I've merged with Ferdy at ruggerblogger.
Let's hope this lasts longer than the Central Vikings.
Ta.
Wednesday, 22 September 2010
Thursday, 29 October 2009
At the risk of sounding repetitive...
Scrap Super rugby completely.
Have the cojones to stand by your real, roots level product - Kiwi provincial rugby.
Stop propping up the ARU, who can never win against AFL and the NRL.
Our best provinces should go on to play the best Currie Cup provinces ... not 'franchises'. Maybe even some biannual comp to also meet the best Top 14, Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup teams at some stage.
Let All Blacks play in their home towns again, and not all emigrate to Canterbury as a career path.
Make Tests special again i.e. do not play the same teams 3-4 times a year.
Otherwise, if the All Whites beat Bahrain in two weeks, well, rugby can kiss its TV audience goodbye in 2010.
Have the cojones to stand by your real, roots level product - Kiwi provincial rugby.
Stop propping up the ARU, who can never win against AFL and the NRL.
Our best provinces should go on to play the best Currie Cup provinces ... not 'franchises'. Maybe even some biannual comp to also meet the best Top 14, Guinness Premiership and Heineken Cup teams at some stage.
Let All Blacks play in their home towns again, and not all emigrate to Canterbury as a career path.
Make Tests special again i.e. do not play the same teams 3-4 times a year.
Otherwise, if the All Whites beat Bahrain in two weeks, well, rugby can kiss its TV audience goodbye in 2010.
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
The Bigger Picture
RFU’s commercial director, Paul Vaughan says England’s bid to host the 2015 IRB Rugby World Cup “… was based on maximising revenue with the New Zealand World Cup not likely to be particularly brilliant from a financial aspect.” And The Guardian piles in with “… the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand set to bring in the lowest return for 12 years.”
I could not bear to read the Times.
Can this bullshit end please? The 2011 World Cup will NOT run at a loss ... not as far as the IRB are concerned. They will get the same massive £56m fee from the NZRU that France paid for 2007. It is the NZRU that will take the financial hit and loss of about $30m. The Old Farts in Dublin will get their filthy lucre, along with their NZ time late night kick-offs. The IRB will wear not a smidge of loss.
And maybe we are lucky we got it at all, as now the fee they want from the host will nearly double by the 2019 tournament.
Goodbye fans, goodbye true rugby nations. They can hide all they want behind claims of wanting to be a true global code, or getting Sevens into the Olympics (who cares?). Hell, if Paris had won the 2012 Games instead of London, Sevens probably would be in there ... instead of Morris Dancing or Cheese Rolling.
These shits will sell the game out to taxpayer owned banks and debt ridden Japanese sponsors. Japan ... its all about the growing the bank balance, I mean ... game! The Home Unions, having had their way with kicking the ELVs in to touch (without even considering the ‘E’ stood for ‘experimental’) are now going to sew the next 10-15 years of World Cups up for their school chums. Italy must be fuming, as will be SARU at having their bids probably derailed by bidders being ‘recommended’ by the selection process.
Its not just all about the Tri-Nations ...
I could not bear to read the Times.
Can this bullshit end please? The 2011 World Cup will NOT run at a loss ... not as far as the IRB are concerned. They will get the same massive £56m fee from the NZRU that France paid for 2007. It is the NZRU that will take the financial hit and loss of about $30m. The Old Farts in Dublin will get their filthy lucre, along with their NZ time late night kick-offs. The IRB will wear not a smidge of loss.
And maybe we are lucky we got it at all, as now the fee they want from the host will nearly double by the 2019 tournament.
Goodbye fans, goodbye true rugby nations. They can hide all they want behind claims of wanting to be a true global code, or getting Sevens into the Olympics (who cares?). Hell, if Paris had won the 2012 Games instead of London, Sevens probably would be in there ... instead of Morris Dancing or Cheese Rolling.
These shits will sell the game out to taxpayer owned banks and debt ridden Japanese sponsors. Japan ... its all about the growing the bank balance, I mean ... game! The Home Unions, having had their way with kicking the ELVs in to touch (without even considering the ‘E’ stood for ‘experimental’) are now going to sew the next 10-15 years of World Cups up for their school chums. Italy must be fuming, as will be SARU at having their bids probably derailed by bidders being ‘recommended’ by the selection process.
Its not just all about the Tri-Nations ...
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Thursday, 23 July 2009
Sunday, 5 July 2009
Tri Nations: looking forward
I sat up late last night when I got home, and I watched the final Lions Test against the Boks. I think talk of the match being a ‘dead rubber’ was unfair. Sure the series was lost for the Lions, but they definitely had their pride to play for (see what I did there?). These tours are hard for the Lions: the odds are always stacked against their squad in terms of real preparation and team bonding, and so it was always possible they would really get it together for the last Test, especially against a Springbok team with 10 changes.
Even Evil Eddie Jones thought so before the game.
