 - Wales 34

This game will go down as one of the greatest rugby matches of all time. You would be hard pressed to find anyone who could not have been transfixed by a test that swung to and fro in each team's favour. Nobody really thought Fiji would score such an upset, even after an amazing first 30 where they racked up three tries in nine minutes (the best of the trio, Delasau chasing down - gazelle like - his own kick into the goal area and benefiting from a lucky bounce at full stretch that evaded both Welsh defenders).

Up until this point, Wales were panicking and it showed in their poor decision making and error rate. It also didn't help that both their kickers were having an off night. Stephen Jones seemed to achieve the impossble by hitting the uprights on three different occasions when going for goal. But with the first half nearly up, Wales began to strike back and added some magic of their own to this stunning test match.

The Welsh had it over the Fijians at scrum time, but as is beginning to show in this tournament, having a strong scrum doesn't necessarily win you the big ones (ABs take note). Fiji losing momentum also lost a player to the sinbin before the first half was up and going into the second, Wales began to claw back the deficit. They scored two tries which were quite simply, beautiful. One was a Shane Williams solo effort with his characteristic side step and speed carving up the Fijian defence. His swan dive as he crossed the line perhaps wasn't called for as Wales at this stage were still 12 point down and as it came to pass, a tad premature to start the celebrations.

The rest of the match was a tug of war with both sides gaining ascendancy in patches. It was nail biting stuff but with Nicky Little kicking well for Fiji they managed to keep the scoreboard ticking over, even though the Welsh outscored the Fijians 5 tries to 4. In the 73rd minute it finally looked like it would be over for Mosese Rauluni's men when Martyn Williams snatched an intercept off a loose Little pass and ran to the posts. But it wasn't over and against all odds, Fiji came back with the final try resulting from a Delasau run and a Fijian forward surge on adrenaline that saw the ball cross the Welsh line, and in the process break a million hearts in the valleys.

As Gareth Jenkins said in a very gracious post match interview: This was an incredible game of rugby that entertained the crowd and will be talked about in years to come. Both teams can hold their heads high.

Rugby World Cup: All Blacks Thrash Romania

All Blacks 85 - Romania 8

As I type this the Wallabies are 13 - 0 up at half time against the spirited Canucks. Hee, hee. Only 13 points up. If this were the All Blacks (jump back an hour and forget it's daylight savings), the New Zealanders with a second string Carterless outfit went into their half time break against the gritty Romanian 'Oaks' 36 - 5. Somewhat better than the Wobblies I should say.

The All Blacks played well tonight. Masoe had a blinder. Both McAlister and Evans showed why Henry's much moaned about rotation programme may soon start paying dividends (especially considering Carter could be out for a week or three). It would be great to see everyone stop harping on that the All Blacks are a one man team and that without Carter we're nothing at all. That's rubbish (Frank Bunce should know better), and if you're finding it difficult to swallow Frank, take a gander at Nick Evans. The man has class and more than steps up to the mark.

Keith Robinson returned and miracle of miracles, he didn't get injured. Mealamu, Toeava, Ellis and Mauger all put their hands up for quarter final selection. Thorne worked tirelessly as usual, Collins was his usual potent self and even Lauaki didn't do too bad. Rokocoko was hungry and duly rewarded with two stunning tries. The bustling subsitution of McCaw and Hore upped the tempo even more.

Ok, I'm getting over excited. I've been at the pub and it's late. But the All Blacks played clincially tonight, and Romania, although they were never going to be a threat played physically (rewarded with a try from a rolling maul on the All Black line in the second quarter). France (at this point I can't imagine it being Ireland or Argentina) will be a different proposition altogether. But tonight the New Zealanders did well. A big tally for a team that is beginning to show, they have a big heart. Roll on Cardiff.

Oh BTW - eight minutes into the second half - Australia still only have 13 points on the board. Come on Oz - that's a bit slow isn't it?

Rugby World Cup: England Go Through, Tonga Go Home

England 36 - Tonga 20

England managed to scrape together some decent moves in a match that saw a passionate contest between a fallen great and a rising minnow. For Tonga this was the end of the road for them in their best showing ever at a Rugby World Cup and the celebrations by all accounts were going on all night for them.

