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.

I’m off the fence ...

Cover of this morning’s Sport magazine, the freebie you get at Tube stations.

Now, is this the face of the World’s highest paid player, or a slightly camp Austrian electro DJ? It makes Tony Woodcock’s effort of a year or so ago look completely acceptable.

What a drop kick ... Sweep the leg, Jonny.!!!

The Monkey On Our Back

No not Eddie Jones, I mean this obsession with the World Cup.

If we win it, then awesome; that wee simian is off our back - and in the trophy cabinet.

If we do not win it - and I will qualify that by saying that losing the final is an even more palatable result than losing this quarter final or a semi final exit - then I do not think we can ever expect to. No national union can do more to construct a smooth campaign than the NZRU & The Three Wise Men have done. To not win it after this amount of preparation and control means that it is not worth worrying about - it is not a true barometer of Test rugby over a four year period, or even for the calendar year it takes place in.

Choke, schmoke. The World Cup is simply a few knockout games preceeded by some friendlies. It’s basically a Champions Tournament like cricket & hockey have.

However, I think we can and will go all the way. This team still has a lot more to show.

I don’t to want to make a score prediction for Saturday. It may be close, but I am not worried: We will win it. And while I’m feeeling optimistic, England will pip Aussie by a drop goal again, Springboks over Fiji naturally (without Little), and Scotland to end the Pumas run. What am I thinking?

Now ... some tidbits for the build up:

Some Foreign Field has some interesting stats if you like that sort of thing. They kind of level the playing field for the final eight, but that is my point from above ... it’s on the day from now on in.

Laporte's team has raised a few eyebrows, most notably Beauxis at 10 and Traille back at fullback. I am sure (through the haze of mulled wine) that when we beat Les Bleus in Lyon last year, Traille was thrust into first five, and he kicked like a donkey.

“They are not the All Blacks, they are New Zealand-ers,” he said. “You are given the impression of a myth, of a miracle – but they have only been champions of the world once. They are very, very good, but we are aiming to expose the myth a little. They are just like the rest, 15 chaps on a pitch . . . 15 good players.” says Bernie the Door.

Is Laporte a dodgy plonker as some of the Toulousains I spoke to thought. He has picked a surprise team, got one foot in politics, and has been accused of behaving like Del Boy with signed team jerseys. Is he crackin gup?

And Paul Rees of The Guradian is already bagging us for 2011 - it will be our fault if the IRB drop the number of teams to 16 due to our small stadiums. Um, I remember my mates trekking to Huddersfield for NZ v Italy in 1999. Hardly Wembley was it? Kiwis will go.

“The NZ Rugby Union is adamant that it will not be able to pitch ticket prices as high as its French counterparts have because, it says, their rugby followers will stay at home rather than pay over the odds, even in the knock-out stages. It wants the number of finalists to be reduced to 16 to cut costs, so reducing the number of "uncommercial" fixtures such as Romania against Portugal or Japan against Canada.”

Still loving this. Who thought Habana would be stood up like this ... ever?!

And finally, some good old YouTube - still makes the hairs on your neck stand up.

ALLEZ LES NOIRS!

Da dum ding, dum da dum ding ...

That’s a stink phonetic effort at the Split Enz song ‘History Never Repeats’. Why you say? Well ... is history, in fact, about to repeat itself as we hit the crucial knockout stage because once again (drum roll) we are rolling out a (very talented) All Black fullback at centre.

So will it be the French partying like it’s 1999 again? Or will we knock out the hosts?

I think I was right in saying the XV for the quarter final would be more conservative than we have seen so far, but I was thinking Mauger & Smith as the centre pairing ... I honestly didn’t think they’d start Mils there. Is this merely a defensive move? A reshuffle based on truly constructing a brick wall of ABs across the pitch to soak up everything they throw or kick at us ... including SeaBass? I rekkin.

Add to that our usual nippy bench and it is a very good team; just one that has not played together much, or at least not for a while in the case of Mils being at 13.

I’m buying into it, but I’ll be nervously watching through my fingers.

See you at Y Mochyn Du

Unbeaten, unbeatable ... or untested?

Toulouse was a cracker. The annointed home of French rugby, and soon to be home of Byron Kelleher, really put it on for this game, providing a full World Cup Village down on the banks of La Garonne, with numerous bars and big screens for all the fans to watch the games. Situated about halfway between the downtown and the Stade de Toulouse - which is on an island in the middle of the river - the village was the first real example we had seen so far of a host city really providing a focal point for visiting (and local) fans. Add to that, the table service at the outdoor bars, the large plasma screens and naturally the chance to wind down after the All Black game and watching some more amazing rugby, well it added up to a brilliant day.

I know modern Test rugby can be a bit obsessed with bums on seats, especially when we tour and are sniffing out the biggest gate we can get our hands on, but surely the All Blacks should revisit Toulouse as soon as possible, at the expense of Marseille if need be. We all really enjoyed Toulouse - every bar we went to the locals were rugby pundits - Lyon and Marseille did not have that vibe. My favourite was the barman of a place down by the University that had so many old rugby jerseys and socks hanging on the wall that the place smelt like a changing room. He was convinced that his French team are true quality, but that Bernie La Porte is a nutter.

The game against Scotland last week had let doubts into my mind; we just did not look convincing, but the game versus Romania restored some faith. We were sitting right on the touch line and the passing was relentless - our backs were hurling the ball at each other, simply willing the moves to continue. They did, to their glorious conclusions. I’m gushing.

The crowd were “Ooohing“ and “Aaahing” at everything we pulled off, and though they also cheered Romania on as much as they could, the utterances of such Anglo-French words as “magnifique” were clearly aimed at the All Blacks.

So welcome back Keith Robinson and take a bow Nick Evans - great efforts. Add to that Mauger anchoring things (a rudder for the bairns like Toeava?), the adaptability of our squad in general, and I think we are looking much better for the quarter final. And so far, no injuries. I think our ‘Top XV’ may actually prove to be a bit more conservative than people think - we do need wise heads and experienced players ... which definitely puts Luke on the bench. Lets face it, when Mauger has a big game, the All Blacks win.

And with loose units like Michalak and Pointrenaud in their team, the French have more worries with handling pressure and preventing les explosions e brain..

Allez les Noirs! Onward to Paris!