Last night the Lions played all the footy. Ricky Flutey showed real class at 12 (making Shane Williams’ second try), as did Rob Kearney the fullback and unstoppable No.8 Jamie Heaslip of Ireland stood out. They deserved the win, after going close last week. Hell, even Phil Vickery produced a great comeback performance against ‘The Beast’ up front. I really enjoyed watching the game, and it actually relaxed me a little bit about us playing the Boks now.
This Tri Nations is going to be tough, but very hard to call. Before the Lions tour I thought the Boks looked awesome and would whitewash it - after all we had been poor to shit, and the Wobblies were looking to build fast under Dingo Deans, but now I am not so worried.
Aussie had a flattering two Tests against Italy, and did not put France away. South Africa have enough depth and fire in the belly to beat all visitors on their home turf, but they have to travel away too ... and I can't help feel their ill discipline may become a monkey on their back this season. Last night their new cap N0. 6 Heinrich Brussow seemed set on picking fights constantly, and Pierre Spies chased biff as much as he could once subbed on. Add Matfield, Botha and Burger to this motley crew and they will see red. Brad Thorn may be busy.
Sure their superboots like Frans & Morne Steyn can kick to Mars, but I still fancy our back three (whoever they are) to catch, kick or carry it back at them.
I guess the real flavour this year is rebuilding. All three sides seem to have a core of quite experienced players being bolstered by a new flock of bolters or debutantes ... Super rugby certainly throws up freaks every year. And that puts all the teams in the same boat, only halfway through this World Cup cycle of four years.
We certainly go in as underdogs, but that is overdue. Let Peter de Villiers sweat it out as the favourite’s coach, then trip over his words under pressure.
I’m now very much looking forward to the 3N - it should be a classic given the uncertainty and tension over form, mixed the bristling physicality of all three squads. That recently concluded Lions Tour of South Africa produced a great mix of brutial forward power and expansive back play, plus the return of test mauls and excellent lineout & scrum play. ... that mix of skills and body type that do make rugby a great game, especially at the pinnacle of Test level.
So now we can stop bashing our All Backs and get behind them for the next few months. After all, givien our recent history, we are supposed to be peaking now, two years out from the World Cup. Instead, we are rebuilding, soul searching and looking forward. Maybe this is Ted’s master plan?
Even Evil Eddie Jones thought so before the game.
Last night the Lions played all the footy. Ricky Flutey showed real class at 12 (making Shane Williams’ second try), as did Rob Kearney the fullback and unstoppable No.8 Jamie Heaslip of Ireland stood out. They deserved the win, after going close last week. Hell, even Phil Vickery produced a great comeback performance against ‘The Beast’ up front. I really enjoyed watching the game, and it actually relaxed me a little bit about us playing the Boks now.
This Tri Nations is going to be tough, but very hard to call. Before the Lions tour I thought the Boks looked awesome and would whitewash it - after all we had been poor to shit, and the Wobblies were looking to build fast under Dingo Deans, but now I am not so worried.
Aussie had a flattering two Tests against Italy, and did not put France away. South Africa have enough depth and fire in the belly to beat all visitors on their home turf, but they have to travel away too ... and I can't help feel their ill discipline may become a monkey on their back this season. Last night their new cap N0. 6 Heinrich Brussow seemed set on picking fights constantly, and Pierre Spies chased biff as much as he could once subbed on. Add Matfield, Botha and Burger to this motley crew and they will see red. Brad Thorn may be busy.
Sure their superboots like Frans & Morne Steyn can kick to Mars, but I still fancy our back three (whoever they are) to catch, kick or carry it back at them.
I guess the real flavour this year is rebuilding. All three sides seem to have a core of quite experienced players being bolstered by a new flock of bolters or debutantes ... Super rugby certainly throws up freaks every year. And that puts all the teams in the same boat, only halfway through this World Cup cycle of four years.
We certainly go in as underdogs, but that is overdue. Let Peter de Villiers sweat it out as the favourite’s coach, then trip over his words under pressure.
I’m now very much looking forward to the 3N - it should be a classic given the uncertainty and tension over form, mixed the bristling physicality of all three squads. That recently concluded Lions Tour of South Africa produced a great mix of brutial forward power and expansive back play, plus the return of test mauls and excellent lineout & scrum play. ... that mix of skills and body type that do make rugby a great game, especially at the pinnacle of Test level.
So now we can stop bashing our All Backs and get behind them for the next few months. After all, givien our recent history, we are supposed to be peaking now, two years out from the World Cup. Instead, we are rebuilding, soul searching and looking forward. Maybe this is Ted’s master plan?
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Brian Moore: Penis
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.
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.
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 ...
Sunday, 17 May 2009
Pre Knock-out Musings
What do I know? Nothing.
I mean, how bad, sloppy, rudderless were the Hurricanes in those early home games, that I never rated them capable of getting this far. I always doubted it, I'll admit it ... but I think its easier that way. “Expect the unexpected”? That would be winning the title.
