Dunning Beats the Rap

The news today is that the big boy has beaten the rap, getting a stern warning from the Warratahs in place of the $3k fine. I bet the Colnel will be happy, Matt will be back to number one Aussie customer in no time with all that extra cash to spend at KFC! Or perhaps he'll blow it at the pub...In any event it is good to see that justice can occaisionally be done, even for a front rower.

Shock news, Greg Gowden has gone out on a limb and backed the Africans this week. Perhaps he had the opportunity to read my last post on this blog, but somehow I doubt it. Ben Kimber has stuck with the safe ground of backing the All Blacks, however given that they are at Loftus this week, and the South Africans will be sweating blood before they give up on winning this, I think this could be the game of the season. Click here to watch the wrap up by Kimber and Gowden. Don't forget to have your say in the poll being taken from this site.

Of note in the above wrap up is the reference to resting players from the Super 14. With the anouncement of the plans to rest 22 All Blacks until round 7 of the competition, the Aussies are enjoying making reference to the length of time since New Zealand won the Rugby World Cup (20 years). However hard on the heels of the New Zealand anouncement, and subsequent condemnation, comes the SHOCKING news that certain Wallabies may be rested as well. Hold the front page.

No concrete decisions about who will be rested or for how long have been made public yet, and there is the rub as far as I am concerned. It is all good and fine for Kimber and Gowden to speculate on who will be rested and when from the Wallaby squad, but until we actually know what the ARU is planning to do any comments about that are just rank speculation. This is to say nothing of any comment directed towards the supposed arrogance of the NZRFU. The World Cup is the biggest focus for international Rugby now, and as such the NZRFU must keep its eyes on the prize and give the All Blacks the best chance to win the thing next year. Any suggestion that any other union should do anything other than act in what it considers the best interests of that union to take the prize is just foolish talk.

News Limited may find it a hard sell telling the NFRU and rugby watching public in New Zealand that they have to risk the best chance at winning the World Cup for a competition that is rapidly becoming meaningless. It is meaningless because the Africans consistently fail to perform, and the Aussies seem to only be able to field second rate teams that fall at the last hurdle most years. Perhaps the Australians should try to develop a domestic competition to produce more players at a higher level, instead of trying to compete at a level they do not have the necessary player depth to, and sponging off other rugby playing nations.

Let's look at that. In Super Rugby the Reds suck every year, the Storm have only just started but were cellar dwellers this season, the Warratahs have failed to take out the trophy and apparently can't handle the finals, and the Brumbies were the only successful Australian team (twice) until the players started running the joint and chased off any good prospects that might challenge them for a starting position. The fact is that Super Rugby is more important to the Australians than anyone else because they lack a serious domestic comeptition. Their challenge is to fix that, the NZRFU and to a lesser extent the South Africans shouldn't have to do that for them.

Meanwhile the All Blacks are preparing well for the game this weekend by their own reports (not surprising really is it). I was astonished to hear that the All Blacks wore special humidity masks on the flight to the republic to ensure that they were no dehydrated during the trip. Apparently this is the first time this has been tested. They are battling the usual jet lag and effects of playing at altitude. With 11 new players, teh coaching staff have recognised the issues this presents and have gone for fresh legs. I think this is a good move, but we will have to accept that there is likely to be less free flowing play from this All Blacks side. In addition with the Africans no doubt aware of the tactics the Wallabies correctly employed last week in Auckland, they will be seeking to emulate the hard uncompromising defence that did upset the All Blacks in Auckland, although not enough for them to lose. This will be a humdinger, and I think we can expect a tough test match that will be a hard fought victory for the side that comes out on top. Bring it on!