Why should I say any more than that, when he does it so well himself. 3-0? Four Moore Years!
I can’t wait for him to come out here for our 2011 “World Cup of Campervans” as he called it. No doubt he’ll get room service up in his BBC Ivory Tower suite.
Tuesday 30 June 2009
Wednesday 17 June 2009
Vive L‘Ovalie.
Excellent. I was always looking forward to the Wellington test against France because I figured it would be a match between two first string teams. It has not panned out that way; NZ have had a shocker of selection rout, and France’s supposed second stringers (well, less Clermont-Auvergne and Perpignan players) beat us.
I was in Cardiff for the quarter final defeat, and saw this as our chance to redress the balance in the All Black’s favour. It has not panned out that way, and now we are fighting to save the series. We are also trying to stop a team getting 3 from 3 against us. What other country can claim that as a record?
We write Les Bleus off at our peril. We can’t just lump the Top 14 in with the English Premiership and label it all “boring Northern Hemisphere rugby”. They came to play. They beat us. They, literally, maulled us.
I’d replace the Powerade logo on those training tops with ‘Must try harder’.
Now Henry & Co. have to deliver. They have a tendency to nail their colours to certain players very quickly, elevating them to the Test team one week, then dropping them next week when it does not come off. I know we are depleted by injury, but bar Cory Jane & Bard Thorne in Dunedin, we were piss poor and off the pace. Complacent. The brains trust have had a week to counter Picamoles, Ouedraogo and Dusautoir, as well as the rush defence that blitzed us.
Chabal is a side show. If our loosies don’t front up, we’ll lose again.
No.s 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10, 12 and 13 all need to dig deep. And can we end the Toeava experiment? If a coach says his future is at 15 then why persist with dumping the kid in at centre in Tests? No wonder he can’t settle. Looking forward to Smith & Nonu paying together - its a chance for them to step up and prove they are a winning combo.
Its not the end of the world as its so early in the season, and the reaction was always going to be more along the lines of serious navel gazing than real fan outrage because its the French. You can’t hate the French ... they play the kind of rugby we espouse as our own. Enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with losing to a better, classier team. Frankly, if the French play as well this week, and beat a lacklustre NZ side again, I would not be sad.
If the rain stays away it should be a cracker, and I hope the atmosphere builds to match the game’s significance. I hope we throw the proverbial kitchen sink at them - treat it as a knockout match and drop them on the canvas. Ding ding. KO. And then the first Lions/Springbok Test is on at 1am. Ouch.
Vive L‘Ovalie. Allez les noirs!
I was in Cardiff for the quarter final defeat, and saw this as our chance to redress the balance in the All Black’s favour. It has not panned out that way, and now we are fighting to save the series. We are also trying to stop a team getting 3 from 3 against us. What other country can claim that as a record?
We write Les Bleus off at our peril. We can’t just lump the Top 14 in with the English Premiership and label it all “boring Northern Hemisphere rugby”. They came to play. They beat us. They, literally, maulled us.
I’d replace the Powerade logo on those training tops with ‘Must try harder’.
Now Henry & Co. have to deliver. They have a tendency to nail their colours to certain players very quickly, elevating them to the Test team one week, then dropping them next week when it does not come off. I know we are depleted by injury, but bar Cory Jane & Bard Thorne in Dunedin, we were piss poor and off the pace. Complacent. The brains trust have had a week to counter Picamoles, Ouedraogo and Dusautoir, as well as the rush defence that blitzed us.
Chabal is a side show. If our loosies don’t front up, we’ll lose again.
No.s 1,2,3,6,7,8,9,10, 12 and 13 all need to dig deep. And can we end the Toeava experiment? If a coach says his future is at 15 then why persist with dumping the kid in at centre in Tests? No wonder he can’t settle. Looking forward to Smith & Nonu paying together - its a chance for them to step up and prove they are a winning combo.
Its not the end of the world as its so early in the season, and the reaction was always going to be more along the lines of serious navel gazing than real fan outrage because its the French. You can’t hate the French ... they play the kind of rugby we espouse as our own. Enjoy it. There is nothing wrong with losing to a better, classier team. Frankly, if the French play as well this week, and beat a lacklustre NZ side again, I would not be sad.
