Take your head out of the sand New Zealand

RuckU By WILL CARLING - RugbyHeaven | Friday, 06 June 2008

I blame the pumpkin soup I endlessly consumed on England's eight week tour of New Zealand in 1993 for my unexplained lack of form.

Every hotel meal on that tour seemed to feature pumpkin soup.

There were also the All Blacks to blame for my acute irritable bowel.  But I feel that might be more based on speculation.

Onion soup I find very tasty - French Onion soup in particular.

I intend to offer Dan Carter some culinary advice when he arrives for his sabbatical from the overbearing reality of New Zealand rugby.  I ask you this: If New Zealand is such an inspiring place to live and play - then why does a player like Riki Flutey 'move' while Carter is granted a sabbatical?

Sabbatical.  It's the modern day catch cry for New Zealand rugby players.  But I don't think it's the great, all-conquering panacea that the NZRU would like to think it is.

For instance, take one of your new All Blacks.  What's to stop him requesting a sabbatical after starting a dozen test matches?  I don't buy this idea of a 'case by case' decision process because an employment court would most likely tear the NZRU to pieces for limiting the earning potential of a player it confesses by its own standard is both 'professional' and 'world class'.

Does Dan Carter wear a blacker shirt than the rest of the team?

Don't scoff.  Warren Gatland and now Robbie Deans have proven the 'drain' is not merely of players but also coaches.

For Deans it must be confusing.  After all the success his team has had, all the influence the Crusader players have had in the All Blacks and still no recognition of him by the NZRU?

Gatland is another who, rebuffed by the NZRU, then took Wales back to the forefront of European rugby, showing his class as a coach.  Neglect is worse than incompetence and the RFU can share the dunce hat with the NZRU for its lack of vision for Shaun Edwards as a coach.  Unsurprisingly, it took a rejected Kiwi to usher Edwards into the international rugby arena.

Here is a glimpse of a possible future for New Zealand rugby and its players.

New Zealand will identify and select wonderfully gifted young rugby players with sublime skill and almost freakish ability, who will then be developed and experienced in the New Zealand environment before a tour bus of English, French, Irish and Welsh rugby scouts arrives and signs the best of them that year.

They then serve their apprenticeship in Northern Hemisphere clubs and only after they are acknowledged as fully fledged professionals - achieved by making the starting line-up in a European Cup final or similar occasion - will they then be considered good enough to play for the All Blacks.  At which point the NZRU will negotiate a release with their professional club for international duties.

Can you say 'English Premier Football',  or even 'Brazilian national football team'? Because guess what New Zealand rugby fan....that's exactly what you are in for.

The financial engine of world rugby resides in England and France.  The parallels with English football are so close that Roy Keane is down there - probably by mistake.

It amazes me that New Zealand thinks just because it's New Zealand, home (for the time being) of the All Blacks, that professional rugby players will not go to the marketplace because they are in it for the honour!?  Feel free to stick your head in the sand, New Zealand.  The next time you pull it out you'll be the only one there and the light bulb will have been sold as well.

Come on, join in.  I mean why deny yourselves?  I hardly did, especially when it came to pumpkin soup.

Deans may one day decide to move North in search of fresh challenges, but until he learns etiquette, correct annunciation and proper arrogance - which may not be impossible for a Cantabrian - then there is simply no way he could ever coach England.

He simply will not fit in. 

Detroit's Stanley Cup runneth over

blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport > Ian Winwood | June 5, 2008 1:17 PM

The Red Wings' pace and intensity made them worthy winners, and provided a great advertisement for hockey

I think it was on Tuesday morning when I realised that the National Hockey League had really captured my attention, and that the spectacle on ice was becoming a classic. It might have been something to do with the fact that here in London the sun had come up and I hadn't really noticed, so absorbed was I with the game of high-chess-with-violence that was being played 4,000 miles and six times zones away in Detroit. The Red Wings were just 34.3 seconds away from claiming their fourth Stanley Cup in 11 years in game five of the finals - but they eventually lost in the third period of overtime, almost a full game of hockey later.

