It gets worse

If the week just gone by was hard to bear as a Kiwi living in London, then things now are going to be worse ... and come next Sunday we may simply go into hiding.

Fi and I came clearly off the fence yesterday. We picked France because they beat us, but last night we found ourselves at a friend’s birthday out in E16, surrounded in enemy territory, and the natives were waving their plastic St George flags and inflatable hammers in our faces - jingoistic tat left over from when they last dipped out in whatever football tournament they were in. I tell you, there is nothing worse than condescending sympathy from a Pom who could not probably name 4 people in their own team. I bit my tongue and muttered into my Feijoa vodka.

Boring, boring Arsenal ... I mean England; they’ve done it again. Their play is ugly, it’s mostly one dimensional, it is so far from 15 man rugby it hurts, and most of those players probably put in only solid, 6/10 performances ... but cumulatively it was an effective tournament style again (their only style) and found themselves in the final. Well done. (Teeth grinding)

Was it simply last week replayed? With France as us, and England grinding them down? I thought so. Wilko was such a trooper, and Jason Robinson is also a huge talisman for them, but take away Traille’s brain explosion that allowed Lewsey to fall over for a try after 80 seconds (with condescending head pat too) and it was all boot. That’s enough to win tight games I suppose, but I maintain England are still too slow when throttle is needed, rudderless in the backs and just plain terrified of width - if Argentina get past the Springboks tonight (a game I will watch, but can’t predict) then Contepomi and Hernandez may well drill them all over the pitch.

Tickets for next week? Oh, those puppies are worth a fortune now. My Mum went last night, but is selling her final tickets. As England scrap their way to another game, all the City Boys and part-time fans are seeping out the Clive Woodwork ... these sorts will not hesitate to pay £2,000, hell, £5,000 simply because they can, and want to relive Agincourt even if they have to charter a jet. Tosseurs ... but nice of them to beef up the retirement funds of Kiwis.

I have heard mutterings that a lot of people in NZ want Graham Henry to stay on - and why not. I think that would show a lot of maturity by us, and since the guy only lost something like 7 out of 48 games he deserves to have another crack with maybe a rejigged team under him. He was possibly 2 minutes from redemption in Cardiff.

Sigh. Have to leave the house now, and walk out in to the ‘Newest Rugby Nation in the World’. At least we live in E1 ... the locals round here don’t focus on rugby too much.

Now am I right in thinking, that because France lost last night, they failed to overtake us in the rankings, so unless SA win, England and Argentina can’t move high enough to pip us either. We’d stay the number one team in the world? Crazy.

Life (and the Tournament) Goes On

There is a lot of rugby left still, and I want to watch it now. After the weekend I thought I would just pass on the remaining games, but why should I? Doesn’t logic dictate that I should now follow France, the team that dared to beat us? Surely it would stroke our egos just that little bit to have the team that beat us go all the way to lift the trophy? Clearly Fi and I would liked to have gone to Paris this weekend, and in fact we have Eurostar tickets and hotels booked ... but without the All Blacks playing it seemed pointless. We’ll take the ticket refund, stick the telly on here in London come Saturday night and probably see a good game. France v England ... who in the world could be more pumped up than these two teams now?

And who deserves it most? Do the poll to the right - if nothing else it’ll be interesting to see if anyone besides our Mum & Dads are reading.

Will the French be content to cat and mouse it again, waiting for cracks? Will the resurgent Men of St George come a cropper against a pack that can actually scrum? Sheridan has been canonised again this week by the UK media; will it last? Surely some interesting head to heads though: Elissalde v Gormasall, Sea Bass v Simon Shaw, Jonny v Beauxis, Betsen & Dusautoir v Moody, Regan v Ibanez. It could be a great game, though I think England have already won their World Cup. Sigh.

Poor Doug Howlett! Looks like expensive French pop might have got to him and the others here in London into a bit of trouble. Either that or he freaked out at the bill for his room. Trust me, even though the Hilton Heathrow does not sound flash, that place (like all UK hotels) is not cheap, but £12,500 on the bar! Picture Sione Luaki asking the barman repeatedly for a “Quick F*ck”. These guys get so much free Steinlager they have no idea what a drink actually costs. Who signed for that tab? Red Card yourself, lads. There must be some cracking CCTV footage floating round though. At least Dougie could have attacked a French car? I feel a new ad campaign and Peugot endorsement package for Doug coming on ...

I think with what I have read in the last few days that we are all calming down about the early exit. There has been humour, reflection ... and even strategic planning, like this from The Dropkicks via Some Foreign Field. I love the idea. We need the Pumas NOW, and with all the excitement being generated in Argentina over the rugby, I am sure Argentinians would love to see their team play at home - not in Spain like UK media keep banging on about. Even Syd Millar says there is no room in the 6N for them. Will someone at SANZAR or Thorndon Quay get planning this straight away, so we are ready in 2010 when the current TV BS deal ends. Does anyone know if Murdoch has a presence in Argentina? That may affect News Corp’s enthusiasm for letting the Pumas in.

Can’t remember where I read it, but someone, somewhere suggested making all end of year tour games into qualifiers, or somehow integral to establishing seedings for future World Cups, so that the resulting pools are more balanced (noticed how all semi-finalist came from just two pools i.e. not ours or Australia’s?). The logic is that countries would not send weak squads away because it could affect their World Cup seeding. It has merit.

And while we are on the subject of revolutionising rugby, how about a revolutionary who played it: Che Guevara

But in the big picture, what does it all mean? It took me a few days to pick up a paper again here, and then a couple more before I returned to reading the front pages first ... and then I started reconnecting with the real world. Puts it in perspective, huh?

