The Wallabies peaked in Brisbane

Make no mistake about it. The Queensland Red’s players fresh from a Super 15 victory, and the rest of the team buoyed from a rare win over South Africa in the Republic put it together in a scintillating first-half performance to stun the All Blacks.

James Horwill raises the 2nd, and last trophy the Aussies won this year.

A lot was made of that performance in Australian media circles. A tide-turner, were the Wallabies the best in the world? The game was the players’ crowning glory of the season. The emotional force that was exuded in that game has left the Wallabies struggling ever since.

Let’s look at the World Cup performances. Against Italy they got out of the blocks in the second half, eventually running away with it. Against Ireland they got beat fair and square though blamed the ref. Then against the minnows, U.S.A and Russia, they experienced periods where they sunk to the level of these times, even periods where Russia put a considerable amount of points of them.

The Wallabies were rudderless and in cruise control. These performances are not hallmarks of a World Cup winning side, or even one capable of winning a semi-final.

The Wallabies then had a Springbok showdown, minus Frans Steyn. A lot has been made of Brussow; however it was Frans Steyn who held the Springboks fate in his hands. His shoulder injury against Samoa destroyed their chances. The Wallabies did everything they possibly could to lose that game, yet somehow came away with a win. Commentators of the game have praised the tenacity and courage of the young Wallaby team although the reality is they weren’t up to scratch.

These new Wallabies are supposedly the young, battle-hardened breed. Their performance though left a lot to be desired. They made the ageing Springboks look exceptional which is something the Wallabies should not be proud of.

Enough of the World Cup though, and back to the 27th. A good Wallaby outfit bet an understrength All Black outfit, forced to play Whitelock at blindside flanker and an off the pace Muliaina, at the Reds fortress in Brisbane.

Eden Park this Sunday may be a demolition. We are missing Dan Carter from that Brisbane 22, but we have back Kaino, Read, Dagg, Kahui and SBW. In those five players we have the distinct advantage.

The weight of history bears down. Long may the Eden Park Hoodoo continue

Spurned All Black finding the Highlander within.

It’s encouraging, it really is. The feel-good story of the competition. Given no shot in kahooe for the 2011 Super 15, after two rounds the Highlanders are shaping up as a mid-table finish.

Step up one key man. Adam Thomson. No one player has stood out more in this newly expanded competition.

Highlanders coach Jamie Joseph believes him to be a real asset to the squad.

"Adam has been inspirational to us as a player," says Joseph.

"He makes big plays at crucial times that changes games. We're rapt with him.”

Interestingly, the All Blacks pecking order looks like it will change relatively fast. Lumped behind Vito and Messam, two players who Thomson has outshone in the past two games, his omission from the 2010 All Blacks Tri Nations and End of Year Tour squads was eye-catching.

Obviously he was told he wasn’t up to the mark, and sent to work on his skills. King Kumara and his cronies must now be quietly pleased with how Thomson has responded.

He is in a rich vein of form and most crucially Thomson looks to be maturing into a world-class player. He also presents a much sounder option than either Messam or Vito, both players who are still prone to brain-explosions.

Yes there is the now much anticipated showdown on Saturday the 18^th of June between the SBW and Ma’a Nonu shows, but mark two other dates down in your calendars.

Friday the 29^th of April, and Friday the 17^th of June, the days which Thomson and Kaino will clash. These affairs are set to be gladiatorial.

They say players grow to another level when the put on the black jersey. If Adam Thomson can do this, Kaino will be in a real fight for his prized No. 6 jersey.

No serious injuries in positive year for NZ Rugby

The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is happy to report there were no serious injuries, at any level, during the 2010 rugby season.

This was down from an unusually high five in 2009, and two in 2008.

New Zealand Rugby Foundation CEO Andrew Flexman says, “in terms of injury, this year couldn’t be any more positive.

“After 2009, when we we had five serious injuries before July, 2010 represents a real turn around.”

Flexman says that injury-prevention campaigns are working.

“It certainly shows that on average the Rugbysmart programmes are effective; the message about safe tackling and safe entrance at rucks/mauls is getting through.

