More Pre-Season Results

Reads Down Highlanders by 2 points, 17-15

On the Gold Coast the Highlanders suffered a defeat at the hands of the lowly Reds. The game was settled two tries a-piece, the difference being a penalty slotted by Clinton Schifkofske to get his side across the line. This will be a much needed shot in the arm for the Reds, maybe this year under Jones they will be able to fire and get some traction in the competition for the first time? I doubt it, however it would be good to see one of the traditionally strong Australian Rugby Union sides exert some influence in the game again.

Hurricanes and Brumbies all tied up, 28-28

Meanwhile in Canberra the Brumbies and the canes thrashed out 80 minutes of football only to be all tied up at the end of it. Each side crossed the line four times, an effort that the attacking coaches will be pleased with. Obviously there is some work for each team to do on defence. Too late now, it is kick off next week and one week cannot be the basis for turning everything around. Note that the Hurricanes were missing a lot of forwards that are part of the All Black RWC 2007 training squad.

Chiefs down the Blues, 24-21

In another shock for Blues fans, a fair chunk of the readership of this blog, they were downed by the traditionally lowly Chiefs (again, note that the Chiefs have now beaten the Blues 3 seasons in a row, although this pre-season clash does not really count, although it wont bode well for the rest of the season either) in Rotorua. The Chiefs scored the match winning try in the dying stages of injury time to take the game. This is shaping up to be a great contest during the regular season. Troy Flavell's return to the All Blacks for RWC 2006 will not be assisted by a mediocre performance by this franchise again this year.

Tahs beat the Crusaders, 17-12

The Tahs continued on their winning way, beating an understrength Crusaders side at Aussie Stadium. Being understrength is no excuse for the the Crusaders, the Warratahs were without sever key players. New boy Kurtley Beale gave away one try, but redeemed himself by setting up the final try to win the game for the Tahs. A strong showing from the young man already tipped to be a surprise inclusion in the Aussie RWC 2007 side. Of concern for the Crusaders was the 12-0 lead that they surrendered in losing the match. Normally stout defence is a hallmark of this side, and perhaps this year there might actually be a good game between the Crusaders and the Blues at Eden Park to kick off season 2007.

Force Thrash Samoa, 59-10

The Western Force continue to live up to the praise offered them by Robbie Deans. He said they could win the Super 14, and this thrashing of a not inconsiderable international side could be showing that he wasn't too far off with that praise. They seem to have coped well in the pre-season and it will be interesting to see how they go in their first real hit out of the season.


So, not long to go until kick off now. Check in to see how things are going via this blog, and remember that you can always leave comments about how you reckon your team will fare. Hopefully you have all taken a little time to join up with various tipping competition, be interesting to see how many of you really know your rugby!

And I Thought The All Blacks Were Being Rested...


The Warratahs have anounced that Phil Waugh and Rocky Elsom will be rested for Thursday night's pre-season hit out agains the Crusaders in Sydney. It has been reported that the two Wallabies have been sidelined as part of a restricted training agreement with the Australian Coach, knuckles. Well, so much for New Zealand arrogance and devaluing the Super 14 competition...it looks like everyone is doing it. Some are just a little more cunning than the NZRFU (not a difficult task to be sure) and don't come out and anounce what they are doing.

Elsewhere, and contributing to the above debate, 3 All Blacks will be on display as the Hurricanes take on the Brumbies in Canberra. Conrad Smith, Tialata and Nonu will all be playing in the last hit out of the pre-season warm up games..so much for resting the entire squad. The Brumbies are fielding a few of their Wallabies to take on the Canes and it should be a good warm up game for the season.

In a move that will bring smiles to the faces of the ladies who like Super 14, Paul Tito is rumoured to be heading off shore for the remainder of his career. It si rumoured the big orange roughy will be heading to Wales where he will fit right in. He has had a great career, and has contributed much to New Zealand rugby, and Maori rugby in particular. All joking aside, good luck to the big man.