Other news:

• As well as being arrogant and sore losers, Kiwis can’t sit still for 80 minutes
• Zinny is not happy
• The Football Ferns are now world class
  

Maybe we’ll find time to talk about the Springboks v Las Pumas tomorrow - personally I’d back the Argetinians - they showed a lot o’ spunk, and their football skills at time outshine their rugby skills in the loose. They can toe ahead a ball so well, they don’t need forward passes from hands ... let it go.

Allez Les Bleus (harrumph)
Lu

Buggeur!

A nod to Griff’s message that, and it sums it up really. Now 24 hours has passed, I have calmed down since wanting to put a foot through one of Millenium Stadium’s plethora of urinals, and I think I can shrug the shoulders and move on. Hell, aren’t we getting used to this?

It started to become obvious with 25 mins left - that nagging, sinking feeling that the pendulum had swung, and the game was slipping from the All Blacks. France showed a lot of heart, they were backed by incredibly vocal support all night.

Where did they get all the tickets? Who thought 70,000 people would turn up to watch a game of force back?

Again we had great seats - we could see Rodney’s dreads strain as the French forwards were pulling them on the deck. And we were close enough that we all saw Michalak’s forward pass (even Francois Pelous’ Mere, Pere & Wife who were next to us) right in front of us, but no one with a whistle or a flag did. That was the nail in the coffin, or Henry’s wrong rub of the green. Fact is, we came up short (no Plan B ... again?), and it could have just as easily happened in the semi or the final had we got through. I think we got strangled more than us choking.

Add to that, the disappearing act of the advantage the ref gave us when it looked to me the French had slapped down the ball in front of the posts in the dying seconds and ... well, here I go again. C’est la vie.

We had an awesome time at the games we got to; the game against in Portugal in Lyon was a great day out (please keep it at 20 teams and respect the minnows), and Toulouse was also a joy. I actually wish that all our games were in France as Edinburgh and Cardiff just felt less carnivallike, or maybe just a little too familiar. Probably all the wasted New Zealanders - it went from carnival to just plain Carnage.

I just feel sorry for all the people coming over from NZ on tours now (my Mum included) who won’t be watching their own team now .... scalp the tickets! If there is a silver lining, its a cash one for us, as our package guarantees us a refund of the semi final we did not make. So, voila ... Xmas in Morocco is paid for.

Hope the Argies go through now against Scotland. And I hope that France have enough in the tank to fight off a revitalised England ... i.e. I want someone to win it for their first time.

Thanks France. Thanks Ted, Steve & Wayne ... thanks ABs. And good luck the outbound ABs: Chris Jack, Aaron Mauger, Luke McAlister, Anton Oliver, Carl Hayman, Byron Kelleher ... did I forget anyone? There’s so many. Oh, Dougie Howlett ... why were you not on the field?

By next August we’ll be No. 1 again, so why is this thing such a ‘Holy Grail’? We do bette rwhen we are underdogs.

Doesn’t it suck there was not a World Cup in 2005?

Fi ... time to step up and post, lass.

Its all about the Brand

Tourism New Zealand is to build a giant Rugby Ball Venue in front of the Eiffel Tower during the final stages of the Rugby World Cup to showcase New Zealand tourism and trade to international audiences, Prime Minister Helen Clark announced the other day.

Rumours that the French government is planning to erect a 15m high Coq in Auckland during the 2011 World Cup have been denied by Sports Minister Trevor Mallard. And he should know ...

The total project cost for the venue is $4.6 million which is cheaper than a yacht race. If it was selling Golden Takeaways Fishburgers or had Emersons Bookbinder on tap, I’d be there in a flash, but we enjoyed the French food & wine during the Provence leg ... so make mine un Kebab Cheval & a jug of Rosé, Gaston!

Thought Japan showed a lot of spunk last night - and their first try was one for the World Cup’s highlight reel. Tremendous passing and support running. Wales expectedly beat them, but what does it mean? Nothing but a romp. And really, those new tops of theirs are downright silly. “Upmarket foppery” as Xavier Rush’s Dad would say. Next time they tour Australia they may have to travel through the Outback, standing on the roof of their bus.

Big game tonight between Ireland and France. Could decide our route further in ... or not. probably pick France to do it with form and home advantage. Or will the Irish team finally kick-off? I’ll be glued to ITV1 - but with Radio 5 Live on ... can’t bear the TV commentators.

Lu

Let The Games Begin!

After crossing off the days to the World Cup all year, it's suddenly upon us! Time to start the packing checklist:

1. Large sunglasses (so to be mistaken for minor celebrity) - Check
2. Large binoculars (for staking out the ABs hotel pool) - Check
3. Palmy Army T-shirt (thanks Lorraine!) - Check
4. Lucky All Blacks jersey (lucky because it is a kids one and therefore was a bargain!) - Check
   
5. Jandals (what kiwi leaves home without them?) - Check

I will blend in with the locals perfectly, aye?

NB: Must leave room for booty from St Tropez shopping explorations

We're really looking forward to returning to the land of pain au chocolat and croissants, Amelie and Delicatessen, saucisson and fromage. We're being joined by various mad friends along the way, so am sure we will have plenty to report.

So, first to Marseille - we're looking forward to being by the sea, to eating boullabaisse, and to exploring the oldest city in France. And of course to see Richie and the boys in action against Italy. We're staying in the same town as they are...hence the need for aforementioned binoculars....