England too will be celebrating and eyeing now a quarterfinal with the Wallabies. Although the English should have it over the Wallabies in the front row, it is looking still like they will be sorely lacking and off the pace at the breakdown. Plus why do they have such lardy forwards? Hardly suitable for getting across the pitch at speed.

One bright light is the return of Jonny Wilkinson's form. He continues to add the structure and soul in an English team where confidence and spirit has been missing for too long. With Larkham out for the Wallabies, the untested as yet Berrick Barnes (and no, Fiji and Wales don't really cut it) might find himself under a little more pressure than usual when he comes to face Wilko next weekend.

Daniel Carter Injured

The nightmares of four million New Zealanders have come home to roost. Daniel Carter has injured his calf muscle (scream) and is looking in doubt for the quarterfinal against what is looking like the French (strangulated cry). No doubt there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the next few days. Many reports and news bulletins on the state of Dan's kicking leg; muscle tightness flowcharts, swelling updates and general dithering about where we're going to go from here.

One of the things that drives me crazy about the media is that they would have you believe that there are only four worthy All Blacks in the team (Carter, McCaw, Hayman and Muliaina) and the rest of them are just a hotch-potch to make up numbers. Yes Carter's injury is a slight set back but Nick Evans is a more than worthy replacement. And it takes more than a man to create a winning team (although some may argue Jonny Wilkinson did pretty well for England in 2003).

Speaktackles, Pacific Island rugby players and the Haka

Three topics that have provided the British media and British public (well the public that let Stephen Jones do the thinking for them) enough ammo to launch a nuclear attack on Mars. Some interesting things of note this week concerning New Zealand’s 3 mortal sins:

Tana Umaga has spoken out about his steartackle against BOD. And quite funny it is too (not the speartackle - heaven forbid I should say that – but the story concerning the second test following the tackle) so check it out.

With the All Blacks cruising into their pool easily, the usual judgemental sounds have started emanating out over the plight of the ‘poor’ pacific islanders. You know, the usual condescending drivel about the evil NZRFU snatching hapless Samoans and Fijians who can’t think for themselves to train into All Black killing machines yada yada. It is a yawn inducing, ignorant argument so instead of me trying to explain the geographical and political relationship between New Zealand and Samoa, read this for some enlightenment (if you really want to know).

The biggest whinge from the North however is always directed at the Haka. For some hot intellectual debate – check out the BBC message board - where hundreds can vent their spleen at naughty New Zealand. How dare we have a tradition? How dare we have skinny lips and grim, dour faces?!?!? How dare we play rugby better than the mother land?? The haka would be a lot less potent if people took a leaf out of Australia’s book and just had a laugh with it. All I know is when the moan-o-metre rises it means the All blacks must be doing ok. So bring it on. Ka kite.

All Blacks Strip

The storm in a teacup about the All Blacks grey strip clashing with the Scots during the test on Sunday at Murrayfield seems to have mercifully died down now. It still hasn’t stopped a few at the NZRFU get their two cents worth about teams changing the colour of their jerseys (France and Wales) to uniforms very similar to the All Blacks. They feel this is a cunning ploy to put the ABs off their game plan but really, it just looks like a hefty dollop of paranoia to me.

What flabbergasts me more is the fact that about 2000 counterfeit All Black jerseys were found winging their way to Paris in the suitcases of some entrepreneurial Italian street sellers (but this isn’t what surprises me). What does is the fact that the garments in question were seized by authorities. Why anyone would care whether an All Black jersey was counterfeit or not is beyond me. At the end of the day, it is a black shirt with a white silver fern on it. It has been like that for over 100 years. Since when did imitations become rip offs? Maybe when Adidas started sponsoring the NZRFU I guess. It is sad that a behemoth group of corporate galahs like Adidas who have built their fortunes on the back of sweat shops and the poor should think they now own the All Black brand as well.

Plus – Adidias are a pack of killjoys. Allez Les Noir writes about the lack of jersey swapping after the Portuguese game. Not to mention they have put together some of the most schmaltzy, cheesy advertising campaigns that ever existed. Or maybe all New Zealand advertising is like this. I'm just not used to it. Anyway, big thumbs down to Adidas. Bring Back Canterbury.