“We often use the ambulance at the top of the cliff metaphor; while we provide assistance when injuries happen, we like to also work on injury prevention.”

The New Zealand Rugby Foundation is set up to help players who have suffered a life changing injury playing rugby. It provides financial assistance to those players and their families. It has provided $250,000 to date in the 2010 Financial Year.

“To be able to be there to provide support for players’ unfortunate enough to come into this circumstance is really encouraging. As a charity, we rely on people’s patronage, as well as the New Zealand Rugby Union.

“As with any sport, serious injury is only one false move away. We as the watchdogs and those playing game, have to keep vigilant, monitor trends, and try to make the game safer,” Flexman says.

Currently the New Zealand Rugby Foundation is part of the ‘Get Black on Your Feet’ campaign with the CatWalk Trust, and The New Zealand Spinal Trust, where people can buy pairs of black socks from New World, PAK’nSAVE, and Four Square supermarkets to help raise funds for the Foundation.

Twitter user: 'I AM NOT A FREAKING CRICKET MATCH'

An American twitter user has unwittingly been placed at the centre of an online cricket gag.

Cricket fans across the world have turned to the social networking site Twitter to share their thoughts on the test series between Australia and England, and one tweeter @theashes has found life tough in the spotlight.

The woman, from Westfield, Massacheuttsus, is being inundated with questions for score updates, player criticisms, questions about when England will declare, and who her favourite team is.

At first, she did not enjoy the attention.

‘I AM NOT A FREAKING CRICKET MATCH,’ she tweeted.

While becoming an instant Ashes Cricket Celebrity, she normally tweets about her toddler and knitting.

She is now embracing her twitter star status, tweeting ‘I'm not sure who I support, England or Australia. However, I've been to England. I've never been to Australia.’

Starting out at a couple of hundred followers before the first Ashes test, she is now just shy of the 5,000 mark.

Tweeters from across the globe are now calling for other users to get @theashes fans up to over 10,000.

A trending topic has already been set up trying to win @theashes a VIP trip to Australia to watch the ashes, follow it at #gettheashestotheashes.

While she has started following @ShaneWarne, she evidently still has a few rules to learn about cricket, as she questioned ‘what the hell is a wicket?’

The Northern Report Card

New Zealand All Blacks

Northern Hemisphere Tour: Win 4 Loss 0

Grand Slam Achievement

Image: Photosport

The All Blacks completed their fourth Grand Slam tour, with their previous being 1978, 2005, 2008.

The Players

The tour has been used as a virtual World Cup simulation by the Three Wise Men, with only 29 players being used.

This was first seen replicated when Sivivatu was injured. Replicating World Cup conditions, no other player was flown in as cover.

In saying that, Tialata was brought in for an injured Ben Franks, though did not play any games. He was basically used an expensive tackling bag/scrum machine.

So to Donald. After his shocker in Hong Kong, the training paddock was all that he could expect.

Braid was nearly in the same category, though his cameo against Wales underlines his value. He will no doubt be playing for his place in the World Cup Squad in the Super 15.

Enough with the bad. The SBW experiment has gone well and smoothly. Although his hotel pass is as good as signed, sealed and delivered for the World Cup, he needs to have a stellar Super 15 season to challenge Nonu.

Gear looks like a seasoned pro at this level, underlined by two very classy tries against Wales. Rokocoko’s time is numbered in the jersey, it’ll be interesting if he ever pulls it back on.

Attack

The important thing about this All Black side is they attack from everywhere. Eighteen tries in four games is testament to that.

The forwards play as backs, and the backs play as forwards – it is a seamless transition. SBW’s trademark offloads were prominent, while Muliaina underlined his class, and status, as the premier fullback with a stellar end of season tour. Toeava made leaps and bounds, capped off with a good performance against Wales, while Jane can feel unlucky not to be picked in the form XV.

Image: AP

Smith has underlined his place, along with Muliaina and Carter as the three indispensable players in the All Black backline.

