IT'S ALL ABOUT RUGBY

SAMOANS CHALLENGE THE SPRINGBOKS TO DO BATTLE



Days 11-13.What a weekend of feasting on rugby. Tonga lowered the tricoleur and how the local crowds loved it. As ever, Scotland were true to their "braveheart" image but like William Wallace, they were still on the losing end to a ruthless, professional, unloved England. All Blacks continued their run of easy training runs against lowly opposition(could they get a shock when they meet a pack that will stand up to them?)
There was a great atmosphere at North Harbour stadium where despite dubious refereeing decisions including a player sent off, Samoa almost overcame the Springboks.Samoa passed and caught the ball like the Harlem Globetrotters but sadly, in modern professional rugby a winning team needs that dour, relentless discipline(that won England the game against the gallant Scots) that comes more readily to players of Anglo-Celtic tradition (viz the All Black winning blend of Maori/Islander speed and magic with the ruthless focus on a system( structure is the buzz word) of Scottish forebears) Ultimately this could be the poison that will lead to the eventual triumph of League and AFL over Rugby union, as more and more the technical nature of scrumming and rucking give most power to the refs-who rule unchallenged , like the priests over the bible before it was translated and printed in languages other than Latin. Of course it was necessary that having been given this "right" the populace had to accept "responsibility" for learning to read. I wonder what that thought reminds me of to-day??





GO SAMOA!
But on the other hand the spectators have saved the World cup so far from being dull-the dress of the crowds on Friday night was hilarious. I sat(quietly) amongst a trek of South Africans(Judging by the language of some of their vocal contributions, many were Africaners) and tried all night to keep the flags waved by blonde young women on either side of me , out of my eyes. The Queen(a man with a white off-the-shoulder dress and tiara ) was accompanied by uniformed, mask-wearing Harry and William look-alikes.


THE MOUNTY GETS HIS SEAT




Just two rows ahead were four burly mounties wearing red shirts with sergeants stripes and "Boy Scout" hats. The Springbok supporters were very vocal at first but went ominously silent as the late "cavalry" charges by Samoa almost carried the day.





SOUTH AFRICAN SOOTH SAYER
A young SA supporter flicked a switch and his whole body became a shimmering x-ray like rendition of the Soth African rainbow nation flag. But it was all good natured and when our bus returned to town the city centre was alive with prancing Samoan supporters celebrating their good go.
The Wallabies with Pocock back demolished Russia and showed what their backs can do when tricky moves and unreal passing come off. But poor Drew Mitchell added to the injury toll with a ham-string tear. Samo the giant forward was required to play on the wing and showed how fast and versatile he can be. So, as we say in Australia, now we come to the" business-end" of the quarter finals-especially for the Walllabies V Springboks. England V France, of more historical than rugby interest. Wales v Ireland should be a cracker (the young Welsh side has been exciting and the Irish are showing uncharacteristic discipline and coolness) The All Blacks again have possibly the easiest draw against a good Argentina but they are not as tough and effective as in France in 2007.





But, a dark cloud has begun to form over New Zealand's fortunes. Last night the Auckland based Warriors lost to Manly-much to the angst of a crowd in a Gisborne bar. Despite all my problems with"technical" rugby union and being born in the cloth-cap wearing part of England where it began, I really can't learn to like league. It was clear from the speculative and one-handed passing of the Warriors play-maker where Quade Cooper gets his inspiration and I predict his next move will be to League(where the tattoos are even denser-let's hope the footballers save enough of their high earnings for their plastic surgery bills when they have grown-up and cruel fashion has left them behind).




FIFTEEN HUNDRED COMBINED KILOS IN COMBAT
Flat, dense defensive lines, grapple and gang-tackling have infiltrated RU courtesy of League tackling coaches and are stifling scintillating runs by the backs-especially wingers who only seem to get the ball for brief kami-kaze dives to get inside the corner flag, with one or more tacklers trying to force them into touch(oh for the free flowing play of that wonderful All Blacks/Barbarians match in which one try involved handling by almost every Barbarian player(apologies to my new found ALL Black friend, Alistair for the painful memory)
Even worse, this morning's number one news item was the withdrawal of the All Blacks"play maker" Dan Carter with a "groin strain" His groin is on the front page of every paper and it has nothing to do with Murdoch's media ownership here. This has really rocked the nation and especially those in Christchurch who at least had Dan and the Captain to be proud of. The second news of the day was that the NZ PM would be flying the Australian flag at his next news conference having lost a bet on the NRL grand final with Julia Gillard(see, she can win sometimes-but as they said here, she would die for his poll ratings-election after the cup) Third was the price of milk for farmers.
Meanwhile in the real world, in a city where a finals crowd expands close to 100,000 and can be dispersed in about half an hour after the game, Collingwood returned to their more traditional role of proud losers. Perhaps Eddy Maguire( with Jeff kennet???) should go to Arizona for some high-altitude recuperative training. Bad luck for Mick Malthouse, he deserved better from his team and I wonder where he will go next.At least his replacement starts with nothing to lose. Well done Scott and his Cats. Eagles next year!!
I saw the first quarter at a friend's home and when I asked about the result in a pub, after the England Scotland game, the silence and bemusement was such that I might have asked "What's the time on the moon?" But the service there was very attentive and the manger raced off to consult the web and advised me of the satisfactory outcome(John Button-rest easy)
Monday morning. It's mild but going to be wet on the east coast of the North Island. So here's to a gentle two hour cruise down the coast road to stay in Napier for a few days(looking forward to the Art-Deco architecture) and get away from rugby and driving until I return to Auckland next weekend to attend a quarter final. A shower wouldn't go amiss having spent three nights in campsites bereft of that facility(NZ$15 per night). I am beginning to be offended by my own aroma!!
Somewhere else there is real and economic warfare and the environment is planning to kill us all off(unless the SCIENCE is only as "settled" as the theory of relativity) but not here-in New Zealand "It's all about rugby!!"