So, all in all the last of the pre-season games will provide us with something to begin to gague the season on. They are traditionally very poor indicators of a team's real standing. It will be all on in a couple of weeks, and hopefully you all have had a few good couple of days warming up with the jibes, insults, and rivalry that this game can bring out in the best of us. I can't wait for kick off, the first game between the Blues and the Crusaders should be a cracker sans All Blacks as it is...the Blues might just have a chance!

A Few Changes for the Blog

I had some feedback from you all in the last couple of days and as you can see I have taken it on board and made a few changes to the blog. First up, there were some comments about the template that I was using, and suggestions that it wasn't that easy to read, so I changed that this evening. I hope that you all find this one a bit easier on the eye. It is a new year and everything, so why not ring in some changes I say. Thanks to all of you that took the time to give me the constructive criticism.

In addition, some of you had trouble locating the link to Virtual Super 14 mentioned in the last post I put on the blog. It should now be clearly visible over on the right hand side of this screen in the links list. However, if you still can't locate the link, simply click here.

With any luck the changes to the blog will make finding the links a bit easier, and you will see that I have reduced some of the clutter on the blog. This should make things a bit easier for reading as well. Now, remember you can leave comments about the rugby too, so don't hesitate! Not long until kick off now, and I will be increasing the posts as the season gets closer. Check back for more rugby updates soon!

Virtual Super 14 Is Back

Yes folks, that great game for those fans of Rugby in the Southern Hemisphere the virtual competition based in New Zealand is now operating and you can join by clicking the link over to your right in the links column.

This is a great game, it keeps the interest level up and it also lets you track your performance week in and week out against your mates, and all of the other so called rugby experts in New Zealand for sure, and you can even find a lot of people overseas prefer to use this format for their virtual rugby experience.

Well worth it, and you can even come back to this blog and brag about how great your picks were for a given weekend! Enjoy.

Chiefs Down Canes In Pre Season Clash

In their pre-season Super 14 match this week, the Hurricanes were defeated 17-33 by the Chiefs who have signalled that they may be looking to better the mid table form that they were able to produce last season. Neither side will be particularly impressed by the game, or read much into it. They both failed to get out of first gear on attack, in spite of the Chiefs knocking up 30 points, and the real difference between the two sides was the verocity of the Chiefs defence. The coach will be pleased with that effort, and the Canes will be happy that the new front row have stood up to the opening salvos of the season. Each side was clearly trying combinations, new tactics, and using the games well as testing options before putting together the final tactics for their first game of the season. Good stuff, not long to go now!

Robbie Deans has also dished out some praise for the new Western Force franchise, predicting that they could win the competition in this their second year. This praise came after the Crusaders came home late in the game to seal a win, 28-12 against the Force in Perth. By all reports Rugby League convert Ryan Cross went well in his first game in the new code, and even managed to score a well worked try changing the angle off a ball from Pelesasa. Keep your eyes on this guy, Rugby League converts seem to be the players that are keeping the code going in Australia.

The Crusaders were of course without 6 of their All Black players who are being rested in anticipation of the World Cup tournament later this year. The Force were also without captain Nathan Sharpe and Giteau, who are also being rested. Funny how there hasn't been any comment about that devaluing the competition, although it could be argured that they are only being rested for the pre-season. A lot of good that did for Latham. In any event, while the Force will go better in their second year, thanks in no small way to some great player acquisitions in the off season, it would be a brave person to suggest that they will win the competition. However, it is early days yet.

Elsewhere there is still much comment about the Wallaby pack. In essence, everyone recognises that at present they are very much below par. Michael Foley the assistant coach, has been talking about the heads of the forwards, and getting them into a place where they want to improve. Well, I would have thought that a backwards tour of the playing fields of Europe ought to have galvanised the tight five to assure a better performance in the coming games. However, has time run out? It would be a big ask to expect an improvement before RWC 2007...but they've improved before and are always a tough to beat side in World Cup games. Don't worry Wallabies fans, your team will be there come the finals.

