Nil Point!

I was not convinced we would win this one. I knew it would be close, but not which way it might go depending on refs and interpretation of the breakdown. All Blacks v Springboks games in South Africa are the Big Day Out games for AB fans here in the UK - afternoon kick-off and only an hour time difference. It usually means an annual pilgrimage to the Walkabout to bait our Jaapie Brethren, the hordes that inevitably outnumber even the ubiquitous ex-pat Kiwis in London, but this year it did not happen.

It felt like all my mates wanted to watch it apart. Each in a dark room. Alone ... just in case things went pear-shaped again. Personally, I had been to the Ikea in Tottenham Hale before the game, so I figured if I could survive that hell-hole, take that bullet for the team, then I could sit at home on my own couch with a pint and finally get some use out of my over-priced Sky Uk subscription.

Besides, I like Guinness - and chances are, waiting for a poured pint of Black Magic at the Walkie on Saturday would have been agony - like an English winger waiting for the ball.

So Carter is only human? He still recovered and kicked us well territorially. I am liking what I see now of the game plan adapting to the ELVs - we seem to have a few more options if things don’t work. Our 6,7 and 8 were tireless, we absolutely killed them in the breakdown and McCaw was everywhere ... sublime. And I enjoyed the spark Piri Weepu added when he came on. It seems Henry likes to keep him on the bench, fizzing ... then he revels in an appearance.

Maybe a reactive win than a full tilt blinding performance. We did score two great tries (and an opportunistic lurking Hooker score), but it was the huge, shuffling defensive effort that kept the Boks out. And it was great to not see too much high percentage, crazy stuff again.

One concern though: Can anyone remind when was the last time an All Black wing scored a try this year? It seems like forever. Where is Joe?

And so to the UK press. My favourite part of the weekend, when I see what the English scribes have been up to, or what planet they are on:

Lord Sphincter is up to his old tricks - I mean, I myself sometimes get signal interference on Sky in the heavy rain, but what channel is this guy actually watching!? The All Blacks were ‘nothing special’ and DC merely a ‘serviceable player’. Stop it, Steve-O ... my sides are aching. Besides, the last way an All Black would want to appear to an English fan is ‘serviceable’ - he might well end up in a hotel room getting ‘serviced’.

The Indy had Richie down as ‘giving the greatest displays in rugby history’. They also had a little preview of the game on Friday by the shabbily treated Brian Ashton - read between the lines and I think you see a guy very much in favour of the ELVs.

Aunty has us as ‘edging’ the Boks. 19-0? That’s a thicker edge than Brendan McCullum has ever swished his way to.

Good old Guardian lefties got a favourable report too, indeed the tone echoed Sky’s post match opinion of NZ rugby: “Crisis? What crisis?” Does this mean all rugby pundits here in the UK have a thing for Supertramp?

Congrats to Percy Montgomery too. He could not produce the fairytale 100th cap, but hell, 100 tests for South Africa? Pretty amazing when you think about the politics of their game. And they had a minute’s silence pre game for a recently departed Bok, who played a mere 4 tests for his country. Percy should get the back of a coin or bank note surely.

But maybe the best performance, the one that should be cherished the most for possibly saving the game for NZ game (or at least preserved our lead) ... it should go to the demonised Wayne Barnes for eyeing up Brian Habana’s trotter as it dabbed the chalk when he seemed to break free for a try. Mr Barnes can’t quite expect a lifetime of upgrades on Air NZ just yet, and I still can’t totally let go of his Cardiff effort last year, but well ... he was on the job.


80 minutes of the real season left. Off to Brisbane to beat the Wallabies. Hopefully, eh.

Italy Down : Six games to go

Made it. Just took me longer to work out this French keyboard than it did for the All Blacks to score against Italy.

Aix en Provence, where we are staying, is a gorgeous small town about 35 mins on a train from Marseille, but since UK Train Company Management Techniques must have spread to France, its suddenly a 60 min bus ride.

Marseille awoke yesterday to a swarm of Black clad drinkers; the Vieux Port was heaving with Kiwis, and AB fans from other countries ... French, Italian, even 3 Dutch guys Junior met who had driven through the night from Holland to get here.

