All Blacks and Wales and the All Whites 2010

All Blacks V Wales at the Brook and still we grumble

It seems like a century ago that the All Blacks comfortably beat Wales for the last test match in Carisbrook. I only saw the second half of this match but switching on the TV at half time I thought it was the All Blacks who were losing - judging the glum way commentators were moaning on. In fact it was NZ who were leading at half time which had me thinking – what do these poor blighters have to do to get a smile out of rugby followers in this country?

Inevitably, the All Blacks answered their critics in the second spell. The Welsh as fiery as they were in the first half, did the usual northern hemisphere tactic of running out of steam as the minutes progressed in the second. The All Blacks then turned on a vintage display and with Dan Carter showing glimpses of his Rolls Royce 2005 form, this was a second half to savour. For a full match report I couldn’t go past green and gold rugby - made extra sweet as it is an Australian pen waxing lyrical.

England V Australia and England V NZ Maori

Unfortunately across the ditch Oz didn’t fare so well with Matt Giteau having a nightmare evening with the boot. This gave the English the test and we now have to put up with all sorts of churchillian headlines in the British broadsheets about this new dawn for English rugby (if the All Blacks were coming back from the Northern Hemisphere with two losses, two wins and a draw – we’d be calling for Graham Henry’s head on a Catherine Wheel).

Unfortunately for England, they couldn’t quite hold the momentum of that rare win on Australian soil, and were soundly defeated by the Maori in Napier last night. It was a great game with both teams running the ball and playing rugby in the spirit that we love it to be played. Hosea Gear put his hand up for All Black honours with a hat trick of tries and even the English showed some exciting invention - which had most gasping in disbelief.

Suzy strikes at the All Whites training camp

On a strictly non rugby related note, I couldn’t miss mentioning the All Whites and their miraculous draw with incumbent world champions Italy at the football world cup. This is huge news for New Zealand sports fans and it is great that everyone has got behind the team.

I doubt very much that we will be able to beat or draw with Paraguay who definitely look the form team of the group. However we have extra worries to contend with now. It appears Suzy the waitress is once again in our midst with NZ star defender Ryan Nelsen currently suffering a stomach bug. Echoes of 1995 rumble on, can we ever escape these harsh memories?

Neemia Tialata

I’m not a fan of Tialata on the field - he is no Carl Hayman. But my heart softened when I read his twitter page earlier. “G/morning tweeps! 2day, 2morrow, & always u are love & wished the best the future brings... So best wishes and let's be the best 2day... “ tweets Neemia.

I don’t know what the old school All Blacks of pinetree’s era would make of all that, but I think it’s quite nice when a rugby player is in tune with his inner new age mantra via social networking. And it never hurts anyone when you wish them love.

Carl Hayman chooses Toulon over the All Blacks

I have come out of the doom and gloom to write about Carl Hayman’s choice to play in Toulon next year, rather than represent the All Blacks in the next world cup.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Hayman, particularly as we’ve had to endure Neemia Tialata’s ineffectiveness for the last three years.

But now he’s not coming home. Whether it is a big loss or not for New Zealand rugby (and a year ago I would have said ‘yes’, but since then I’ve seen Luke McAlister arrive back from the Northern Hemisphere a diminished player) is by the by.

The wider issue being discussed is whether New Zealand players should be allowed to play for a Northern hemisphere club and the All Black test team in the same season.

My answer is no.

For a start – a wealthy northern hemisphere club would not be prepared to release their players for training or tests to New Zealand (gawd, English clubs don’t do it for their own English team members so I very much doubt they would ever do it for a New Zealander).

Secondly, the New Zealand public would lose even more interest in the over hyped super 14 and the NZRFU would continue to lose revenue which means we would continue to lose even more stars.

Thirdly, skills levels of those stars plying their trade overseas would not be aligned with New Zealand rugby. Luke McAlister is a perfect example of this. He left as an up and coming star and has returned Joe Average. (More of the same is expected from Chris Jack and Aaron Mauger).

While I can understand Hayman’s choice to take the money, I wonder how he will feel come world cup time. If the All Blacks lose, no doubt he’ll be highly relieved. If they win, it may be another story for him altogether.

But he’s loaded now so that’s all ok because money is the answer Yeah right.

Carl Hayman returning to New Zealand from Newcastle?

By pure guess work I pondered nearly two months ago that Carl Hayman might think about returning home to New Zealand after Northern Rock – the bank that sponsors his UK club Newscastle – had to be bailed out by the UK government during these last few turbulent months of the credit crisis. Now it looks like my speculation might actually turn into reality.

Although Hayman’s return isn’t confirmed – the speculative news gets unbelievably better for rugby supporters in Taranaki. It looks like the big man might be planning on signing up with his home province and returning back to Taranaki – with a super 14 contract extended to the Hurricanes.

