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.