Up The Guts Rugby

I knew the All Blacks were going to win on Sunday night.  Not because I thought they were a better team than Argentina or because of the squad we had playing, the belief the team had in themselves or anything like that at all.

I knew the All Blacks would win on Sunday night because they weren’t playing a Fullback at Centre.  The last three times we’ve been knocked out of a Rugby World Cup we’ve been so arrogant and confident in our teams abilities, that rather than put the guy we selected in the 30 man squad to back up our incumbent centre, the All Black coaches chickened out and stuck their Fullback there instead.

Remember how they put Mills there against France in 2007?  Apparently Ted whispered “13″ in Mills’ ear at training a few days before and he was super excited because he hadn’t played a test match there in ages!  How did that work out for us again?

Remember 2003 when we gave Leon McDonald a crack there when Tana was injured?  How about when we gave Cullen a crack there in 99?  He was a great Fullback, surely Centre couldn’t be THAT different right? WRONG!

We’re so lucky to have such a brilliant Centre pairing in Ma’a Nonu and Conrad Smith.  Let’s hope they remain fit for the minutes the All Blacks have left in this Rugby World Cup.

The only man playing out of position on Sunday night was Sonny Bill Williams.  And while I wasn’t overly impressed by the decision to put him out on the wing, he couldn’t do TOO much wrong out there right?  He only let Argentina’s only try in…

Let’s not play guys out of position again shall we? i.e. YES Piri seems like he can do no wrong at the moment but let’s snap back to reality for JUST a moment, he is a half back, let’s leave five eighth to the specialists.

What a whirlwind two weeks.  First the country’s devastation at losing Dan Carter and now we lose his back up Colin Slade AND our seasoned campaigner at fullback, Mils Muliaina.  That’s a lot of test cap experience to lose all at once.

It’s times like these that the inexperienced players have to step up and the other old heads have to do about 20% more.

Mils and Slade's World Cups Over

When Colin Slade and Mils Muliaina made untimely exits and Aaron Cruden was thrust onto the field, I immediately thought to myself, “Every single player in the backline bar SBW has played for the Hurricanes and only Isaia Toeava wasn’t a current Hurricane this year. The Hurricanes were terrible this year, we could be in trouble.”  The proof will be in the Semi Final result this weekend.

Isn’t it amazing how a Test jersey transforms players though?  Piri Weepu, Cory Jane and Ma’a Nonu have all stepped it up into overdrive since their woeful Super Rugby seasons.

In particular Weepu has looked calm and assured.  He has run our backline from halfback, kicked all the goals superbly, led our haka and rescued our boys from late night binging sessions.  Like I’ve alluded to in a previous article, I can’t help but come back to the fact that being controversially left out of the 2007 All Black squad as the ONLY ‘protected’ player not to make the cut, it has only made him stronger, twice the man and probably triple the player.  Not even snapping his ankle in half could stop him from being this good.

Piri Weepu - It's Under Control

Todd Clever - My Man Crush™

I have a huge Man Crush™ on Todd Clever.  He’s an athletic, strong and extremely talented Rugby player from the USA Eagles.  He’s modest but hugely aggressive on the field, wears his heart on his sleeve and is a wonderful ambassador for American Rugby.  And, he pretty much looks like a wrestler straight out of the WWE!  His physicality in the Rugby World Cup was immense.  The way he threw his body into huge collisions for the whole 80 minutes with no regard for self preservation hugely impressed me.

During the Rugby World Cup I recorded a few clips that took my eye that really show what a character Todd Clever is on and off the Rugby pitch.  Don’t worry they’re all very short and will only take a moment to load.

The first is of Crowd Goes Wild reporter James McOnie discussing the Cold War™ match up between the USA and Russia, one of my favourite matches of the Rugby World Cup.  He couldn’t resist a good Cold War joke and Todd hilariously plays along with a great sense of humour.  The match had a massive intensity and both teams just threw the kitchen sink at each other.  There was a lot of tension too as both teams desperately wanted the win.