Looking forward to the finals now, and the rematch North Island derby between the ‘Canes and the Chiefs, but consider these mental doodlings:
L8trz.
I mean, how bad, sloppy, rudderless were the Hurricanes in those early home games, that I never rated them capable of getting this far. I always doubted it, I'll admit it ... but I think its easier that way. “Expect the unexpected”? That would be winning the title.
Looking forward to the finals now, and the rematch North Island derby between the ‘Canes and the Chiefs, but consider these mental doodlings:
- How classy and reliable is Leon MacDonald? Where was he in Cardiff? Sayonara, Rangi.
- With 3 NZ teams and one South African team in the finals, why the hell should the ARU get another team?
- Will an NZ champion rekindle the public’s interest and lead to All Black sell out crowds?
- Hey Wellington Rugby Union ... after another year of upfront season pass attendance, how about a FREE playoff ticket offer for being so effing loyal? As I’m over 14, I pay through the nose.
- Could the Crusaders do the (apparently) impossible?
- If the Hurricanes win, will they buy Captain Hurricane some new overalls? The dude looks faded.
- Why even put the first 8 rounds on telly? Nobody watched and no teams dominated - its a traffic jam on the points table at week 14
- Given the level of interest in NZ derbies this season, can we please have our All Blacks in the Air NZ Cup?
- And if the French are going to send weak teams for Tests, then don’t play them - better still, give them a game against the NZ Maori who are owed a ‘Test’ they lost against the Boks
L8trz.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Hardcore
Yes, despite all my best attempts to run them down - I am a pessimistic old git - the Hurricanes are starting to deserve the favourite tag hooked on them before this year’s Super 14. They are peaking at the right time and we should all be happy. Except its all doomed. We will finally get to another final only to have it called off due to ‘Swine Flu’.
It may be time to stock up on Tamiflu, face masks, even Star Anise to get you through. Attending such a public gathering under pain of death may be at least as twice as frustrating as going to a normal Hurricanes knockout match.
Personally, I blame all these poncey Auckland schools. There is a Recesion on fercrissakes, yet these little toffs are traipsing of to Mexico for a week!!?? WTF? When I was a kid, we got to go here of we were lucky ... for the night! Look at it, its glorious.
The next time you think of sending little Janey or Crispin off to a high quality private educational institution up North, think again.
You could well be sending them overseas on some kind of Gap Year Plague Mission, turning them in to Agar Plates of the Apocalypse.
Maybe this is the Mayans & Aztecs paying the West back for the Conquistadores. Or maybe its all just another pile of media beat up a la Bird Flu like we went through 3-4 years ago.
If face masks become the “new beret”, does it mean Altern8 and heavy acid techno will come back too? got to be better than Op Shop.
It may be time to stock up on Tamiflu, face masks, even Star Anise to get you through. Attending such a public gathering under pain of death may be at least as twice as frustrating as going to a normal Hurricanes knockout match.
Personally, I blame all these poncey Auckland schools. There is a Recesion on fercrissakes, yet these little toffs are traipsing of to Mexico for a week!!?? WTF? When I was a kid, we got to go here of we were lucky ... for the night! Look at it, its glorious.
The next time you think of sending little Janey or Crispin off to a high quality private educational institution up North, think again.You could well be sending them overseas on some kind of Gap Year Plague Mission, turning them in to Agar Plates of the Apocalypse.
Maybe this is the Mayans & Aztecs paying the West back for the Conquistadores. Or maybe its all just another pile of media beat up a la Bird Flu like we went through 3-4 years ago.
If face masks become the “new beret”, does it mean Altern8 and heavy acid techno will come back too? got to be better than Op Shop.
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
Lions Squad Announced today
Ian McGeechan will announce his Lions squad today for the tour of South Africa. Ha has already named Paul O’Connell (POC), the Munster Monster, as his captain ... picking him over the other Irish favourite for the job, Brian O’Driscoll (BOD). The rest of the touring party that will have to face the World Champ Springboks in 3 Tests will be named tonight our time.
It is expected that the Wasps head man, and former Lion himself, McGeechan will name a touring group of 35 or 36; far less than the bloated band of 45 gypsies Clive Woodward brought out here in 2005. And that tally did not include his QCs and Alaistair ‘Bomber’ Campbell.
BBC has a team picker here and I have had a crack for the first Test team. Once again I will qualify my selections by saying I know bugger all, and I am just a BeanBag Pundit with some beers in the fridge ...
Much of the talk has been about picking a bunch of bruisers to battle the Boks up front, and it will be attritional, but McGeechan is wily - he will want to have a mobile bunch as well I think. Defence will keep the Lions in the game, but it will not win it for them. They will have to score tries. Duh.