Read was immense, as to McCaw, and Kaino. There is not a more feared back three in world rugby – with the ball they are certainly something to be reckoned with.

Whitelock is a definite prospect for the future, while Boric has also turned a corner with his performance against Ireland.

Defence

The All Blacks defence is about the rule of fours. Four tries conceded, four games played and four players who were eye catching on defence.

Four tries in four games is a particularly good achievement. It is four tries worse than the past two years, although the laws of the game have changed so dramatically to favour attacking play. There were some amazing try saving tackles by Toeava, a joint effort by Muliaina and Carter, and if you really needed to guess who the last was, a Read eye-catcher against Ireland.

Four players really stood up here, Franks, Thorn, Kaino, and McCaw. Never have I seen more big hits in four consecutive games of international rugby by one team. These players were colossal in the contact area. They aren’t just show ponies either, they are the toughest men in world rugby, and get through mountains of work. Jerry Collins, eat your heart out.

The mark of a great team is not in their attack, but in their defence. Mike Ford, the English Assistant Coach said the Tri Nations was ‘not test rugby’ because of the try scoring dominated play. The All Blacks have most definitely shown this theory up with their total domination at defence time.

Verdict

With New Zealand records, and World records being broken left right and centre on this end of year tour, watch out rest-of-the-world, you are in trouble.

Without a drastic loss in players through injury, the All Blacks are going to be very tough, nigh on impossible to dethrone at home in September/October next year.

With a 13 – 1 international season record, the 2010 class of the All Blacks were among the greatest ever.

It must be very tough to be an All Blacks fan right now.

Report Card: A+

PS: Dear SBW, we're waiting for the trademark big hits.

Player Drain.

Yes, this is about the player drain. No, this isn't the regular New Zealand players are getting poached.

This is about league, and the St Helens Chairman Eamonn McManus calling on rugby league chiefs to halt the player drain to Australia.

Isn't this a twist of fate. And also a bit rich if you ask me.

Mr McManus, with all due respect two players is not a player drain.

Be it that it may, they were England's two best players on the park this Four Nations. Sam Burgess, and Gareth Ellis.

There should be a case for more England players to come to Australia. It will strengthen the English, because let's face it - the Super League is rubbish.

It's where Kiwis and Aussies go to finish up their careers. It is like the retirement home of rugby league.

And yes, the English commentators of the game must be hard of hearing too - as they think that it is close to the NRL in style.

In many ways, the league teams over in England are just like the Rugby Union teams. Taking talent which is declining in other countries, rather than promoting homegrown talent from lower ranks.

As an arm-chair commentator on both games, this is madness. I don't understand why you would bring players in, if it wasn't going to strengthen your country, or the country's competition.

I'll take it back to Sam Burgess. This kid is a superstar. He lifted the performance of the Souths, led the way, and much of the whole team lifted as well - a positive influence on Australian (well mostly Kiwi, thanks Russ for infiltrating the Souths) league.

The point is that English players coming down here to strengthen their game, and then take that reconditioning and knowledge back to the Super League is a godsend for the English.

With the strong Aussie dollar at the moment, the whole English national team should be sent down to live with the convicts for a year, such was their disappointing showing in the Four Nations.

So Mr McManus. The evidence is right here for you to see. James Graham should definitely have his boarding pass. As too Sam Tomkins - minus the girly pink boots.

To get the English shield have at least a little bit of pride, these warnings must be heeded. NRL, not Super League is the way forward.

Without the pace and intensity provided by it, and with the game being played on dry surfaces, England, and the rest of the world, will no doubt fall away even further.

League: In a class of it's own?

Nothing compares.

American Football? No.

Ice Hockey? No.

Rugby Union? No.

When it comes to hits, Rugby League take a bow.

It's you first, and then daylight second.

NRL Big Hits 2010.

This is what I miss.

And now, my two favourite hits of the year.

No 2:

Huge. Simon Dwyer. Big hit.

*Drum Roll Please*

No1:

You can't go past the little fighter, Lance Hohaia. Petero Civoniceva, 'the big hit receiver.'