Rugby World Cup: New Zealand V Scotland

Scotland 0 - All Blacks 40

If this was five years ago, an All Black scoreline of 40 to O against the Scots would be a cherished moment. However, we’ve come to expect an awful lot of Henry’s All Blacks in the last few years and instead of jubilation there is a general feeling of disquiet that the New Zealanders have still not bought their A-game to this tournament.

The largest problem was the amount of turnover ball and unforced errors committed by the New Zealanders. The All Blacks play a high risk game but their handling constantly let them down, (with a few perpetrators in particular more guilty than others). Oh yes, their scrum was strong and their lineout not too bad, but they struggled for large amounts of the game to capitalise into points their forward superiority. Worrying.

Also disturbing was the lack of attack. The All Blacks were content to take the ball up inwardly, often excluding a backline that stood extremely flat. We didn’t get an opportunity to see the centre combination of Smith and McAlister work because the ball hardly ever went wide. When it did, rest assured there was a handling error to bring along a break in play.

This shouldn’t take away from a Scottish defence that was committed and got right into New Zealand faces a la Springbok style. The Scots played often to the edge of the law and managed to disrupt a kiwi team that seemed under-energised – content to force things in all the wrong places.

There is some anger at Frank Hadden too and his omission of star players to face the All Blacks. Not only did it temper down the spectacle on home turf at Murrayfield for the Scottish faithful(and kiwi fans); but it sent a message out to his own team that they are not good enough to win against the All Blacks. This isn’t a message that a top tier international rugby team should make in public. Fake it if you must, but don’t back down from a challenge. No matter how much you feel like moaning you haven’t got enough turnaround time between games.

For ruggerblogger player ratings - please go here. For match report: scrumbag

All Blacks V Scotland: NZ Player Ratings

Fullback: Leon MacDonald 6/10: Held the Scottish defence beautifully to set up Howlett’s first try. Unfortunately - injured for his troubles and subbed by Evans in the first ten.

Wing: Doug Howlett 9/10: Another cracker game. One of the few ABs that didn’t let himself down with butterfingers. Went looking for the ball and suitably rewarded with two test tries and the record for most tries ever scored by an All Black – stripping Christian Cullen of his longstanding record.

Centre: Conrad Smith 6/10: Left out for large parts of the test. Didn’t do much to make you feel either way he had a good or bad game at centre.

Inside centre: Luke McAlister 7/10: Some good breaks and crunching defence. Beginning to show why he is preferred inside centre to Mauger. But does he have the tactical mind that Mauger brings to both the All Blacks and Carter's game?

Wing: Sitiveni Sivivatu 3/10: Absolute crap. Terrible finishing and I have no tolerance for wingers who fumble the ball. Especially All Black wingers. Bring back Joe.

Flyhalf: Dan Carter 6/10: Opposition defences have worked him out recently. And they target him. His goal kicking percentages were poor. Hopefully just an off-night.

Halfback: Byron Kelleher 7/10: Some good kicking out of hand but some fumbles too. I don’t believe his form as is sharp as in recent years. Scored a strong try though.

Number 8: Rodney So'oialo 7/10: A tireless worker. Needed to have more vision at the back of such a dominant All Black scrum. Some good things but some bad things too.

Flanker: Richie Mccaw 8: Tireless as ever.

Flanker: Chris Masoe 7/10: Had a good game. Don’t know whether I would have awarded him man of the match. Definite improvement from his game in Portugal. Some storming runs and great tackles.

Lock: Reuben Thorne 6/10: Another hard worker. Got his fairshare of lineout too. As usual – more a behind the scenes worker than a flashy show pony.

Lock: Ali Williams 8/10: I think this guy adds x-factor to the ABs and we need someone like that at lock. We missed him when he was injured during the Tri-Nations. It wasn’t the perfect game by a long shot but he popped up in the right places. Great try too.

Prop: Tony Woodcock 8/10: One of the few All Blacks that I think is really on-form at the moment. He has played well all year. A strong outing.

