If there’s an upside to the Rugby World Cup final, it’s that we’ll finally see the back of Dan Carter. Yes, it’s true New Zealand breeds rugby players like sheep. And there will be others to plug the gap. But Carter’s precision boots won’t be easy to fill. Indeed, we may never see his like…
Tag: All Blacks
Rupert’s conversion on the road to Twickenham
Somewhere in the past week, Rupert Murdoch has become a rugby union fan. While I don’t follow his Twitter feed religiously — there is food to be digested after all — I’ve never known him to tweet about sport. Yet since Monday, there have been three in a row about rugby. Including one sticking the…
All’s fair in love and rugby
When the Rugby world Cup comes around, it’s always good to make fun of the All Blacks when you can. Which turns out to be pretty easy when they’re playing away from home. The All Blacks have only claimed the Webb Ellis Cup when the tournament’s been played on their turf. And Japan’s shock win…
Kiwis fans play the wimp card
The Rugby World Cup is here. And if the All Blacks are anything like their fans, they’ll crumble like a chicken stock cube. In the land of the long white band of cotton wool, a petition is doing the rounds calling for a 10am start to the working day because of all the early morning…
Aussie women to the rescue
It was Maggie Thatcher who once said: “If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.” And so it was left to our Aussie women to salvage some national pride on the international sporting stage over the weekend. Frankly, I didn’t think it could get any worse than…
A tale of two minnows
These are two stories with very different endings. Of two Davids taking on their Goliaths. One was a lamb to the slaughter. But one prevailed. Let’s start with the lamb. During the 2003 Rugby World Cup, I had the pleasure of watching the All Blacks get beaten twice in one afternoon. First I took in…
Solved: the hex of Eden Park
This is Eden Park in Auckland. It’s a nice enough footy field. But it’s only a footy field. So why is it such a graveyard for Aussie rugby dreams? What are they spraying on the turf that makes it so Wallaby repellent? It’s 28 years since Australia beat the All Blacks on this ground, or…
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