This five hour match may have only served to delay the inevitable - Detroit claimed the Stanley Cup with a 3-2 game six victory in Pittsburgh last night - but as an advertisement for hockey, Monday-night-cum-Tuesday morning will take some beating. I remember watching the players on the ice and thinking, 'God, they must be knackered.' I felt this was a fairly safe bet; I was knackered and I was only watching it on the telly.

Speaking of which, buoyed by good television ratings (5.8 million in the US, much better than most years) the hockey itself was beginning to resemble the kind of carnival of skill and lunacy that leaves the viewer involuntarily open-mouthed. This was ballet with broken noses and 'concussion-like symptoms'. For the moment at least, the drone of received wisdom that states that this sport is not popular and is in fact responsible for everything wrong with the world was silenced. Of course, the series would have ideally gone to a deciding seventh game, but don't let that obscure the fact that this has been the best Stanley Cup Finals in years.

Not that that means a damn thing to the team that lost. Can you imagine, can you even try and imagine, how the playing staff of the Pittsburgh Penguins must feel this morning? All that... for nothing. At the outset of game five, the TV commentators said something to the effect that the Pennsylvanian club had "nothing to lose". Nonsense, they had the Cup to lose, and that one thing is everything. This morning the Pittsburgh Penguins are the same as the 28 other NHL teams that failed in the only thing they're required to do, only this team came closer than most. Falling just two victories shy of their quarry is a fate as mean as a snake.

But there you have it, hard water. The 102 competitive games the Penguins played this year count for exactly nothing; for what it's worth, they may as well be the Los Angeles Kings. This awful, unvarnished truth will this morning be staring 42-year-old Gary Roberts in the face as he shaves off his playoff beard. If you want to gauge the kind of toll professional hockey takes on its participants you should look to the players' faces, all scars and creases and noses that look as if they were fashioned by Picasso. Roberts looks like Sean Connery's dad. This morning, you can bet he feels like it too.

In years to come people will frown and pause in order that they remember the name of the team the Detroit Red Wings faced in this year's finals. Mere minutes after the 2008 NHL season came to a close, though, it's easy to recall the many exhilarating moments of this thrilling series. Watching at home, I've said "ah" and "oh" so many times it sounds like I'm faking an orgasm. I was at it all the way through game three (which I believed to be the best match I'd ever seen) and I was at it all the way through game five as well (which turned out to be even better). I even made notes. They read, simply: 'And basketball is more popular than hockey, why?'

But those Red Wings... what can you do? Pittsburgh did not lose the Stanley Cup, the Wings won it. The team are as frightening as The Motor City itself, and that's plenty frightening; sharing a sheet of ice with them would make any sensible person run for their lives. They are a machine, one that proves that hockey is a team game and that the best teams are those that comprise a collective greater than the sum of its parts. A 19-headed monster, the Red Wings did everything right, and did it at a pace and with an intensity that was exhausting even to watch, let alone face. I'm surprised that Pittsburgh coach Michel Therrien didn't lean over the glass dividing him from his opposite number, Mike Babcock, and ask, "please, can we not have a minute's peace? My lads here need to have a cry."

The Penguins must also be cross-checking themselves that it took them two full hours of hockey to realise that they were in the Stanley Cup Finals. Detroit knew this from the first shift of game one and acknowledged the fact by scoring seven unanswered goals and winning two of the four games required. By this point the job was mathematically half done; psychologically, it seemed much more than that. For more than a week now, really, the writing's been on the cup.

Or so it seemed to me, and to you as well I'm sure. But then came Monday night, sudden-death overtime, five hours of hockey, and a heart attack roughly every minute and a half for hockey fans in two major American cities. Sainsbury's was open by the time I got to bed, and still I couldn't sleep; I wanted the new season to start even though the old one had yet to finish. Talk about peaking at the right time.

And now it's over. Some have described the Red Wings' advantage in this series as being one of experience (Detroit, 'today's team', vs. Pittsburgh, 'tomorrow's team') but I'm not so sure; to me it looked more like appetite. That's not to suggest that the Penguins lacked hunger, just that Detroit (for the most part) had more of it, and knew how to better use it. The Pens weren't outplayed, they were merely outfought. All series long Detroit prevented them from doing the things they knew how to do, and no amount of overtime could disguise the fact that there wasn't a thing they could do about it.