Clever had so much tension built up that he threw the referee around a bit, make sure you check out that video to see what else unfolded.  And finally, one of my favourite tackles in the World Cup.  Todd Clever couldn’t stop an Irish try but he made sure Tommy Bowe knew exactly what the score was between himself and Todd! *swoon*

Ice sporting a SENSATIONAL Moustache

Isaia Toeava is an electrifying rugby player.  He has one of the best fends you will ever see.  He can fend off both hands and has massive upper body strength making him very hard to take down in a 1 on 1 tackle.  One of his greatest strengths is his ability to to stay upright in tackles for a very long time to make some extremely skillful offloads.  He is a natural fullback but has massive utility value.  He can play every position in the back line from 10 to 15 and has done so at provincial and Super rugby level to a very high standard.

Today Ice gets to play fullback for the All Blacks for the first time in his career and I am absolutely FIZZING at the prospect.  Isaia was the most in form player for the first half of the Super 15 this year until he was cruelly struck down with injury.  Sky TV’s Re-Union named him as the first choice fullback in their weekly top 15 every week he played in that first half of the season.

This is an amazing opportunity for Toeava and I’m sure he’ll grab it with both hands and really leave the coaches scratching their heads.  They know they have to put him somewhere, his talent is too good to ignore, but where?

Check out this brief highlights reel to get a glimpse of the amazing try scoring power Toeava posesses and his ability to put other players in space and give try assists.

Let's hope we don't need to put up with this joke again this year

I know the All Blacks are the perennial chokers when it comes to the Rugby World Cup.  Everyone knows we haven’t lifted the trophy since 87 and despite regularly beating our biggest southern hemisphere rivals since then, they have lifted the trophy twice each to our once.

Why are we labelled chokers though?  Is it because we are expected to win the World Cup or is it because we keep coming so close but aren’t able to go the distance?

Many a New Zealander has debated this.  Is it better to be consistently #1 in the world or to consistently perform well at the World Cup?  Does winning the World Cup really make up for all the soul destroying losses the previous 4 years?  I couldn’t tell you.  You’d have to ask an Australian or South African supporter because they’d know best.

I'm really hoping I won't have to go out and buy one of those on Monday 24 October

One thing I do know though, is that if coming close and missing out is the definition of being a choker then clearly, France are actually the biggest chokers in world rugby.  France have more play offs appearances than any other country and have made two finals appearances without being able to win one.  New Zealand is 1 from 2, Australia 2 from 3, England 1 from 3 and South Africa with an impressive 2 from 2.

Wow.  One more sleep.  All the hype about the Rugby World Cup and finally it has arrived.  It’s actually hard to believe.  I don’t think I will believe it till it actually starts.  It feels like we’ve been talking about it forever.

There has been a LOT of rugby on this year.  Since 18 February, there has only been ONE weekend that I have counted where no Rugby Union has been played.  That’s pretty hard to stomach for even the biggest rugby fans like me.  I’m not going to lie.  Once this tournament is over I’m actually looking forward to watching a bit of cricket and taking a time out so that I can get excited about rugby again in time for next years Super 15!

Israel Dagg - Most ridiculous facial expressions in world rugby

People keep saying that Sonny Bill Williams is all hype.  Well, the hype machine has stepped into overdrive this week and it’s not about SBW.  It’s about Israel Dagg.  Yep, the kid had a MASSIVE game against South Africa, his only match of the year.  On the strength of that everyone is touting him to be the top try scorer for the All Blacks and top in the tournament.  He’s  played ONE GAME this year!  Not only that, in his 7 test caps, he has started on the wing every time and he is a specialist fullback.  Tomorrow is his first crack ever at full back in a rare starting spot ahead of veteran Mils Muliaina.  Let’s hope he lives up to the hype and doesn’t end up being another addition to the long list of All Black fizzers of players with potential that never eventuated.

If Izzy Dagg is the real deal, he will effortlessly slot into the All Black starting 15 just as Mils leaves New Zealand.  It’s always nice when a world class player turns up just as we lose one rather than at the same time and having to sit behind the incumbent during their best test playing years.

On a side note, Mils is teetering on 98 test caps with the possibility of only being eligible for 4 more before he leaves New Zealand (if All Blacks god forbid, get knocked out in the Quarter Final).  It would be a massive shame if he didn’t get to hit the 100 mark wouldn’t it?

