Bring It On!

Well, well, well - another Tri-nations and the retention of the Bledisloe Cup - yippee!! But what we want, what we really really want is - the Spice Girls - no the World Cup! It was 20 years ago when we won the WC and every one we failed to win the pressure mounts on the 2007 team - compare that to the English football team - football is England's most popular sport - so said Pinocchio - but the prised trophy which has eluded the football team must place enormous pressure on the current team 40 years on - some get "swallowed" and some swim away - the lucky ones - but I just don't think they can win the Football World Cup and this years England rugby team won't get there either. This time I've seen the crystal ball and it's all good for New Zealand - and Will Carling agrees with me also!!

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Coach, coach, coach

Went to my first Premiership game - live - Wasps v Northampton in High Wycombe. Congratulations both teams - it was a good game. Found it a little hard to know who to cheer for, but I was being hosted by Wasps supporters so I felt it appropriate to support Wasps. But my heart has to go out to Bruce Reihana (Kiwi) and the Saints - the game meant so much to both - Wasps needing a win to go into the top 4 - (but they have had their fair share of trophies in recent years)!! On the other hand you have Saints who were desperate to stay in the Premiership. So - having watched them yesterday I have to say how on earth did the Saints get themselves in this quagmire (??spelling)- (shit)? Their experience, passion, commitment and plenty of points still wasn't enough - though they could have nicked it after climbing back into the game late. I certainly saw enough from a team desperate to win - so I ask again. How the hell did they get themselves in this situation? I believe it is down to the coaching staff and I am afraid Paul Grayson is going to have to take the wrap. Having been a player/coach for one season and a coach for the other, I think Paul Grayson is too close to the players having played with some of them recently. For instance - how does a Kiwi like me tell someone like Will Carling, Keith Wood, Thiery Lacroix and Jason Leonard, just to name a few,that they need to perform better than what they are - it just doesn't work. When you win it's not a problem - ie Pat Howard - but when you lose you have to draw a line in the sand and tough decisions have to be made. When your senior players don't perform it is quite hard to tell these guys to pull their f..... finger out of their arse! So it's left to the younger players who will sometimes carry the abuse from the coach, which is not good for team morale as the younger guys will see this as unfair. A good player, but having played against him I can't remember Paul Grayson having that hard nose - I just don't think he's got that brutal edge which is sometimes needed in this situation. I wish Northampton all the luck in this weeks Heineken cup.

A New Pope

What a weekend of rugger - spills, thrills, choking and a new Pope??
Firstly to the Scott's - finally they played with a bit of passion and had they been just a bit more savvy - I think they would've won. The two incidents that cost them were - Simon Taylor, with the old classic Sean Fitzpatrick walk back slow with your hands in the air in line with the fly-half.. that old trick doesn't work anymore - that was the first dumb thing. The other dumb thing was when the 'whale' prop didn't get off the ball after making the tackle also lying there with his hands in the air pretending that he couldn't move - those two incidents, I believe, cost them the game. So to the Irish - well done - you got away with it this time.
The second game - Wales v Italy - after receiving a phone call I moved my neanderthal frame off the couch and down to my local club - Windsor to join the lads and my two Welsh mates, Johnny G and Sid Jones, (I think that's Welsh)?? Well, I tell them that they are mates just to make them feel good!! Picture this - these two Welsh lads, dressed in red, giving it large to - well, everyone in the clubhouse and with only minutes to spare Italy went on the attack when Sergio Parisse cut through the defensive line - the Welsh boys sat back down immediately - Sid especially with his mouth open wide holding his chunky cheeks watched everyone jump for joy when Mauro Bergamasco scored... hee hee! But we still love the Welsh - well that's what I tell them anyway!
So it would be very un-sporting of me if I didn't mention what happened in the last 10 seconds - so I won't!!
Apparently Chris White aka Christophe Bianco will be the next Pope??
Sunday saw the French at Twickenham - I got it wrong - the English were alot better. I saw the passion and desire and particularly the passion came from the young ones. Cat, I believe, made a big difference - in the first 10-15 minutes he nearly fell off his zimmer-frame with a couple of dodgy catches but gave good direction when needed. The French were crap, crappier, the crappiest I have ever seen them play. My hunch this week is that they all placed bets and they are now all very rich sitting in camp, sipping champagne as they only have Scotland, I think they will get the last laugh by winning the Six Nations - only a hunch!