Hooker: Anton Oliver 6/10: I know, I know. The front row had it over the Scots, but so they should have against a tartan B team. I don’t think Oliver should be in the starting 15 when we get to the quarters.

Prop: Carl Hayman 7/10: Seems to get more belligerent every time I watch him. One of the star men in the All blacks and rightfully so. I still worry about his discipline in the big games.

Notable Mentions

Nick Evans: Came on for McDonald. Can find a gap and has great acceleration. A useful back up at fullback – especially with his prodigious punt.

Sione Lauaki: Had a few storming runs in the dying minutes of his impact time. But you would expect your granny to have a storming run against a depleted Scottish side after they’ve tackled their intestines out for 70 minutes. He has yet to prove himself at test level as far as I’m concerned.

Andrew Hore: I believe he has really stood up in the last couple of games and is showing a lot of promise. Prefer him to Oliver by a country mile, (but Mealamu is still my main man). Still angry at him about the seal episode.

Rugby World Cup: Ireland pasted by triumphant France

France 25 - Ireland 3

It seems the luck of the Irish has finally run out. In a lacklustre display against a hungry French team they were reduced to just three points off a Ronan O'Gara drop goal. From here, it was bleak for Brian O'Driscoll's men. The big question is who is the most disappointing of the Super 6 in the Northern Hemisphere? England or Ireland? And was France that good or was it just that Ireland were completely abysmal?

Back again tomorrow for match analysis of South Africa V Tonga and England V Samoa. My heart says PI but my head thinks England can't play worse than last week and the South Africans are hitting gears like there's no tomorrow. We shall see.

For now now, I leave you with a scrumbag exclusive and the Wallabies ploy for derailing an All Black campaign (if either team makes it as far as a semi, that is). Ka kite.

Rugby World Cup: McCaw, Wales, Chabal And The Web

Apart from Scotland beating Romania there isn’t much to report rugby wise today so here a few bits to browse:

Jed of Alternative Rugby Fame has set up a Facebook site to ‘Save the Wales’ against the might of the Japan Cherry Blossoms in the next couple of days. If you love Wales or love watching Wales struggle (and that would just be mean); join Jed’s campaign to support the hapless Dragons on their quest to overthrowing Japan plus any possible breach of international (rugby) convention.

It was only a matter of time before the traditional war of words kicked off again between Stephen Jones and whatever smuck would rise to the bait (this time Jim Kayes pre-empting things at the Dom) with regards to the often perceived poaching of the pacific Islanders by the NZRFU. This debate has to be the most pointless, hypocritical and boring rugby argument since Tana-gate. Both sides need to call it a day and move on.

Richie McCaw has temporarily halted the All Black brawn drain and has signed to stay in New Zealand for another year – or three. I actually thought he had done this about two months ago, but I guess they’ve got to keep on churning out news stories somehow. Especially considering Bernard Laporte hasn’t spat the dummy for at least a week.

The UK Independent has an interesting online Rugby World Cup game. Alas – it never seems to work. I'd be interested to hear from anyone that has got it up and running. In the meantime, here are a couple of good free online games to have a punt at.

Now for something completely gratuitous: Sebastien Chabal. He is an oft searched for figure in the google engines so to increase my hits (a mere pittance at the mo) here is a profile and picture for all those dedicated Chabalists out there who hunger for news of the glamour boy of France (this excludes the Namibians who don’t seem too keen on him at the moment).

Rugby World Cup: Weekend Wrap

Well, what can we glean from the weekend's games? South Africa are getting better and better. England are diabolical. Tonga are just as good as Samoa and France are not as good as Argentina but better than Namibia (and most probably Ireland). Georgia should be feeling mighty proud of themselves, as should the Tongans and the US Eagles. England are no doubt worried about both South Sea Island teams in their pool when they come to face the punch of the Pacific in the next couple of weeks.

Disappointments focus mainly around the 'super 6' of the northern hemisphere with none of them doing much to earn respect thus far into the tournament. (The French thumping of minnow Namibia this morning although an exception, hardly a reason to start lauding Bernard Laporte's men as world beaters....). Scotland is another team that although underrated, will highly likely give the All Blacks a decent game. We hope.