As I type this last paragraph, the sun is once again rising over London. A continent away, it has just set over a fabulous Stanley Cup Finals and a season in general that has had much to recommend it. The NHL has done a good job, the Red Wings have done a great one. The Cup is theirs, as is the summer. Being hockey players, though, they'll shrug this off and claim that all that pain and glory was nothing more than a night's work.

Double standards

06/06/2008 08:53  - (SA)  |  Pitso Tsibolane | www.news24.com

When Bafana Bafana went to Nigeria last week a lot of threats were generated regarding the protests against xenophobia attacks in the streets of Abuja. Once again, Africa has successfully managed to make a fool of itself and become the laughing stock of the world. Needless to say, South Africans were at the heart of it, having initiated the shameful attacks on foreigners.

It is a fact that Nigerians were not necessarily the biggest victims of the attacks; however, they had a right to voice their disgust. It has since been established that about nine houses had been allocated to foreigners, contrary to government?s earlier denials.

So finally the mystery had been unravelled: 62 Africans died at the hands of other Africans because nine other Africans had been allocated cheap houses. Simplistic I know, but unfortunately that is how some out there in the international world will interpret these numbers.

Another game of numbers recently hit the news; the new Bok coach, Peter De Villiers has included three Zimbabweans - Tonderai Chavhanga, Tendai Mtawarira and Brian Mujati - in his 30 man squad.

Now, if this does not surprise I do not know what will. The same South Africa that went on a rampage killing foreigners for taking their jobs, women and cheap government houses are today welcoming the inclusion of three foreigners into their World Cup winning national team.

Could it be that South Africans have repented, changed from their wicked xenophobic tendencies and are now embracing their foreign brothers? I do not believe that story, on the contrary, South Africans have become even more aware of the "foreigner amongst" them.

One needs to look at the reaction that came up when the government abruptly decided to erect the so called "shelters" (refugee camps) right next to the affluent suburbs. Black and white middle class communities, the good and rational people among us were outraged. "Why do you bring them here? Our property values are going to decline, crime is going to increase, our kids need playing grounds," they said.

Cynical moral convictions

Ahaa! They have not changed, they still share the same irrational fears that exploded into xenophobia, they just do not have time in their hands to take up their arms and "defend" themselves.

So why is it okay that Toderai, Tendai and Brian can take the most prestigious sporting jobs in the land to national acclamation? Why is it that these three brilliant young sportsmen, can walk freely, take up the Springbok jersey, sing Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika and defend our national pride while they cannot walk freely in Tembisa and Diepsloot? It baffles my mind.

These athletes have chosen to settle in a country which has not been hospitable to them, to be the face of a people that resent them. Could it be that we are so desperate see black faces in the rugby national team that we will even contradict our cynical moral convictions about foreigners?

How come that the same people we would kill were they to own a house in a township, are so welcome, good enough to make us cheer loudly as they represent us. This is absurd indeed.

Could it be that common sense has taken over, and that we have embraced the inevitable fact that as the world turns, as politicians rise and fall, as evil men are born and die, people all over the world will move to and fro, in search of the elusive greener pastures in search for safety, food and shelter; in search for greatness to realise their God given right to be the best they can be - to be human beings.

Div's Zimbos are black enough

05/06/2008 09:27 | Tank Lanning | www.news24.com

A thought on Peter De Villiers inclusion of the three Zimbabweans, Tonderai Chavhanga, Tendai Mtawarira and Brian Mujati in his 30 man squad...

I really do hate the fact that it rears its ugly head every time, but as per usual a lot has been made of the racial make up of the squad, with De Villiers being praised for his ability to drive transformation. And it seems the Zimbabweans have been quickly accepted as part of that coefficient. "They are part of the 'big African family' and that's good enough for me", said one columnist recently.

As South Africa's xenophobic traits are being exposed on a global stage, I realise this is bumpy ground, but I have to ask the question - is it actually fair to include Zimbabweans as part of a transformation drive?

Don't get me wrong, I understand that it is no different to the All Blacks utilising the skills that come out of the Pacific Islands. Not everyone is happy with that situation, but, ceteris paribus, so should South Africa harness under-utilised sporting talent of the greater continent to our benefit. The rights or wrongs of such a tactic, and it is certainly something that is keeping Sepp Blatter awake at night, is fodder for a separate debate. Today I want to know if such a tactic forms part of transformation?

