Let That Be The End of It! Please!

Reports today have it that Richie McCaw has shown himself to be the man off the field that we all know he is on the field. McCaw has received a letter of explanation from Tuqiri, and he has accepted the apology of the Wallaby winger. Add to that an 11 week suspension from rugby (although only for one test) and I for one hope that the Tuqiri spear tackle can be left at that, and we can get on with some rugby. It is after all a physical game, and McCaw's comments about the swinging arm from Phil Waugh perhaps could educate those that have become involved in the controversey and should know better. McCaw said of his nose "It's been busted before" and in relation to the swinging arm itself

"A lot of things like that happen in games, and to be cited it's got to be a sending-off offence.
I don't know if the ref saw it he would have sent him off, but if it's intended you could say
it's a bit of a cheap shot. I don't know whether he did or not."

Full marks to McCaw, a true captain and a good sport. Time for New Zealand to give up the national pass time of whinging about Australians and beign outraged by good hard competition, and get on with winning the game this weekend.

In a shock move, the Aussie media have refrained from labelling Graham Henry arrogant after the anouncement of 11 changes to the starting 15 for the test match this weekend. Punters will no doubt recall that was the verdict of the cosnidered Aussie media prior to the Brisbane test match where New Zealand successfully retained the Bledisloe Cup for another year. Having to deal with the problems of coming off a physical test match, injuries, jet lag, and altitude, the number of changes to the side are not surprising.

Mils returns to centre, Daniel Carter remains at first five, Richie McCaw remains at number 7 (somewhat surprising given the coverage of his injuries this week, and the "revelation" that he is targetted by other teams), and Luke McAlister gets his second consecutive start - presumably Mauger is not yet ready to return to the field.

The wholesale changes mean that we will effecticely be seeing a 'new' All Blacks team this weekend, in the sense that we have not seen the second team play for some time now. The front row consists of Oliver, Tialata, and Sommerville (Yoda, don't you all think that he looks like a bigger and less green version of the Jedi master? Perhaps that could be the next poll.). Rawlinson and Williams are the locks, while Masoe, McCaw and Thorne round out the loose forward trio. A pretty strong forward pack, and they will need to be on top of their game to take the Boks on the veld this weekend.

The most exciting development in the backline is that Sitiveni Sivivatu has returned to the wing. The All Blacks will be hoping that Sivivatu can return to the form that had him injectment levels of excitement into the game that appeared to have left the fair shores of New Zealand with Rupeni. Rico Gear and Leon McDonald round out the back line for New Zealand and are both strong selecitons. This will not be a weak All Black side, nor does this represent a devaluing of the All Black jersey.

Meanwhile the South Africans are dealing with a few selection woes of their own. Flanker Juan Smith has been omitted from the test team this weekend due to a muscle injury to his quads. However, coach White has not yet anounced a replacement for him, prefering to wait until later on today. White is clearly (and perhaps easily) trying to sieze underdog status by labelling his side as "like a South African B team". This is because of the injuries to Burger, Botha, and Steenkamp. That may be going a bit far, but certainly they are reaching the limits of their player depth in the loose forward position.

But let's not be too hasty, the All Blacks have not won in South Africa since 2003. Graham Henry has yet to notch up a win in the Republic, so there is some history on the side of the locals this week. This is also the African's first home game, at altitude, and the side will be desperately wanting to make up for their three loses on the away leg of the competition (as will the coach). It also shouldn't be forgotten that they improved in each performance on the away leg, and were unlucky not to win in Sydney against an admittedly terrible Wallaby performance.

Not surprisingly backing the South Africans is a pretty lonely position to be in, and you'd either have to be mad, or needing to rid yourself of some funds before the tax man comes to get you, or you are forced to account for having it. The All Blacks will are reportedly treating the two games in the Republic as a 'series' and intend to win both to take out the 'series'. This will be a tough ask, however players will be wanting to impress selectors ahead of the World Cup. Ali Williams is facing a strong contender for his position in Mullet Boy, and several other contenders are getting the chance to strut their stuff on the international stage. This could be enough motivation for the All Blacks to break the African hoodoo they are currently labouring under. I for one am looking forward to this game.

Don't forget to vote in the poll over the left hand side of your screen. The results will be anounced by me on Saturday during the day, prior to the game. At that time a different poll for the following week will appear on the blog. Check back then for the results, and of course right after the game for the post match analysis!