The greatest victory perhaps has been for the minnow teams. Although not causing any upsets, they've played with passion and show why the Rugby World Cup tournament should not be watered down to a 16 team tournament when it is next played out in 2011. Plus, it is great to see these teams strike out every four years when they're otherwise unknown entities to the rest of the rugby world.

Of course, none of this really matters at all. Ireland could come back firing if (and it is a big if) they make it into the quarter finals against (what is looking like now) the All Blacks. The Welsh stuttered against an Australian side that like the South Africans, seem to be purring into peak perfection for the knockout stages.

At this stage, it is very hard to look past the big three of the Southern Hemisphere ripping apart the tournament at the seams. Maybe there is something to be said for the 'powder-puff' Super 14 after all. And central contracting...

Rugby World Cup: England Were Bad

South Africa: 36 - England: a big fat zero

I set my alarm early to watch South Africa and England clash in this much hyped world cup pool match. I really thought England were going to surprise everyone and at least be competitive. It wasn't to be. Key points I gleaned through my bleary eyed state were:

Andy Farrell must be the biggest white elephant that a backline could possess. I certainly can't fathom how he was ever considered one of the world's best league players. I never saw him play league but watching him run sideways, hospital passing whenever he touched the ball, or kicking so incredibly poorly surely proves once and for all, he should never have made the switch.

As for England's forwards. How could they fall so far from grace in just four years. What have they been playing at in training? Drinking games? At this level, it is hard to believe a professional sports team could be so unfit and so slow to the breakdown. There was never any support if on the rare occasion an English player broke the mould and tried to run in a straight line. They made it easy for the fit and firing South African loosies to turnover ball at will.

As for the South Africans. They looked sharp and hungry. A frightening prospect. All signs point to the fact they are peaking perfectly and I can't imagine this Bok outfit not making the final. Bryan Habana has come back from injury and is playing like a man possessed. The SA backline which throughout the Tri Nations lacked imagination and variety has sparked into life. They still don't seem to be able to score tries off set piece phases, preferring instead to scavenge off the opposition's mistakes. But with Eddie Jones helping out old Jake White, they are definitely beginning to bring more flair into that area of play.

The only saving grace for England? Jason Robinson. He played his heart out and devastating it must have been for the thousands of English supporters when his hamstring pulled up short on what would have been a straight run to the Springbok line. Heartbreaking for England. But bloody embarrassing too.

Tonga V US Eagles

Tonga 25 USA 15
When Tonga plays we can all expect a bit of crunch. And The Eagles didn’t disappoint either. It was a competitive match and even though Tonga started strongly, the Eagles matched them for possession and territory as the game wore in. The Tongans didn’t help themselves by some wayward kicking but managed to stay ahead of the spirited US who did well to pick themselves up so soon after their game against England in the weekend.

Fiji 35 Japan 31
I wish I could have managed to stay up for this one. It sounded like a stunner. Both teams can play that attractive running style of rugby and it would have been a nail biter for the Cherry Blossom and Fijian supporters. Poor old JK.

Italy 24 Romania 18
This was another unexpectedly close match, with the Romanians taking the Azzurri to the wire. Good on those Romanians god damn it. What has happened to Italy though? They showed so much promise in the Six Nations (ok, they didn’t win the wooden spoon for a change but that’s promising, surely?) I only saw the last twenty of this match and definitely the worst feature of this was some geriatric British commentator who moaned continually about the standard of the match and how boring it was. A lot like the sound of his voice, I thought.

Ireland 32 – Namibia 17

I was pleasantly surprised to receive a couple of lovely comments from a generous person (I have a suspicion s/he may be from Ireland) in my inbox today. He was inspired to leave some highly original remarks about New Zealand being a nation of sheepshaggers in reply to a couple of my recent posts implying that the Irish rugby team were on the decline. Well my dear friend ‘Muttoneater’, I’m afraid to say that after Ireland’s average performance against an impassioned Namibia side today, it appears my gloomy comments about your team may have some element of truth in them.