BEE scorecard

To my mind, transformation in South Africa - be it through quotas in the sporting arena or a BEE scorecard in the business world - is about righting the wrongs of the past, and thus fast tracking people disadvantaged by the previous racist government into today's more normal society through offering them equal opportunities. So, if anything, including Zimbabweans in our national side does exactly the opposite, as it robs home grown South Africans of that selection!

And given that the HR people I have spoken to tell me that only South African people of colour count toward a business BEE scorecard, I wonder what has made us so quick to include the three Zimbabweans in the Bok squad as part of transformation?

If the three players had been white tobacco farmers who had been forced from their Zimbabwean farms by the Mugabe land redistribution regime and chosen South Africa as their post farming refuge, would all be so hunky dory?

I think not. So to my mind, what is being said by the acceptance of this squad by SA Rugby, is that it is not really about transformation and giving previously disadvantaged people an equal opportunity, it is about making the Bok side more black!

And in closing, if one were to replace the three Zimbabweans with the likes of Heinke van der Merwe, Jannie du Plessis and Stefan Terblanche, very realistic replacements given their Super 14 form, how would the new coach's transformation drive be looking?

Carter stoked to get a taste of both worlds

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE in Wellington - RugbyHeaven | Wednesday, 04 June 2008

Dan Carter's happy to be a guinea pig for the new sabbatical rules and believes he can handle the demands that come with playing in both hemispheres. But he stresses he's expecting no selection favours from the All Blacks next year.

Carter confirmed he is close to sealing a deal with the New Zealand Rugby Union to stay in the black jersey through to the 2011 World Cup.

He's also weighing up the options from two northern hemisphere clubs that will almost certainly see him playing in Europe after this year's All Blacks schedule is completed.

That would make him the first high-profile player released to go overseas to experience a new rugby culture - and earn the associated mega-dollars - and then return to national duties under the sabbatical programme the NZRU is set to endorse.

Carter, preparing to open the new international season with the All Blacks against Ireland in Wellington, admitted he had a lot on his mind in recent times.

"It has been tough. Obviously it's been a decision I've been thinking about for a while," he told a media throng in the capital.

"I've gone over my options and I guess I've come to a stage where I'm keen to commit to playing and re-signing with New Zealand.

"I'm extremely excited with that. Obviously we are still working with the NZRU in terms of sorting out a contract and things like that. But from our end it's extremely positive."

Carter admitted high profile French club Toulon, coached by former All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga and stacked with Kiwis and other internationals, was one option for his sabbatical.

"There's another one but I'd prefer to keep from disclosing that till I make a decision.

But I'll be looking at talking to Tana in the next couple of days so that I have has much information as I can before I make a decision.

"I'd like to make a decision in the next couple of weeks ... sooner rather than later."

Carter admitted that the New Zealand connection at Toulon was comforting for a short term stay in the French scene that could be over within six months, returning him to New Zealand in time for next year's internationals.

"I think it would make the transition a lot easier having some familiar faces around. That's the sort of things I'm weighing up at this stage. But that is definitely a positive when thinking about Toulon."

Carter said if he took up the European deal he expected to be treated no differently to other New Zealand players when it came to All Blacks selection.

"It will be a little bit different because it hasn't happened before. Obviously coaches and selectors will have to look at my form overseas. I don't expect to be just selected in the All Blacks on merit. I'd have to be playing well if I was to play overseas."

He realises he's about to step on a rugby treadmill that hasn't been tried by a leading New Zealand player before.

He's already been training and playing since January and with a French deal filling in his usual off-season, he could be going pretty much through to the end of 2009.

"I'm pretty confident I could handle it. I don't see it as playing 18 months straight. You do get time off. For example the end of Tri-Nations you get three or four weeks off and even in the Tri-Nations you get a couple of weeks off at some stage.

"It's a matter of making the most of those times and clearing your head, getting away and getting a mental break. It will be a challenge but it's something I have to work through."

Carter believed the sabbatical was a step in the right direction as New Zealand looks at unique ways to try to counter the massive player drain heading north to the big pay cheques on offer up there.