Great news indeed, although it’s all still up in the air at the moment so we can’t completely count our chickens. Unlike Richard Reid - Otago chief poobah - who was quoted as saying on Hayman’s possible return to Taranaki:

"I don't think it is accurate, Carl may be interested in returning to New Zealand but I think it is drawing a long bow to say that he would settle in a place like New Plymouth." Erm note to Richard – sometimes blood turns out to be thicker than water. We’ll just see eh?

Meanwhile up North, apparently Hayman has not exactly had the most successful time of it. Plagued by injury and not with the same calibre of players and coaches that surrounded him in the back shirt; it would be easy to understand why his form has probably dipped.

However, a quick skim of the BBC message boards and you would think that the strength of the Northern hemisphere forward packs have been too much for him. Here’s a delightful little quote from ‘Jagdiver’ who writes of Hayman’s ability:

“I've never seen him do anything special - best TH in the world - cobblers!! Done nothing for Falcons but trouser his pay. Hopefully the first of many overpaid under abilitied (sic) foreigners to clear off and allow some of the excellent British & Irish players in the lower leagues to step up.”

It seems people of Jagdiver’s ilk have short term memories indeed. Wasn’t it only a couple of weeks ago that the English rugby team got beaten soundly, again, by all top three sides in the Southern Hemisphere?

Two weeks fly by and all of sudden everyone up north gets a case of amnesia and starts hammering on again about how they’re just so superior in strength, forward play and not to mention – an oh so superior club competition. Same story – different year. Yawn.

And sorry – but the real greed? It’s not players like Hayman. Of course you’re going to take the money if it’s offered to you. You’d be a fool not too! The real greed comes from the European clubs that are not only killing the game at national level for their own countries, but also managing to make it grossly unfair when they drain players from countries that don’t have the financial prowess to keep up with them.

Could it be that this global credit crisis might actually do the world of rugby some good in the long run? I hope so.

All Blacks Grand Slam

Sorry everyone that I've been off the radar for quite some time (as all three of you have probably noticed). I've been doing other things as of late but with the Autumn Internationals now on and in full swing, I've got a few thoughts to throw into the blogosphere. What do you think?

• Wayne Barnes. Did he favour the ABs or the Scots? The Scots think no and so do the All Blacks. Should the dude just be dropped from the IRB panel for good?



• The credit crunch. What does this mean for rich English clubs like Newcastle that are sponsored by the languishing Northern Rock? Could we see some former All Blacks such as Carl Hayman coming back to the shores of Aotearea to ply their trade? God I hope so.



• Is Danny Cipriani the new Daniel Carter or is he another Andrew Sheridan - buoyed up by the British media only to fall on his face?



• Why did the Wallabies struggle against Italy?



• And does this guy have a bee in his bonnet or what??

Also - thanks to The Naly D Scene for giving me a mention on their blog. Thanks ... I think! "Her writing is good and her insight is valuable - a lack of real technical analysis and the fact there are only news posts after the All Blacks play are both a positive and a negative, however."

Ouch! Well Naly D, thanks for that and kia ora. I just write about rugby from a female perspective. It doesn't all have to be put in technical terms, I personally think the blog makes for better reading if it isn't generally layered with jargon, but I appreciate the link and hope you come back soon.

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.

how luke mccalister got sold on sale

There has been a lot written in the last couple of days about Luke McAlister signing up for a two year deal with Sale in England. A lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth from the New Zealand public and media that is...

The guy is too young. He is only twenty three. He'll never reach his potential. He has ruined his rugby playing chances. He is selfish and is too worried about the the money. He has devalued the All Black jersey. Why would anyone want to go and live in Manchester anyway. The weather is horrible in Manchester. Blah blah blah.

I do think Luke McAlister is a wonderful player; in a kind of Carlos Spencer way, that is. All those chip kicks and little searing runs (when he probably should have passed because there was an overlap). When the team is on song, so is he. But when they’re up the proverbial creek without a paddle, you probably won’t see him making such a clean break towards the banks for safety. He can definitely be spectacular but sometimes I think he lacks a bit of substance and is a bit too flashy. I still wish him luck and am surprised that anyone would begrudge him an OE.

But why the fuss about McAlister in the first place? Wouldn’t a bigger song and dance have been more appropriate for the true rock of this All Black team in the form of Carl Hayman. Instead, we get nothing. Just a resigned shrug of the shoulders and ‘oh well, there was nothing we could do’ by the NZRFU ‘we offered him a farm but he wanted to go Newcastle’. It seems to me strange that while we all seem to have been mourning the loss of McAlister for the last couple of months - we've let a true gem sure slip through our fingers.

And Manchester? Well it is an awesome city and anyone that writes otherwise has obviously never been there. It knocks the socks off Auckland for a start.