Eddie O’Sullivan and his men need to do something and fast to pick up their World Cup campaign as it looks very much at this stage on current form that they are the main contenders for elimination in Pool D –before the quarter finals even kick off. I hope this is not the case. I am a huge fan of the Irish and would hate to see them out of the competition, especially considering they have been one of the top teams in world rugby for the last few years.

New Zealand Thrash Italy

New Zealand 76 - Italy 14

The best news for All Black fans was that after a patchy Tri Nations - they seem to have hit the form we have all been waiting for. Admittedly - this match was against Italy who aren't exactly in the league of the Wallabies or South Africa. But keeping in mind that Italy did beat both Wales and Scotland in the Six Nations, on paper before the match, this could have been a much closer contest.

It wasn't to be. The Italians snubbing of the haka seemed to fire the All Blacks. The first twenty minutes looked like a game of touch between the All Blacks with six clean tries (the first two to McCaw) leaving Italy completely bewildered in their wake. The Italians had a strong scrum to match the New Zealanders and a couple of lucky tries to give them some consolation but this was really about an All Black team champing to get out of the blocks.

Wayne Smith acknowledged Carter's superb place kicking to create several tries for the ABs. Although you would have thought the NZ flyhalf was a complete dud if you read Paul Doyle's article in the Guardian. Interesting to note that Mr Doyle thinks Carter's kicking is shaky and presents a bad omen for the ABs. I see this as yet another British journalist clutching at straws but it still quite an interesting read. A more worrying omen for me is the fact that Carl Hayman was sinbinned once again. He needs to look at that.

Rugby World Cup: England, USA, Australia and the Cherry Blossoms

England 28 - USA 10

There must have been moments in the USA England test where the current world cup holders wondered just who the rugby minnow was supposed to be of these two teams. I didn't see this match but by all accounts The Eagles gave Brian Ashton's men a good run for their money. A quick skim of the British media concludes my investigations that England must have been quite dismal: "England were slow, clueless, imprecise and boring." and 'England were diabolical' suggest that poor old England didn't quite live up to their pre-match hype. Again.

Australia 91 - Japan 3

Australia scored 13 tries to none against John Kirwan's Japan although the Wallabies didn't have it all their own way with the Cherry Blossoms holding them to 23-3 at half time. A major blip for the Australians is the potential loss of one of their key backs, Mark Gerrard to a serious sounding knee injury. Gerrard is quite simply, a brilliant player. Losing him would be a major blow to the Wallaby campaign.

Argentina France

France 12 - Argentina 17

Bernard Laporte must be fuming! This morning (NZ time), 15 plucky Argentinians turned up and rained on France's opening ceremony parade by playing a game of tenacious defence and passion.

If the old cliche about Les Bleus: 'you never know which French team will turn up' is true - then certainly the French D team were out in force last night. I thought France were particularly let down by poor handling, nerves and lack of game plan. This probably wasn't helped by a very average first five combination of Mignoni and Skrela (surely Laporte can find someone better than these haphazard 'generals')? Their slow decision making and sloppy skills let down an entire backline that had limited chances to get in front of the gain line or produce any kind of flow.

In contrast - Argentina had it all over the French from explosiveness to backchat. Half back Augustin Pichot and fly half Juan Martin Hernandez out thought their opposites and directed the game fearlessly. Rallying their troops to never give up; Contempori slotted goal after goal in the first half, and a stunning breakaway try (the only one of the match) by Igancio Corleto must mean Los Pumas surely fancy their chances as this Rugby World Cup tournament begins.

For Match Report and Stats - check out Matt @ Green and Gold Rugby.

Rugby World Cup: New Zealand V Italy

As is often the case, the All Blacks and Azzurri are drawn to play each other in their opening match of this Rugby World Cup tournament. This could be both a good omen - think 1987 and John Kirwan’s spectacular try which will remain forever famous in the YouTube archives. Or alternatively not so good - 2003 where the Italians were thrashed by a ruthless All Black outfit with a peerless All Black backline inspired through the likes of Carlos Spencer and Joe Rokocoko. Unfortunately, this was the match that Tana Umaga was injured. And from here the wheels started to slowly come off the 2003 All Black campaign; letting the likes of Jonny Wilkinson’s boot and Stirling Mortlock’s cunning in.