"I think it's good that the NZRU are looking at other options. It's a bit of a stepping stone for them.

"I think six months is about as long as you could do over there. I guess I'll test the waters a little bit and then after that I'll get a better gauge on what it's like because I love playing here in New Zealand and playing the Super 14.

"I'd like to think that I'll come back to the Crusaders. That is still home for me. I'd be pretty confident I'd go back down south."

Having been part of two unsuccessful World Cup campaigns Carter made it clear that he has unfinished business in New Zealand rugby.

"I love playing for the All Blacks and that's pretty much the main reason why I'm looking to re-sign and play here in New Zealand. The All Blacks jersey still does hold a lot for me and there are certain challenges that I want to achieve in the next few years."

The ghosts of '07 are still hovering

By LINDSAY KNIGHT - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 03 June 2008

Much as Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen would like to move forward to their next international challenges as if anything that happened in 2007 is irrelevant, last year's misfortunes are sure to haunt them for years to come.

Their selections for the upcoming tests against Ireland and England did little to remove any of the questions or scepticism which arose from a disastrous 2007. Admittedly, there were going to be some drastic changes from last year's squad, with so many players going overseas and others injured or retired like Joe Rokocoko and Keith Robinson.

But you would not have thought the cleanout would have been quite so sweeping, taking in its wake the likes of Chris Masoe and Isaia Toeava, as well as those who had confirmed their intention to join the overseas exodus such as Jerry Collins and Nick Evans.

The stance taken on the latter two contrasts starkly with the leniency shown Daniel Carter and the willingness to accommodate his "sabbatical".

Another casualty has been lock Jason Eaton, who suffered a severe leg injury in the 2007 Super 14 and missed the World Cup. He has been judged to need a provincial season to bring him back to form, which is a trifle ironic. When he was plucked from obscurity, along with Toeava, for the 2005 end-of-season tour, he had not played for the Hurricanes.

But of those punished for the 2007 World Cup fiasco, the biggest concern, which may cause some to wonder whether the Henry panel always acts with wisdom and judgement, is the treatment meted to Toeava.

You would hope this youngster has been taken aside and treated with some sensitivity, though that has to be questioned when some of those ousted like Evans and Masoe learned of their fate, apparently, through messages on their cellphones. Collins, too, received a curt dismissal for what has been a monumental contribution to New Zealand rugby, with Henry offering the viewpoint, when Collins had made himself unavailable, by saying he would not have been picked in any case.

So far Toeava has had the sort of bumpy, erratic career which must make him ideal fodder for the sports psychologists so beloved by some modern coaches. When he was picked as a 19-year old from the blue in 2005, when many even in Auckland knew little about him, he was seen as a five-eighths.

But in his spasmodic All Black career from 2005-07 in which he has appeared in 15 tests, a number of which have been from the bench, he has been used mainly at centre or fullback or even wing. And in those three seasons, quite apart from having a utility tag, he has never been sure of a regular starting place with either Auckland or the Blues. Indeed, in the 2006 Super 12, he was a draft player with the Hurricanes.

Toeava, beyond any question, is a young player with talent and potential. But clearly he was picked before he was ready for international rugby and before he had been given the chance of serving an apprenticeship at provincial and Super levels. The fact that he was rushed too soon has never been his fault, but that of the selectors.

Only a few teenaged prodigies, Bryan Williams in 1970 as one example, make it immediately. John Kirwan probably was better off in the long term when at 18 he was overlooked for the Scotland-England tour of 1983 and even Jonah Lomu floundered when pitched in at just 19 for tests against France in 1994.

The other reason, of course, why many of us will never forget how events were so mismanaged in 2007 comes in the form of Robbie Deans, and the extraordinary fact, having been spurned by his own national administration, he has taken himself off to Australia to coach the Wallabies.

It has been long accepted that his taking over from Henry for this year should have been a no-brainer. If there were any doubts left as to Deans' supreme coaching quality they were removed by his steering the Crusaders to yet another Super title. Of the seven the franchise has won, this was arguably the greatest achievement for, in terms of talent and depth, this was the most inexperienced squad the Crusaders have fielded.