Despite the number of tries that England did actually score in the Six Nations, their players are a little thin in this squad, and that simply comes because of Irish and Welsh standouts in key positions and the need to (rightly) slot in existing combinations around them first up. I would say that the Test team may very change noticeably over the tour. I think McGeechan will pick on form from all the fixtures. If players like Lee Halfpenny, Delon Armitage or James Haskell or Nick Kennedy get on the plane, they may well get a Test appearance.
So there’s my effort. Unlikely to see Shanklin and BOD together, but what the hell ... do something different, play your cards and let them swap about; power and pace. Henson goes for me, still has to be fit (otherwise Ricki Flutey), but he ticks lots of boxes. And 9,10,12 are going to make a truck load of tackles.Whatever the outcome, it will be hard for the tourists. The Lions are simply at a disadvantage because of the lack of preparation and the mix of nationalities ... but that is why these tours are so good.
“Can they do it in the face of such sheer odds?”
Kiwis will just have to be a spectators this year because the biggest Rugby Union event of the year does not involve us. Might do all our “hubris” some good, eh?
It is expected that the Wasps head man, and former Lion himself, McGeechan will name a touring group of 35 or 36; far less than the bloated band of 45 gypsies Clive Woodward brought out here in 2005. And that tally did not include his QCs and Alaistair ‘Bomber’ Campbell.
BBC has a team picker here and I have had a crack for the first Test team. Once again I will qualify my selections by saying I know bugger all, and I am just a BeanBag Pundit with some beers in the fridge ...
Much of the talk has been about picking a bunch of bruisers to battle the Boks up front, and it will be attritional, but McGeechan is wily - he will want to have a mobile bunch as well I think. Defence will keep the Lions in the game, but it will not win it for them. They will have to score tries. Duh.Despite the number of tries that England did actually score in the Six Nations, their players are a little thin in this squad, and that simply comes because of Irish and Welsh standouts in key positions and the need to (rightly) slot in existing combinations around them first up. I would say that the Test team may very change noticeably over the tour. I think McGeechan will pick on form from all the fixtures. If players like Lee Halfpenny, Delon Armitage or James Haskell or Nick Kennedy get on the plane, they may well get a Test appearance.
So there’s my effort. Unlikely to see Shanklin and BOD together, but what the hell ... do something different, play your cards and let them swap about; power and pace. Henson goes for me, still has to be fit (otherwise Ricki Flutey), but he ticks lots of boxes. And 9,10,12 are going to make a truck load of tackles.Whatever the outcome, it will be hard for the tourists. The Lions are simply at a disadvantage because of the lack of preparation and the mix of nationalities ... but that is why these tours are so good.
“Can they do it in the face of such sheer odds?”
Kiwis will just have to be a spectators this year because the biggest Rugby Union event of the year does not involve us. Might do all our “hubris” some good, eh?
Saturday, 18 April 2009
My Tuppence Worth
Team Veitch? What is this? An America’s Cup syndicate?
Tony Veitch has enough money and media friends (like “Holmsie”) at TVNZ to construct a very sneaky narrative out of all this. Don’t forget his very pre-crunch salary paid to him by state owned TVNZ, or that this ‘sports journalist’, like all TV personalities these days, gets groomed via womens mags and appearances on star-fucking, ego-fellating piles of shit like ‘Dancing With The Stars’, into what we call a S’leb ... someone we can all relate to, feel like we know, and maybe if we are lucky see their wedding photos, or wrinkly new baby!! Arse.
Many high-powered Kiwis, almost all from Planet Sport, got conned in to giving personal references to Team Veitch, like Susan Devoy and Graham Henry ... and people are not happy about it. But now the same referees are scrambling to distance themselves from their own words, claiming they were misled. Come on people, get smart. Dance with that Devil ... and you may get voted off.
The media scramble will continue - this the perfect mix (storm?) of celebrity, violence and public bloodletting that we all love. They must be creaming themselves over at Stuff! It’s like our very own OJ! Veitch will get his TV One soapbox - and heaven knows he might need the box to stand on. He will probably be back on telly and radio in the not too distant future.
This blogging stuff makes it really easy to attack someone, eh? Personally, I have never liked him; never connected with his toothy grin, his smarmy, just-one-of-the-blokes media persona. It stems from some primeval memory I can’t erase of him (I am sure it’s him) interviewing Steffi Graf for the Holmes show years ago. On gaining access to - at the time - the greatest womens tennis player on the planet, he asked her “How did you get those fantastic legs?”. If it wasn’t Veitch, I am sorry ... though I remember it as him. And one day I could do jury duty!
If that level of crapness is what makes you a sports journalist, then I am off to pick up my Pulitzer.
Anyone remember that poor 13 year old girl raped in Auckland this week? No, because she can’t afford a PR team and doesn’t see the One News team in the staff cafeteria every day.
Rant over. Got to get ready for the Hurricanes game ... like, that will cheer me up!