My pick is New Zealand to win by at least 25. I could be hopeful. I could be misguided. In fact, I have my eyepatch on for sure now. Let’s just hope history does and doesn’t repeat itself (if you’re an All Black fan that is).

Rugby World Cup: Four More Years

Finally the ‘four more years’ of George Gregan’s taunts have come to pass. Four more years ends in less than 24 hours time when the Rugby World Cup kicks off in Saint-Denis tomorrow. The first test could be one of ‘the’ games of the tournament: France V Argentina. France on paper should cruise through but Argentina have been building a formidable pack and are seen as real dark horses. Could the Pumas be France’s first hiccup? (I not so secretly hope so).

Rugby World Cup Blogwatch: 3 Days To Go

The quiet before the storm. As office workers world wide start rolling out their Rugby World Cup sweepstakes, the traditional pre-match rugby reports start trawling out with the same old mundane rugby ‘news’ when there isn’t any rugby to watch:

Robinson and Wilkinson injured … again. Who will be the centre All Black pairing? The All Blacks resort to astrology and technology to end their twenty year curse. The English, Scottish and Azzurri are all hopeful. The French even more so; and the Portuguese not at all. The Cherry Blossoms (a most unrugby name for a team if ever there was one) are quaking in their boots about their first match with the Wallabies. The Tongan rugby team have shocked Bournemouth locals with the amount of food consumed during a gentle pub lunch. Steven Larkham doesn’t have a home to go now that Edinburgh has been bought out (and is rather worried). Plus, the Springboks are threatening to unleash a haka of their own (the mind truly boggles).

In the blogosphere, MiramarMike continues with a great blogwatch round up (which I have shamelessly drawn inspiration from). Total Flanker surmises that the Canterbury rugby brand is a lucky one and the Irish, Wallabies, Scottish and Springboks should have it over the lycra clad pretty boys with their scientifically enhanced shirts, sweaty ions and all (even if the Canterbury brand does mean those hardened Aussies and South Africans are wearing kiwis on their chests). Allez les Noir – my pals in the action have a good list of World Cup songs (particularly if you’re an All Black supporter) to get everyone in the spirit.

Roll on Saturday.

Keith Robinson - had his day with the All Blacks?

I think the All Black lock Keith Robinson is a great rugby player. When he is fit that is. But for big stretches of time (let’s face it, three years and nine months out of four) he is often sidelined because of injury. No matter how much mongrel he has in him (a term the New Zealand public lovingly shower on their toughest stars), the guy doesn’t have much mongrel when it comes to ankles, hamstrings and back complaints. More like new born puppy dog going in for a hip operation.

He is out now and due to miss the two opening matches of the Rugby World Cup because of another injury sustained in training. Which means the All Blacks start the tournament a player short. It is all very well to put faith in him but I don’t see him lasting the tournament (let's face it, he didn’t even last a warm up session before the second test against France in Wellington). Time maybe to start thinking about calling in the reserves, and sadly admitting that Keith has had his day. Brilliance is all very good on the rugby field. But it isn’t much use when you’re sat on the sideline with your leg in a cast looking swish in an Adidas tracksuit.

Doug Howlett signs with Munster

It is official. Thousands of women the length and width of New Zealand will be switching off their television sets next year when the All Blacks next play. The reason? Doug Howlett, the man who has inspired even the most uninterested female to watch rugby, has signed a two year contract to join Munster in Ireland. Which means no more Auckland Blues and no more All Blacks plus many broken hearts in his wake.

I realised Howlett's appeal when I sat watching an AB test in a pub in Amsterdam a couple of years ago. There was a small crowd of locals cooing his name. Actually - I realised his international appeal before then, but obviously my suspicions were now confirmed. Howlett has been a faithful servant to the NZRFU and a player that has always shown a great amount of dignity as well. You would never see Doug in a scrap (it would ruin his lovely locks after all), or backchat a ref. But mostly, Doug has been a scintillating finisher. Good luck Doug. New Zealand's loss is Munster's gain.

UPDATE: Doug gets in trouble for some late night tap dancing

UPDATE: For news of Doug's wedding