Perhaps now the Halberg Awards voting academy will at last overcome its apparent bias against rugby and make the Crusaders the team of New Zealand sport for 2008, and give Deans the coaching award. There may be qualms about giving an award to a coach of an overseas side. But there is a precedent. In the early 1990s league's Graham Lowe was once coach of the year while based in Australia.

Irish eyes smiling in face of AB reality

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE in Wellington - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 03 June 2008

Ireland coach Michael Bradley believes that if his side play to their potential they stand a good chance of breaking their duck against the All Blacks but neither he nor captain Brian O'Driscoll buy into suggestions they are facing a vulnerable New Zealand team.

The player drain that has swept a core of experience from the All Blacks and the resulting new-look squad suggest there may never have been a better time for Ireland to win their first match against New Zealand after 19 losses and a draw since 1905.

Quietly you sense that the tourists realise they have a grand chance of creating history but they certainly don't want to be weighed down by expectations like that.

In their starting XV the Irish have selected eight players from the Munster team that won the European Cup, a further five from the Leinster side that won the Magners League and they have a halfback with an English Premiership to his name after Wasps' win last weekend.

They are hoping that winning culture can eradicate the shock of last year's World Cup disappointment and an average Six Nations campaign that followed.

The Irish failed to make the World Cup playoffs but while they were drowning their sorrows, they watched the All Blacks quickly exit in the quarter-finals in arguably the biggest upset in the tournament's history.

It all adds up to an intriguing clash in Wellington on Saturday night as New Zealand's international season opens with Graham Henry's side desperate to start their new era in style.

But the Irish are just as focused on turning their fortunes around as they settle into a new beginning following the axing of coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

"If we do our business correctly and accurately – in discipline and defence – there is no reason why we can't win the match and then we roll on to the Australian game and use the same process there," said Bradley who is merely warming the Irish coaching seat before Munster maestro Declan Kidney steps in.

"I think it's very strong and exciting Irish team team. There's a lot of experience in the pack and you are going to need that against New Zealand.

"Then there is a lot of speed and talent in the backline so there is good balance. And they are a group of players who are used to winning."

But Bradley quickly qualified that by adding: "It's going to be difficult. History would show that New Zealand with its traditions would be the spiritual home of international rugby with massive pride and conviction from the people and the players as a totality. You feel it everywhere you go."

O'Driscoll had heard suggestions here that the time was ripe for some long overdue Irish success.

"But you don't buy into that too much. Sure they are perhaps going into a bit of a transitional period but when you have that amount of players to choose from (as New Zealand) guys have to really be at their best to get into the squad," said O'Driscoll.

"Players tend to knit with other good players and that's what makes them such a lethal combination every single time they go out to play. You rarely see a weak All Blacks team."

Yet O'Driscoll, a late arrival to New Zealand after the death of a close friend last week that ruled him out Ireland's warmup win over the British Barbarians, likes the feel of what is going on around him in the green camp.

"There are guys that are getting back to winning things. When you put that into a melting pot it's a great combination to have. If we can just transfer that across to the international stage ... it's the big if but we definitely have the player capabilities. It's just a matter of marrying things together."

Both coach and captain were quick to put the pressure on the All Blacks.

"I don't think there's much pressure on us at all," said O'Driscoll.

"I don't think there will be a huge level of expectation back home. We have never beaten the All Blacks and people are probably wondering why this has to be the time," said O'Driscoll.

"They (New Zealand) are the ones who have the record and a greater level of expectation than we have. So I think the pressure is back on them."

Most interest in the Irish selection centred around O;'Driscoll and his new midfield partner, the highly promising youngster Luke Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald has to shrug off an ankle injury but it appears the pair will line out together and O'Driscoll can't wait.

"He's such an exciting talent and for such a young guy he has confidence in abundance. That will alleviate any nerves a lot of people in his position might feel," said O'Driscoll.

Most of Fitzgerald's senior rugby has been at wing or fullback but he was a schoolboy star at centre. O'Driscoll will carry the No 13 jersey out of habit and said he expected he and Fitzgerald to swap regularly between centre and second five.

"We will mix and match things, maybe play a bit of old school left and right."

O'Driscoll, a regular visitor to New Zealand in recent times as captain of the 2005 British and Irish Lions and the 2006 Irish side, said there was little doubt in his mind that he would make the trip despite the tragedy that had happened around him.