If the rain stays away it should be a cracker, and I hope the atmosphere builds to match the game’s significance. I hope we throw the proverbial kitchen sink at them - treat it as a knockout match and drop them on the canvas. Ding ding. KO. And then the first Lions/Springbok Test is on at 1am. Ouch.
Vive L‘Ovalie. Allez les noirs!
Monday 8 June 2009
Welcome Back Luke
He tried the best he could in Cardiff in 2007, then headed off to chase a Heineken Cup with Sale (Dad would never let him play for the Canes you see).
Now he is back, and getting the Travellator into the All Blacks first XV, barely having cleared customs, and only having taken part in the BaaBaas Wallaby Love Fest.
Good luck to him, I say. He is a player that has the ‘X’ we all love to watch, but can we please stop harping on about him being the BandAid for No. 10 while DC is sunning it up on crutches in Southern France ... remember that he has spent two seasons at 13 for Sale, in the plod of the Guinness Premiership. Give him a chance sure, but give Donald a chance too.
The NZRU better not get sucked in to a bidding war for Sonny Bill. Bugger him. He has to prove himself too, and if he really wants to be an All Black he will. But he has to come to us.
Don't know if much can be read in to that Wallaby win. They will not get any time and space against us and the Boks. Last time they will post more than 25 points this year.
Bring on the French. Oh lala!
Now he is back, and getting the Travellator into the All Blacks first XV, barely having cleared customs, and only having taken part in the BaaBaas Wallaby Love Fest.
Good luck to him, I say. He is a player that has the ‘X’ we all love to watch, but can we please stop harping on about him being the BandAid for No. 10 while DC is sunning it up on crutches in Southern France ... remember that he has spent two seasons at 13 for Sale, in the plod of the Guinness Premiership. Give him a chance sure, but give Donald a chance too.
The NZRU better not get sucked in to a bidding war for Sonny Bill. Bugger him. He has to prove himself too, and if he really wants to be an All Black he will. But he has to come to us.
Don't know if much can be read in to that Wallaby win. They will not get any time and space against us and the Boks. Last time they will post more than 25 points this year.
Bring on the French. Oh lala!
Monday 1 June 2009
Who’s No. 1? Not us.
South Africa are World Champs, World Sevens Champs, and now the Bulls are back-to-back Super 14 winners. They are by any measure the best rugby nation in the world.
New Zealand? Not sure where we stand. I think it could be one of those ‘fair to middling’ years for the All Blacks. You know, those years where we will keep (but not blitz) the Bledisloe Cup, but not get the Tri Nations ... that will go to the battle-hardened Boks, fresh from taming the Lions.
The loss by the Chiefs looked very ugly on the scoreboard, but I don’t think its fair for any Kiwi fans to gripe about them getting there - it was no fluke. The Canes looked like walking wounded as that semi final ended, if they had managed to win, they would have been eaten in a final.
No Carter. No McCaw. No Williams. No Sivivatu. Should be an interesting season, and one that may (I said ‘may’) allow some fresh faces to stand out. But at least they didn’t pick Luaki.
I can’t wait for the second test against France on June 20 in Wellington - it will be the rematch for Cardiff in 2007. We better watch out ...
New Zealand? Not sure where we stand. I think it could be one of those ‘fair to middling’ years for the All Blacks. You know, those years where we will keep (but not blitz) the Bledisloe Cup, but not get the Tri Nations ... that will go to the battle-hardened Boks, fresh from taming the Lions.
The loss by the Chiefs looked very ugly on the scoreboard, but I don’t think its fair for any Kiwi fans to gripe about them getting there - it was no fluke. The Canes looked like walking wounded as that semi final ended, if they had managed to win, they would have been eaten in a final.
No Carter. No McCaw. No Williams. No Sivivatu. Should be an interesting season, and one that may (I said ‘may’) allow some fresh faces to stand out. But at least they didn’t pick Luaki.
I can’t wait for the second test against France on June 20 in Wellington - it will be the rematch for Cardiff in 2007. We better watch out ...
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