The main roundabout in the centre of town was decked out in a double life size Wicker Man XV doing a haka. At this stage we are unsure whether they torched an Edward (Clive) Woodward effige in it, but nevertheless it was pounced upon by snap happy Kiwis in the thousands;

THE GAME

Pleased to say that our seats in the expensive package were worth the extra dosh: 10 metre line about 4 to 5 rows back. Fi was convinced she could see Dougies VPL when he was stretching. The crowd was at first pro NZ, but I think many French began to whistle us and felt sorry for the Azzuri ... just in sympathy, not anything bad. The reaction the Italian tries got was very loud.

All up, a good atmosphere, and a good game. Not tense or a classic because nothing was really at stake yet, but Richie, Howlett, Leon M and the Locks looked in top nick. And no one got hurt.

Play of the day: J Collins, chip and chase. Just the sort of thing that winds up the purists at The Times ... forwards playing like backs.

Worrying: Luke M and his Spencer tendencies. Give me Evans as the backup 10 please. And Toeava needs to be more confident, it looked like he was afraid to take that try off Howlett.

Atmosphere here is great. The French are warming up to this big time, even after their hiccup against the Pumas, they have to stay in this ... no host would be bad.

Five days of holiday now before the Lyon game. Not missing London at all. It is awesomely sunny here, and the food is incredible. And the wine is very, very cheap.

Mind the Gap

Its just over three days to go, and only now are The Papers here starting to even notice. The weekend just gone finally saw the likes of The Times and The Observer acknowledge the fact the World Cup was even on this week, but the supplements were poor when you consider the the scale of this sporting event. They were by the numbers, and had a few odd mistakes or items. For a start, The Times identified Matt Giteau as a Springbok player to watch (under a photo of him in the Canary Yellow of the Wallabies), and the Observer saw fit to designate nearly four pages of the ‘World Cup Special’ in their Sport Monthly to an irrelevant chat between two great English journeymen - Martin Corry and ... Matthew Hoggard! Last time I looked, even Henry Paul had more English rugby caps than Hoggard. The cover story: Beckham. Sigh.

Conclusions that they seemed to draw across the board:

• The gap between NZ and the rest of the World has closed - I say “Rope a dope”
• Dan Carter is not the player he was in 2005 - I say “Correct, he’s now got two more years experience”
• Get McCaw: nullify him by making him make tackles and ending up under rucks - I say “Brilliant ... that's his bloody job”
• The weight of expectation is too much for the All Blacks - I say “Duh, its our National Sport. Its the same every Test Match, let alone a World Cup”
• That Ireland will be our 2007 Banana Peel - I say “They have never beaten us. They won’t achieve that in a RWC knockout.”

Mind the Gap I reckon - it’ll open up again in the knockout stages.

With all of England as usual obsessed with the new Premiership season, and the upcoming Euro 2008 qualifiers against Russia and Israel (yes, they’re in UEFA because the Palestinians won’t give their ball back since it went over the Aparthei ..., sorry, Peace Wall) I am glad we are going to France - a rugby country. See the welcome the ABs got in Marseilles? What a master stroke having Monsieur Fluffy McCaw greet the locals in French! Finally a PR success from the Thorndon Quay brains trust. Now even the French are on our side, that’s gotta be a good sign. Mind you, I think that's what Churchill thought ...

ALL BLACK PLAYLIST

TV 3 and Sky (in their 60 second highlights bonanzas) will no doubt rely on Back in Black by AC/DC, or if they really stretch themselves, Men in Black by Will Smith. Yawn. Why not ‘get pumped’ with proper music, I found these tunes lurking on my iPod. Got any others to add?

All Black World Cup - Casiospittake

The Haka - Ka Mate

Men in Black - Frank Black

Black Magic - Jarvis Cocker

Back to Black - Amy Winehouse

Black & White - Asian Dub Foundation

Black Flowers - Yo La Tengo

Black Out - Pavement

Weight of the World - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Black Supreme - Ansell Collins & The Upsetters

Waltzin’ Black - The Stranglers

Black Wave - The Shins

Home Again - Shihad

Home, Land & Sea - Trinity Roots (my pick for new natty anthem)

And one last (possible) musical omen - I went to see Sonic Youth perform Daydream Nation in a Don’t Look Back concert at The Roundhouse on Saturday night; it was phenomenal. What’s it got to do with the rugby? Well, it was released in 1988 ... when NZ were World Rugby Champions. Sign of desperation?

Lu