Tony Veitch has enough money and media friends (like “Holmsie”) at TVNZ to construct a very sneaky narrative out of all this. Don’t forget his very pre-crunch salary paid to him by state owned TVNZ, or that this ‘sports journalist’, like all TV personalities these days, gets groomed via womens mags and appearances on star-fucking, ego-fellating piles of shit like ‘Dancing With The Stars’, into what we call a S’leb ... someone we can all relate to, feel like we know, and maybe if we are lucky see their wedding photos, or wrinkly new baby!! Arse.
Many high-powered Kiwis, almost all from Planet Sport, got conned in to giving personal references to Team Veitch, like Susan Devoy and Graham Henry ... and people are not happy about it. But now the same referees are scrambling to distance themselves from their own words, claiming they were misled. Come on people, get smart. Dance with that Devil ... and you may get voted off.
The media scramble will continue - this the perfect mix (storm?) of celebrity, violence and public bloodletting that we all love. They must be creaming themselves over at Stuff! It’s like our very own OJ! Veitch will get his TV One soapbox - and heaven knows he might need the box to stand on. He will probably be back on telly and radio in the not too distant future.
This blogging stuff makes it really easy to attack someone, eh? Personally, I have never liked him; never connected with his toothy grin, his smarmy, just-one-of-the-blokes media persona. It stems from some primeval memory I can’t erase of him (I am sure it’s him) interviewing Steffi Graf for the Holmes show years ago. On gaining access to - at the time - the greatest womens tennis player on the planet, he asked her “How did you get those fantastic legs?”. If it wasn’t Veitch, I am sorry ... though I remember it as him. And one day I could do jury duty!
If that level of crapness is what makes you a sports journalist, then I am off to pick up my Pulitzer.
Anyone remember that poor 13 year old girl raped in Auckland this week? No, because she can’t afford a PR team and doesn’t see the One News team in the staff cafeteria every day.
Rant over. Got to get ready for the Hurricanes game ... like, that will cheer me up!
Monday, 13 April 2009
Cup Spillage
Can’t wait to see how this one pans out - England’s Rugby Union looks set to be battling it out with Japan to get the 2015 Rugby World Cup now. After all the sanctimonious bleating about the desperate need to “grow the game” in 2011 and how NZ was simply a backwards, sympathetic choice, let’s see how the Old Farts at Twickenham spin this one out. The Poms heavily invested in Japan for 2011, and were openly against NZ getting it. Either choice next time, its laying out RWC right in the grubby palms of even more massive corporate ownership. Its already pimped out to the likes of Visa and Heineken, but take it to either Japan or England and the scramble for a slice of Brand Pie will be frightening. And if Kiwis think they are going to have steep ticket prices for 2011, they may be surprised in four and eight years time. I’d rather have our “World Cup of Campervans” in 2011, as BBC Rent-a-Rant Brian Moore described it, than some sponsors only, boardroom sausage fest.
Wednesday, 8 April 2009
I love it - ah!
Can’t get interest up for Super 14 still. Maybe it will return at the semis stage, but with so much rugby during the year now (the NZ v Australia Bledisloe Cup Test in Wellington is not until the 19th of September!) I have been soaking up the cricket series against India, and enjoying radio commentary of it.
Coming back to New Zealand to live earlier this year, there was a clear list of things I wanted to experience again. I wanted to drink some Emerson’s Bookbinder, eat a decent Malaysian curry with Roti bread, mow a lawn, make local phone calls for free, go to the beach (not the “seaside”) ... and spend a day at the Basin Reserve, watching Test cricket from the embankment. Well, check that last one off.
I’ve seen the MCG, been to Lords and The Oval ... but our Basin is in a class of its own as a rare ground that retains some much of the village green flavour. It may in truth be a roundabout for State Highway 1, but its unique layout allows spectators to walk 360 degrees around the ground and lean over the pickets begging autographs off resting fast bowlers. What other cricket ground in the world has a layout that lets conga lines of visiting fans (whether Barmy or Bhaji Army) loop around it all day? And what other sports ground lets kids get out there and play on the pitch in the interval? Its a throwback, and a glorious one.
It does have a big flash replay screen now (gone is the ‘ransom note’ scoreboard of ten years ago), but the bank remains untouched, where fans of both teams mingle, and families can giggle at hopped up rogues. And I have not even mentioned the hotdogs - another Kiwi delicacy I was keen to reconnect with.
Loved it. Though typical of Wellington these days ... the queue at the espresso stand was 3 times as long as the beer shack. If they can sell that much caffeine at a five day test, what will they sell to T20 fans? P?
The Indians may have lacked the killer instinct to put us away on the last day and, but they showed their class constantly ... and again New Zealand struggled to concentrate for five days. That’s fine. We punch well above our weight in cricket, we always have. And now that lucrative career earnings are possible via the IPL for our top players, we may well forge a crop of true world class players. Competing in Tests may well continue to be a struggle, but I have really enjoyed watching a bunch of youngish guys step up to, and consolidate their places in, our international sides. Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill and Grant Elliot, are here to stay. Tim McIintosh, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom and Peter McGlashan we’ll see more of. And those old fellas like Brendan McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor are showing the consistency expected of them.