David Nucifora's Blues triumphed over the Reds 38-9 in their pre-season clash at Whangarei in Northland, New Zealand. His team performed well, especially in the second half having on lead 10-6 at half time. He will be pleased by this win, however Reds coach Jones read nothing into his sides loss. Correctly he noted that at this point in the season you don't have to be ready to win a Super 14 game, and his team wasn't. But it isn't that far away and they will have to be ready to win, and win as many games as they can, down their starting fullback. The Reds have been inconsistant since the Super 14 started, their only consistant feature having been disappointing their fans by failing to deliver each season. Maybe Jones can turn things around.

Well folks, not long to go now. Kick off in just a few weeks time, and I can't wait. All of you that are looking to go the World Cup games later this year - I envy you! It will be a great tournament, and I would go if I could, but live on tv will have to do. Stay tuned for more coverage of the Super 14. Bring it on!

It's All On!

Well, it is all on in Aussie Rugby Union at the moment. The current and former coaches of the Wallabies are at each other's throats over the injury sustained by Chris Latham in training for the Queensland Reds. It is alleged that he was meant to be part of a non-contact trainign squad of Wallabies earmarked for the next World Cup when he injured his knee to the extent that he is said to have undergone a knee reconstruction last weekend.

In my opinion this isn't that big of a loss. He plays well, but he is a player that runs hot and cold. Probably the worst damage his injury will cause is further disharmony among the Wallabies World Cup Squad already reeling from a woeful Northern Hemisphere end of year tour, revelations that Lote Tuqiri wasn't fit enough to train with the squad and was sent packing, and the further talk of defection to the NRL which Lote tells everyone is his first and only love. Not the best preparation.

Across the ditch all has gone silent. Aside from the occaisional quip at the arrogance of New Zealand devaluing the Super 14 by withholding players, there isn't much news at all. With any luck this means that the All Blacks are getting through getting the job done - at least this is what every New Zealand fan will be hoping right now. The lads will be into their training phase now and the New Zealand public will be expecting them to be bigger, stronger, and faster half way through the Super 14. It remains to be seen if this will be delivered or not - there are a lot of sceptics out there who suggest that the All Blacks have peaked already and we will once again be seeing them fall at the last hurdle. This view is most commonly heard in New Zealand - outside of that green everyone else is supremely confident that the All Blacks will triumph...

I myself am looking forward to kick off at the beginning of February. While I did have rugby fatigue at the end of last season, right now I can't wait for it to come back. I love it, and thank goodness there isn't long to go now. Bring it on!

2007 Calendar

Hi all, I'm back from a brief, but good, holiday in the land where Rugby rates as the number one sport for the country by a long shot. It was good to be back, and I noticed that there were several massive advertisements in Auckland that were already counting down the days, hours, mintues, and even seconds to the Rugby World Cup. Definitely New Zealand is full of Rugby mad people that think of nothing else, or so it would seem.

While I New Zealand I thought that I would gague the confidence of the nation after the northern hemisphere rout the national team had delivered last year, hard on the heels of the successful Tri-Nations campaign. I conducted a highly dubious and unscientific question and answer poll of taxi drivers, publicans, people on the street, all of whom were self prclaimed experts on the game.

It is fair to say that even for New Zealand, these wary souls did not display any form of confidence at all, and to suggest that the New Zealand fan is arrogant is a long way from the mark. Ask anyone, and the kiwis will be the first to say that they have seen this before from their national team, and they fell at the last hurdle. When asked to name where the danger lies, most will point to South Africa, France, and Australia in that order. There is no over confidence among the public, and they are all hoping this keeps the team down to earth, and aware of the fact that there are many sides out there with the class and skills to best them on the day of the quarter, semi, and final!

Before I close this post which really serves as notice to all the fans out there that I am back in business, I must give you all this link put together by our friends at Rugby Heaven. While not in the league of some of the more attractive looking calendars I have seen for the coming year, this certainly has most of the stuff that you would want to know on it. Click here to see the calendar. See you all again soon.