Waikato vs Canterbury – Premiership Final

"Hey Robbie Fruean, your Mum called, she said watch out for Siti, he's gonna break your heart in the final!"

The same match up as last year but this time in Mooloo country.  I said at the start of the season Waikato were my favourite team to win the ITM Cup (though as you know I really wish it were the Steamers!) and they have a great opportunity to do so with a home final.

Stephen Donald is in red hot form and him, Messam and Sivivatu are going to flog their guts out to take that title.  It would be a fitting end to two wonderful careers for Donald and Sivivatu who have served the mighty Waikato and the Chiefs so well over the years.  Despite all his critics, Stephen Donald has been a wonderful entertainer, an amazing servant to NZ Rugby and he will be missed.

The sheer skills and ability from Donald, Sivivatu, Messam, Leonard, Tokula and Speight will be too much for the Canterbury machine to contain my in books.

Waikato by 3 points.

Manawatu vs Hawkes Bay – Championship Final

"I'm right here if you wanna stop me taking this ITM Championship trophy fullas!"

The Magpies probably belong in the premiership, they just had a rough season last year.  Manawatu on the other hand have come from nowhere into this final and have beaten beat fan favourites Otago, by a mile on the standings table.

As I’m sure you’re all aware, Southland have been relegated and will join the teams in the Championship next season after coming last in the Premiership.

This match will be very interesting in that both of these teams lost their last game before they got here.  Player to watch: Aaron Smith, the nuggety halfback for Manawatu is destined to be the Hurricanes first choice halfback in next years Super 15. He could be the difference that tips the Championship title in the Turbo’s favour.  His combination with Aaron Cruden might prove too deadly for the Magpies to counter.

Manawatu by 6 points.

Wayne Barnes - All Black Nemesis

You may have read about all the lessons the All Blacks have learned from their loss to the Wallabies in the Tri Nations decider on Saturday but no one from the All Blacks camp spoke about the biggest one, they kept it under wraps.

No matter how well you play or how good you think you are, the game will be decided by the referee.  Wayne Barnes is an incompetent fuckwit, we all know it so let’s just put it right out there.  He refereed the game and he wasn’t too biased towards either side but he did not referee the game well.  It was the greatest display of under officiating I have ever seen in my life.

It was a highly charged and EXTREMELY physical match.  He did not control that match.  People got hurt and there is one reason.  Wayne did not control the game.  Good Test players know that right from the start you test your boundaries against the referree.  The more you can push the laws, the more advantage you can give your team and you can manipulate your team into a position of power and dominance.

The best referees in the world will blow their whistle in the first 2 minutes and give a penalty.  This is to stamp their authority early and say, “I’m watching you fullas, don’t try and pull one over me”.  Wayne didn’t blow his whistle for about six minutes.  By this point both teams realised they could push the offside line, they could be casual about hands in the ruck, they could slap each other around off the ball and basically get away with almost anything.

This built more and more tension and people got hurt.  On no less than 12 occasions, I witnessed Wayne Barnes put his whistle to his lips and NOT blow his whistle.  Have some conviction Wayne!  Even if you might have been wrong at least have a back bone, have some commitment!  Make your mind up and STICK with it! The issue with this is that on most of those occasions he thought to himself, “hmm I should probably have blown that up, I’ll definitely blow up the next one”.  The problem was, the next time it happened, the OTHER team did it and then his officiating became inconsistent.  Then more people got hurt.

Wayne Barnes did not officiate the Quarter Final in France in 2007 well at all.  The All Blacks didn’t play Waynes game in that game and I don’t think they played Waynes game on Saturday night.  The All Blacks have been given a timely reminder that their World Cup title hopes will most likely hinge on how the referee interprets the last game they play in that tournament.  They need to VERY quickly adapt to what the ref is doing and is not doing and figure out a Plan B REAL QUICK or we are doomed to another early World Cup exit.  There won’t be any point shaking our heads and blaming it on the ref this time.  It won’t be like it’s the first time it’s happened. Remember 27 August All Blacks.  Remember it well.

We should know better.

Sonny Bill Williams - Sports Mercenary?