And what about Chris Martin? Remember when he was the fresh faced chain smoker who looked like he came straight to the ground from a Psy-Trance night? He is now the elder statesman of the team at 34!
Summer is officially over: the Indians have gone home, the clocks have gone back, and rugby will do its best to grab our attention again. Its about time the economy got going isn’t it? About time the ‘Gummint’ did something? Said something? Anything ... like issue a budget?
Meeting for a week to come up with a national cycle track idea did not exactly inspire me. Allowing the local government issues of Auckland to dominate everything is just making me suspicious. Line by line reviews of every government budget are making the natives of the Wellington public sector very twitchy; this village had the same Chief for 9 years, and now there’s a new boss in town.
Are we in a recession or a coma?
Coming back to New Zealand to live earlier this year, there was a clear list of things I wanted to experience again. I wanted to drink some Emerson’s Bookbinder, eat a decent Malaysian curry with Roti bread, mow a lawn, make local phone calls for free, go to the beach (not the “seaside”) ... and spend a day at the Basin Reserve, watching Test cricket from the embankment. Well, check that last one off.
I’ve seen the MCG, been to Lords and The Oval ... but our Basin is in a class of its own as a rare ground that retains some much of the village green flavour. It may in truth be a roundabout for State Highway 1, but its unique layout allows spectators to walk 360 degrees around the ground and lean over the pickets begging autographs off resting fast bowlers. What other cricket ground in the world has a layout that lets conga lines of visiting fans (whether Barmy or Bhaji Army) loop around it all day? And what other sports ground lets kids get out there and play on the pitch in the interval? Its a throwback, and a glorious one.
It does have a big flash replay screen now (gone is the ‘ransom note’ scoreboard of ten years ago), but the bank remains untouched, where fans of both teams mingle, and families can giggle at hopped up rogues. And I have not even mentioned the hotdogs - another Kiwi delicacy I was keen to reconnect with.
Loved it. Though typical of Wellington these days ... the queue at the espresso stand was 3 times as long as the beer shack. If they can sell that much caffeine at a five day test, what will they sell to T20 fans? P?
The Indians may have lacked the killer instinct to put us away on the last day and, but they showed their class constantly ... and again New Zealand struggled to concentrate for five days. That’s fine. We punch well above our weight in cricket, we always have. And now that lucrative career earnings are possible via the IPL for our top players, we may well forge a crop of true world class players. Competing in Tests may well continue to be a struggle, but I have really enjoyed watching a bunch of youngish guys step up to, and consolidate their places in, our international sides. Jesse Ryder, Martin Guptill and Grant Elliot, are here to stay. Tim McIintosh, Nathan McCullum, Neil Broom and Peter McGlashan we’ll see more of. And those old fellas like Brendan McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor are showing the consistency expected of them.
And what about Chris Martin? Remember when he was the fresh faced chain smoker who looked like he came straight to the ground from a Psy-Trance night? He is now the elder statesman of the team at 34!
Summer is officially over: the Indians have gone home, the clocks have gone back, and rugby will do its best to grab our attention again. Its about time the economy got going isn’t it? About time the ‘Gummint’ did something? Said something? Anything ... like issue a budget?
Meeting for a week to come up with a national cycle track idea did not exactly inspire me. Allowing the local government issues of Auckland to dominate everything is just making me suspicious. Line by line reviews of every government budget are making the natives of the Wellington public sector very twitchy; this village had the same Chief for 9 years, and now there’s a new boss in town.
Are we in a recession or a coma?
Tuesday, 31 March 2009
All change
Again. Yeah, again, the rules are about to change ... and I still have not got a clue what either set of the ELVs actually set out to do. It is clear that after another, well, not sparkling Six Nations, the brandy swilling throwbacks of the Home Nations are going to come down on the IRB like a ton of bricks.I think it took well over a year for our teams to cope with the new rules, in fact it was the All Black’s terrible effort against the Wallabies first up last year in Sydney (we lost 34-19) that led us to do away with the hopeless kick and chase. Teams are still struggling to find their feet with new rules that are interpreted differently by each ref.
However, swinging the pendulum full back may just cause more trouble. Clearly the ELVs were rushed into top level comps and Tests too soon (to get them into the 2011 RWC), but all the Northern toss about it being a SANZAR plot to ‘depower’ the North?! Arse. Frightened of English dominance? Maybe in the twelve months following June 2003, but where are you now England? Seventh in the rankings? Its a case of “The Mouse That Roared”. If you do not have the players across the park that possess the athleticism and skills to play adaptive rugby, you can’t simply change the rules. This is the sort of crap kids pull when they are 6 years old.
Consensus has to be reached somehow otherwise North & South will dig in and tear themselves apart ... and that will be caused by the English RFU and the ARU - the two book ends of rugby in terms of on-field style and off-field political shenanigans. I wonder what Argentina is going to be offered for their votes? The Falklands? A Tri nations slot?