"It was a brutal week in my life and a lot of my friends' lives. It came as a shock and rugby was secondary for that period of time. My friend's dad said he expected me to go on tour and that's all that convinced me."

IRELAND: 15 Robert Kearney, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (c), 12 Luke Fitzgerald, 11 Tommy Bowe, 10 Ronan O'Gara, 9 Eoin Reddan, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 David Wallace, 6 Denis Leamy, 5 Paul O'Connell, 4 Donncha O'Callaghan, 3 John Hayes, 2 Jerry Flannery, 1 Marcus Horan. Reserves: 16 Rory Best, 17 Tony Buckley, 18 Mick O'Driscoll, 19, Shane Jennings, 20 Peter Stringer, 21 Paddy Wallace, 22 Girvan Dempsey.

Carter's deal a special case, says happy Henry

By DUNCAN JOHNSTONE - RugbyHeaven | Tuesday, 03 June 2008

Graham Henry is delighted with news of Dan Carter's impending deal to stay with New Zealand rugby through to the next World Cup but the All Blacks coach believes criteria needs to be sorted out for the sort of sabbatical his star playmaker seems certain to undertake in France next year.

Carter and the New Zealand Rugby Union are set to announce a ground-breaking deal that will allow the Crusaders pivot to miss next year's Super 14 and take up a highly lucrative short-term deal in Europe.

The big point is that Carter is keen to be involved in the next World Cup in New Zealand in 2011. He's being treated as a special case - the first player granted a breather from the New Zealand game - and Henry believes that's the way it should be for a player of Carter's standing.

But the coach clearly doesn't want to see a rash of players heading away on short-term deals and says measures need to be put in place to control that.

"I think you need to qualify (for a sabbatical). I think there needs to be some criteria ... maybe a number of test matches, longevity in the All Blacks, that sort of thing," said Henry.

"I don't think a guy having a couple of test matches goes off on a sabbatical. The contractors and the agents need to work that sort of thing through.

"But I will say the NZRU has done a superb job in this area with Daniel and his agents have been outstanding as well. They have worked superbly together for an excellent result."

The deal is a move in the right direction in the difficult task of trying to stem the tide of leading players disappearing offshore and being lost to the All Blacks.

Having secured the pin-up boy of New Zealand rugby is a major coup. Henry admitted he had some fears that Carter might have been lost as a flood of top All Blacks headed north over the past year and huge money was stacked next to the first five's name.

"I hoped not but there was always the possibility as you can appreciate," said Henry.

"We are delighted that Daniel is eligible to the All Blacks for the next four years up to the Rugby World Cup in 2011. I think that's great news for New Zealand rugby, outstanding news."

Henry said he wasn't aware of the finer details of the deal and didn't want to comment further until they were confirmed and made public, something that could happen in the very near future. He said he had only spoken to Carter "in passing" about the latest developments.

"He's concentrating on trying to play a test match. Like everybody he's delighted obviously and given that indication very strongly. But we haven't spent a lot of time on it, very little time on it," said Henry as he confirmed Carter in his side to play Ireland in the season-opening test in Wellignton this Saturday night.

Carter and his manager Warren Alcok confirmed the star's intentions to The Press newspaper.

The 26-year-old 46-test veteran said representing his country was his main priority.

"For that reason I have decided to re-sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union, ideally to 2011," Carter told The Press.

"If selected I certainly want to be a part of a successful All Blacks World Cup campaign.

"I have made no final decision about the sabbatical and where I will be, but it should be resolved in the next fortnight or so."

Carter has been strongly linked to a move to newly promoted French club Toulon. Wages and marketing deals could push his earnings well beyond $1m for a six month deal.

"The sabbatical is a positive experience but there is still a lot of work to do in that area," said Alcock.

"Dan is doing his homework on which club he will sign with and he will talk to them this week. There is still a bit of due diligence to be done."

That would mean missing out on defending the Super 14 with the Crusaders next year but Carter still has red and black running through him.

"I want to return in 2010 and 2011 to be part of the Crusaders and Canterbury squads," he said.

There are some obvious dangers in these sorts of deals but clearly, in the current environment, it's time for some desperate measures.