SBW has backtracked a bit on his commitment to play Rugby in NZ next year.  This may be in light of the fact that the mid field pairing of Nonu and Conrad Smith is set in stone in the selectors minds as the first choice combination.  So Sonny has decided to delay his decision on picking a Super Rugby franchise until after the World Cup.

The problem is that all NZ franchises need to name their squads within a week of the World Cup ending which won’t give any of those teams the ability to secure his signature earlier than that.  It’s unlikely any of them will be keeping the spare 200K that SBW demands in a shoe box anywhere ‘just in case’ he wants to play for them so all signs are pointing to Sonny Bill Williams not playing his Super Rugby for a NZ team at all next year.

If he does choose to play for an Australian franchise next year he will piss a lot of New Zealanders off and it will look even worse if he tries to weasel back into All Black contention by playing ITM Cup matches next year.  It’s a bit of a shame that Sonny looks like he’s just treating his All Black jersey like a trophy and something that he has now achieved and is ready to move on to his next conquest.  But if that’s truly his attitude then I suppose we don’t want him playing in our country anyway.

Interesting that in my last article I put photos of Hosea Gear and Zac Guildford, and they are the most talked about rugby players in NZ right now.  In a huge shock, Gear missed out and Zac made the cut.  Here was me thinking it was gonna be Zac or Siti right? I never thought Gear could get bumped out of the equation. Full credit to Zac, he has slugged his guts out all year and has played tremendously and is an extremely good link player.  Not as powerfully built like Gear to hold up the tackle while he looks for options, Zac has to rely on thinking quicker and having acute spatial awareness to anticipate what’s going to happen next and where and how he can be most effective in the given situation.  We always knew Jane was all class, his Hurricanes form clearly meant nothing, he is an out and out speedster who creates as much for himself as he does for others.

Hosea and brother Rico before Rico plied his trade overseas

I’m sure I’m not alone in my concern for Hosea Gear‘s future.  This situation is not too unlike what his brother Rico faced although Rico showed his hand a little earlier.  Rico signed for the Worcester Warriors a few weeks before the 2007 Rugby World Cup side was named and was beaten by Doug Howlett.  Who knows how that may have panned out had he not made his annoucement early.  Hosea Gear was in bilstering form in last years All Black season and until he was struck down with injury earlier this year you’d say he was an automatic All Black selection and the best in our country if not the world.  Crazy is the talent that the All Blacks possess, that we can fathom leaving him out of a World Cup on home soil, when any other country in the world would select him for their national side in a heart beat if they could.

The big question is, what is Gear going to do now?  The international offers will be piling up so high on his agents front door step that he won’t be able to see daylight, but Gear would do well to tell his agent to put them on ice and put them out of his own mind entirely for now.  Gear will no doubt be the first injury replacement should any of the backs go down so he still might yet get a chance.

But even if that doesn’t eventuate, I think he needs to man up, take it on the chin and be a better man and player for it.  Ma’a Nonu was hard done by in the 2007 world cup, in tremendous form all year but not good enough, even despite the immense potential he could have offered off the bench as an impact player.  He stayed and look at him now.  He is a legend and will go down in history as one of the greats.

Piri Weepu - Man or overweight hobbit?

But what about the guy that was most hard done by in 2007?  Piri Weepu was in the so called ‘protected’ team of ‘reconditioned’ All Blacks in the lead up to the last World Cup where the players were held back from the Super 14 to improve their strength and conditioning.  Piri Weepu was the only player in the group that did not get named in the eventual World Cup squad.  Could you imagine how embarrassing that would be?  How soul destroying?  Piri came close to leaving, almost switched to league, but in the end he stayed.  Look where he is now.  Even after a horrific leg injury that kept him out of rugby completely for the best part of the last 12 months, he is about to start in the Tri Nations decider against the Wallabies at Suncorp stadium.

I'm sorry, but that is REALLY gay, don't do it Hosea!

I hope Piri and Ma’a let Gear know how it was worth staying for them, that he is also a brilliant player and his time will come.  It would be a terrible, terrible shame to lose Gear now, let’s hope in October when he has to make the big decision, he chooses Black and not some poncy homosexual looking bright pink and teal excuse for a rugby jersey….