Thirteen Years of Super Rugby Reality Check Time:
- scrap the Super 14 teams, put our best provincial sides (not franchises) through to an international knockout round against the best Currie Cup sides, and whatever the ARU can organise
- let the Pacific islands in, in some form
- don’t give Aussie another team just because they are building another stadium (in Melbourne)
- the non-qualifying NZ teams could play off for the Ranfurly Shield
- the Tri Nations to be played every two years, or replaced, to allow tours that would create an ‘event’ for fans to follow (and overseas fans to attend) and hopefully stop us babysitting weak French or English sides
- stop banking on ‘expanding’ the Aussie TV audience for rugby union; it will never happen
- stop televising EVERY Air NZ Cup game ... even football in England has worked out this destroys attendance
- stop playing the Wallabies every 4 weeks, especially in neutral show-pony venues like Japan and Hong Kong; you are pimping out the All Blacks, and to corporate attendees only
- ask the Indians or the BCCI for some money?
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Paddy Power
Hats off to Ireland. They got their first Six Nations Grand Slam in 61 years. Hell, that makes our pining for 1987 look easy.
Now its all over for the internationals before the Lions tour to South Africa later this year. Check out this article from The Times, it’s great fun. Its such a treat to get a grasp on how a ‘Rugby Great’ like Jeremy Guscott, and Lord Spincter Jones actually think, or don’t.
The overwhelming flavour of their selections is not exactly peppered with English players, but Guscott actually thinks Wilkinson should be one of the No. 10! Plus Phil Vickery gets mentioned as Captain material, and O'Driscoll would not even get picked for the Test team. Stop it, you guys. My ribs hurt from laughing!
3-0 to the World Champs?
Now its all over for the internationals before the Lions tour to South Africa later this year. Check out this article from The Times, it’s great fun. Its such a treat to get a grasp on how a ‘Rugby Great’ like Jeremy Guscott, and Lord Spincter Jones actually think, or don’t.
The overwhelming flavour of their selections is not exactly peppered with English players, but Guscott actually thinks Wilkinson should be one of the No. 10! Plus Phil Vickery gets mentioned as Captain material, and O'Driscoll would not even get picked for the Test team. Stop it, you guys. My ribs hurt from laughing!
3-0 to the World Champs?
Saturday, 21 March 2009
L Plates for the Ref?
Another frustrating night at a Hurricanes match. Honestly, if I had not gone last night or watched on TV, and then read 5 yellow cards and one red card were handed out, I would think I had missed one hell of a dirty match ... but it was not.
The pedantic Matt Goddard killed it and 'technicalities' resulted in binnings willy nilly from the start. I think the only signal he knew was “incorrect entry at the gate”. He did not police the offside sufficiently, and Fourie du Preez was almost in the Hurricanes backline late in the second half. And as for Bakkies Botha getting rucked a bit when he was blatantly offside ... Eaton gets pinged and now goes to the judiciary.
I missed the Warriors game, for this pseudo rugby display?
It leaves the Bulls at the top surely, and in control now. South African teams are doing better on the road these days, and this (along with the Webb Ellis Trophy) gives SARU power.
I have to wonder about all this talk of rejigging it to a pools based compettion of 15 teams too. So, the New Zealand teams basically play each other, home and away, in NZ and the best teams progress to an international knockout stage?
Sounds like the original Super 10 of the 80s to me. What is the logic of bascially operating a openly two tier domestic system? We might as well crap the bloody Super 14, and let the best Air NZ Cup teams make it through. It may well reinvigorate things by having players play for teams where they come from, and spread the All Blacks around some more - so that fans can actually see them play.
The finals obsession thing seems to be a knee jerk reaction to Northern Hemisphere criticism ... the way they hold the Heineken Cup up as the ultimate. I'll agree, a bit; I loved the HC finals when they came around, but all those teams that qualify come are based in a separate domestic league (Guiness Premiership, Magners League, Top 14 and whatever goes on in Italy).
Both NZ and South Africa have very established domestic competitions they respectively claim to class as sacred and ‘ring fenced’ from the test calendar and Super expansion, but the NZRU has gradually eroded away the old NPC's aura. Q: Who does not have a domestic competition, and in fact scrapped it after only 12 months? A: Australia.
Its claimed that Aussie is the place to grow the game’s audience for Sanzar, but we are really subsidising their game and propping them up. Who really wants to see the All Blacks play the Wallabies four times a year? In Australia, club sport is king, not regional or state teams - league and AFL prove that.
The franchise thing is dull. Make provinces stronger again, and restore the Ranfurly Shield’s status; how long before an All Black never plays in Shield rugby except when he is coming back from injury?
Ah well, its up to the back room boys now. I just hope someone here is strong enough to stand up to John O'Neill, otherwise we will end up following Australia and screwing rugby here.