Just Another Hunch

Watched a bit of Super 14 and some of the English domestic rugby last weekend and I just have a little hunch which spells bad times ahead for the Northern Hemisphere - ie the Scots, the Welsh and the English, heading into the World Cup.
The gulf between the hemispheres is growing and with the way they are playing I feel it is only the pace and the power that is even - the difference is the lack of the skill level - which I think, is due to saturating the players with too much rugby - they play too much and don't have enough time to practice the skills required. Which goes back to the boring old topic of club v country. The rugby union and club owners need to lock horns and put rugby first.
For all my sins I arrived here 9 years ago and was gobsmacked with some of the commitment of the International players ie Jason Leonard and Keith Wood, who would play one week for country and then turn up Monday morning and prepare for a club game - you ask me that question, is that right? - No.
I am not going to be able to have all the answers in this small article but what I see is something that doesn't have that quality to it and I feel that the fans and supporters have been short changed with the totally average rugby on show. Yeah you can get away with a couple of "finding your feet" pre-season games but from there on in the pressure should be on to perform to a level that I feel, should be quite close to international rugby - some of the games I have seen in the 6 Nations have been !!!!!
I am going to stick my neck on the line and say that Graeme Henry has got it spot on by resting the elite players and I think what Graeme Henry has done in the last couple of years is paying off - many people questioned his integrity by playing 2 different teams in games against the Northern hemisphere - he has put New Zealand, the players and the game ahead of the sponsors and all the hoopla and I believe that the skill level and intensity they will bring to the international stage come Tri-Nations and World Cup will be enough to blow Northern Hemisphere rugby apart.
Also, with Super 14 form don't be surprised to see South Africa featuring in the finals of the World Cup! - just another hunch.

No Plan!!

Plan A - Sack Robinson - appoint new coach Brian Ashton - put Johnny and Andy Farrell in to stuff the Scottish who are struggling for form - also struggle against Italy (the score didn't reflect the game) - then go to Croke Park with wind in the sail and get ripped apart by the Irish - FAILED

Plan B - can't wait for this......

Hook or by Crook

Gareth Jenkins has come under a bit of criticism - with results that haven't favoured Wales which has put pressure on team selection. But having 2 world class 10s (certainly 1 at the moment) is not a bad problem - Jones v Hook - who's better, who should play? Jenkins made Stephen Jones captain in October 06 with the vision, I believe, to go through to the World cup in 07. What happened next is that Jones got injured - along came Hook and I have to say I really didn't know who Hook was - I assumed once Jones got injured in the autumn test v Ozzie that everything would go 'pear shaped'- but to my surprise I thought he kicked well and had a solid game. That was followed by some good performances in Heineken Cup matches. The classic scenario here would be out with the old and in with the new - problem solved?... but it is not as simple as this. I have experienced this myself with the All Black captain, of the time, Buck Shelford. Like Stephen Jones he was the tried and tested and I was the young spring chicken - aka James Hook - but the management felt it was necessary to make the change and drop Buck which placed more pressure on me as an individual. Lets say Jenkins bows to the media/public pressure, makes the change and Hook doesn't handle this pressure of being the incumbent - quickly people will turn around and blame Jenkins for placing such a young guy in this situation - in the end it will be viewed that Jenkins has potentially destroyed the confidence and trust of 2 players and ruined any chance of Wales progressing through this years World Cup. At the end of that - Jenkins could lose his job. So Gareth - stick to your guns - go with what you believe is right for the Welsh cause - because at the end of the day the 'buck' stops with you. Oh and there is another game - Irish v the English - I think it is going to be a big one????