PM Weighs In To Continual Fallout From Confrontational Wallaby Performance

The New Zealand Prime Minister, Helen Clark has put in her two cents concerning the tactics Australia used to try and contain All Black captain Richie McCaw. She suggested that Tuqiri ought to have been sent off, and that there were several ugly assualts against the All Black captain. You know things are getting heavy when the Prime Minsiter gets involved in sporting controversy between the trans-Tasman rivals. The last time involved cricket, and a certain porcine Prime Minister Muldoon suggesting that yellow was an appropriate colour for the Australian cricket jersey. That being said, I have already gone on record saying that Tuquiri was lucky not to be sent off, so in this case I agree with her.

Adding further weight to the outcry in New Zealand is South Africa's Jake White who has also come out saying that the Wallabies targeting of McCaw was over the top, but the star flanker does have a target on his head because he is so good. You know that there is something to an outcry if even a South African thinks that things were getting a bit over the top!

However, Phil Waugh has reportedly said that All Blacks coach Graham Henry is a "whinger" on this issue. Given the comments attrributed to Henry, it is a little unusual to see how he arrived at this conclusion, after all he only said McCaw was targeted to take him out of the game, that was part of rugby and you had to live with it, but that the Wallabies lacked discipline when doing so. Seems fair enough to me, Tuqiri has been suspended for 5 weeks so clearly there was a lack of discipline about the display. Waugh has copped some flak, and I'd suggest rightly so. He was, after all, the only player yellow carded during the match (amazingly).

In the final analysis it was a tough test match, rugby is a physical game, and in the words of a recent All Black captain they're not playing tiddlywinks out there. The Wallabies threw everything at the All Blacks, they should expect nothing less, and still came away with a loss. The All Blacks never really looked like losing the game at any point, even when down by 11 points. Harden up, and get on with it New Zealand is my verdict.

On reviewing the game, there were a number of areas of the All Black game that were tested, and I think that Henry and the rest of the coaching staff will be pleased that they have had a decent run like this, and a stout test of their defence well before the World Cup. There were some unsavoury incidents, however these also form part of what makes the Trans-Tasman rivalry so fierce. They happened, some were dealt with, some weren't, get on with it and focus on the rest of the competition.

One final point before closing this post, the All Blacks non inclusion in the first 7 rounds of the Super 14 is a compromise, a fact I wasn't originally aware of. Graham Henry wanted the All Blacks out of the entire Super 14 tournament. The anouncement of the All Blacks being available for the second half of the competition is a compromise that probably satisfies no one. I should imagine that the reasons for not having the All Blacks play, apply whether they play 7 games or 14. It remains to be seen what the final decision will be, but no doubt the fans will be hoping that whatever the final result is, Rugby World Cup 2007 is the top priority for the New Zealand Rugby Union.

Readers will note that I have added a poll on the sidebar of this blog - over there to the right of your screen. You can vote for the winner of the game this weekend, and pick the margin also. The poll results will be published this weeekend, and readers would be well advised to remember that the All Blacks have yet to post a win in the Republic under Henry. Of course, that may mean that they want it more this weekend, but on the back of a tough test all that travel might just get to them... Vote and have your say - you can see what option is most popular at the end of the voting process.