The Canes were lucky though. Had Steyn got all his kicks, the Bulls could have won by another 15 points. One more loss, and the Hurricanes are out. And fercrissakes, Cooper ... can you please give David Smith a start!
The pedantic Matt Goddard killed it and 'technicalities' resulted in binnings willy nilly from the start. I think the only signal he knew was “incorrect entry at the gate”. He did not police the offside sufficiently, and Fourie du Preez was almost in the Hurricanes backline late in the second half. And as for Bakkies Botha getting rucked a bit when he was blatantly offside ... Eaton gets pinged and now goes to the judiciary.
I missed the Warriors game, for this pseudo rugby display?
It leaves the Bulls at the top surely, and in control now. South African teams are doing better on the road these days, and this (along with the Webb Ellis Trophy) gives SARU power.
I have to wonder about all this talk of rejigging it to a pools based compettion of 15 teams too. So, the New Zealand teams basically play each other, home and away, in NZ and the best teams progress to an international knockout stage?
Sounds like the original Super 10 of the 80s to me. What is the logic of bascially operating a openly two tier domestic system? We might as well crap the bloody Super 14, and let the best Air NZ Cup teams make it through. It may well reinvigorate things by having players play for teams where they come from, and spread the All Blacks around some more - so that fans can actually see them play.
The finals obsession thing seems to be a knee jerk reaction to Northern Hemisphere criticism ... the way they hold the Heineken Cup up as the ultimate. I'll agree, a bit; I loved the HC finals when they came around, but all those teams that qualify come are based in a separate domestic league (Guiness Premiership, Magners League, Top 14 and whatever goes on in Italy).
Both NZ and South Africa have very established domestic competitions they respectively claim to class as sacred and ‘ring fenced’ from the test calendar and Super expansion, but the NZRU has gradually eroded away the old NPC's aura. Q: Who does not have a domestic competition, and in fact scrapped it after only 12 months? A: Australia.
Its claimed that Aussie is the place to grow the game’s audience for Sanzar, but we are really subsidising their game and propping them up. Who really wants to see the All Blacks play the Wallabies four times a year? In Australia, club sport is king, not regional or state teams - league and AFL prove that.
The franchise thing is dull. Make provinces stronger again, and restore the Ranfurly Shield’s status; how long before an All Black never plays in Shield rugby except when he is coming back from injury?
Ah well, its up to the back room boys now. I just hope someone here is strong enough to stand up to John O'Neill, otherwise we will end up following Australia and screwing rugby here.
The Canes were lucky though. Had Steyn got all his kicks, the Bulls could have won by another 15 points. One more loss, and the Hurricanes are out. And fercrissakes, Cooper ... can you please give David Smith a start!
Monday, 16 March 2009
Pimms O‘Clock!!!!
Well, it looks like the excessive experimentation by Marc Lieveremont has cost the French side and handed them a right royal thrashing at the hands of England. Four tries to nil, 34-5 ... and no sin binnings! All in front of 82,000 Hackett wearing, Pimms swilling, Chariot Singing happy Toffs.
This means England should get third this year now, providing they beat Scotland at Twickers on the final weekend - the thrashing of France gives them a points difference edge over Les Bleus. To be sure, most people will be watching Ireland play Wales in Cardiff, to try and get their Grand Slam win. Hell, I know I would ... if I could afford Sky and find it tucked away on the Rugby Channel.
In the meantime, I have to read the UK press and scour for video clips on Auntie, to watch it. Looked like a cracking winters day, and within minutes England started their (first half) romp, which led to endless punches of the sky and pile ups of unrestrained man love. God, you’d think they’d actually won the World Cup! Again.
Standout player? Looks like that Maori fellow they all said should not don the Red Rose because he is not an Englishman. Today it was Champagne Flutey ... shit, I should write for The Times.
And you’ve gotta love The Times really - I mean, they truly get acknowledge the spirit of this wonderful sport’s multicultural nature ... every time they refer to a black player as ‘dark’.
This means England should get third this year now, providing they beat Scotland at Twickers on the final weekend - the thrashing of France gives them a points difference edge over Les Bleus. To be sure, most people will be watching Ireland play Wales in Cardiff, to try and get their Grand Slam win. Hell, I know I would ... if I could afford Sky and find it tucked away on the Rugby Channel.
In the meantime, I have to read the UK press and scour for video clips on Auntie, to watch it. Looked like a cracking winters day, and within minutes England started their (first half) romp, which led to endless punches of the sky and pile ups of unrestrained man love. God, you’d think they’d actually won the World Cup! Again.
Standout player? Looks like that Maori fellow they all said should not don the Red Rose because he is not an Englishman. Today it was Champagne Flutey ... shit, I should write for The Times.
And you’ve gotta love The Times really - I mean, they truly get acknowledge the spirit of this wonderful sport’s multicultural nature ... every time they refer to a black player as ‘dark’.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