Sabbaticals mean the All Blacks run the risk of having an elite tier of players operating alongside their journeymen and domestic stars.

The selectors also face the new challegne of judging Carter's form in France against players operating in the Super 14 when it comes to picking the national team this time next year.

A deal that allows Carter to play in France next season also opens the possibility of him playing virtually non-stop for more than 18 months, something that flies in the face of the grumblings from players about burnout.

Capello will have to drop Lampard, says Waddle

Dominic Fifield

The Guardian,

Monday June 2 2008

Chris Waddle has urged Fabio Capello either to consider changing England's system or to sacrifice Frank Lampard from his first-choice line-up, suggesting the national side should be built around Steven Gerrard if they are to prove successful under the Italian.

Lampard was one of the seven Champions League finalists excused last night's friendly against Trinidad & Tobago but Waddle, having seen the Chelsea midfielder fail to strike up any real on-field relationship with Gerrard under successive England managers, believes the 29-year-old should struggle to become a permanent fixture in Capello's side.

The head coach is searching for the correct blend in midfield and Waddle, who won 62 caps on the wing for England and was part of the BBC's commentary team in Trinidad yesterday, said: "It's about getting a balance to the side. Capello wants to play a 4-4-2 or a 4-5-1 formation and, unfortunately for Frank Lampard, it's about getting the balance right. It doesn't matter if you're a big player at a football club, you've got to think about the team and the shape and balance. You can't think, 'He's a good player for Chelsea; he's a good player for United; he's good for Liverpool'. You've got to get the balance right.

"Lampard is the one to miss out. And that's unfortunate for Frank Lampard. He scores goal after goal for Chelsea; not many midfielders can score as many goals as Frank can. He's a good player and a good passer, but he's very similar to what we've got. I think Gareth Barry gives a better balance and Owen Hargreaves is the future; they are a must in the team, with Gerrard let off the leash.

"The problem we've got is that we haven't got players who can run with the ball; they're all passers. You're not going to get the balance right with Gerrard and Lampard, we know that, unless you play the three like Chelsea."

Waddle believes Capello will have been surprised at the lack of class he has inherited within the England setup. "The one thing he's found hard - and he's probably been surprised about it - is that he's realised that, technically, we can only play one way," he added. "We've got to play at a high tempo and press teams. We're very good at set pieces still, which is why David Beckham is still involved because he can do that delivery. But overall he's probably quite shocked at how we can't keep possession of the ball, can't play a different tempo, and this has probably been an eye-opener for him.

"He probably thinks there's a lot of work to do. When he came here I think he thought the Premier League is a good league with good players. But, having had a look, he's realised that the players who make most of the teams tick are actually the foreign boys.

"In Italy they can keep the ball and also play a high tempo when they want to. The one thing he has with England is that we can play high tempo, but we can't play anything else. So when you have to go to Plan B, what have we got? Nothing. We don't have any other options. Now he's got to think: "I've had four games. I've got to get the team right starting from the Czech Republic in August, going into the qualifiers.

"We can't afford to get a bad start in the group though, let's be honest, when you looked at the group when it was drawn there's not a lot between us and Croatia. Ukraine may be on the dive now, Belarus will come into the reckoning but, if you were the manager or France, Italy or Holland and had that group, you'd have taken it quite comfortably and thought: 'If we don't qualify, there's something wrong with us.'"

Rio Ferdinand has urged caution over the Fifa president Sepp Blatter's plans for a quota of overseas players in club

football. The Manchester United defender, who began his career at West Ham under Harry Redknapp, believes the influx of talent from abroad has been key to the elevation of the English game, particularly in terms of improving technique and lifestyles. But he also admits that there could be justification for promoting the chances of English youngsters over foreigners.

"You don't want to see a subs' bench filled with foreign players and no English young players; that's when it becomes a concern for me," he said. "You should at least have some homegrown, talented players on the bench.

"That's why you have to pay tribute to people like Harry Redknapp and the manager at Manchester United [Sir Alex Ferguson]. They've been given time and the resources and they've dared to put in the young players when they're kids - myself, Frank Lampard, Jermain Defoe, Joe Cole and Michael Carrick, the list goes on. We came in and were given time to play and were backed by good chairmen."