NZ and Oz licking their lips

Wednesday 25th June 2008 | www.planetrugby.com

An out-of-form winger, two inexperienced props, a concussed number eight, a recovering flanker and one specialist number thirteen - we present you coach Peter de Villiers' Springbok touring squad for the upcoming Tri-Nations.

Minus three dropped players, the squad is identical to the one announced by De Villiers and his fellow selectors that tackled Wales and Italy over a three-week period in June - but this is where the problem lies.

At first glance, it appears like the same bunch of world champs that swept aside Wales in Bloemfontein, got a fright in Pretoria and struggled past an under-strength Italy outfit in Cape Town.

But before you book an appointment with your optometrist, have a look at the 28-man squad again and see if you can spot anything that could be of a concern for the South Africans preparing to depart Down Under.

There is one, and it should be a big one - while Australian coach Robbie Deans has been sticking with the same combinations in the buildup to the new season, almost 30 players were used in the three matches by De Villiers, who has arguably not yet fielded his strongest team in one match.

The games did achieve the objective of showcasing the depth available, however only time will tell whether he has erred by not playing key combinations together more often.

De Villiers, who had admitted that he did not know which of his three fly-halves to leave behind, will have all three of them (Peter Grant, Butch James, Francois Steyn) in Australasia.

There are also three scrum-halves (Bolla Conradie, Ricky Januarie, Ruan Pienaar), two full-backs (Conrad Jantjes and Percy Montgomery), two centres (Jean de Villiers and Adrian Jacobs) and three wingers (Bryan Habana, Odwa Ndungane and JP Pietersen).

In the Springboks' three Tests played so far this year, a different half-back combination has been used in each of them.

The calls for consistency appear to be muffled unless De Villiers is anticipating a string of injuries by bringing along a back-up half-back duo to accommodate those named on the bench. A bit of OTT (over the top) don't you think?

Before I hear the argument that Steyn - and perhaps Pienaar too - is a utility back, the debate was ended - but not solved - over the weekend when he (Steyn) got his wish and played in the number ten jumper against Italy.

To make an assessment on Steyn after the Test against Italy is a futile exercise. He drifted between the sublime and decidedly ordinary - nothing new there - and this was expected from a player who has never been given an extended run in one position at any stage of his career, outside of the 2007 World Cup.

The same can be said about Pienaar and De Villiers' public opinion that he belongs in the number nine jersey - and not fly-half or full-back where he had occasionally played under the Jake White era. Should Pienaar, who is struggling a wee bit for form, play anywhere else, the Bok coach will ruin the young talent's playing future.

That Pienaar is touring at all is partly due to the absence of Fourie du Preez who is set to make a return to the Bok mix on the home leg of the Tri-Nations.

As for Steyn, there's no denying his talents, and the only way to a fair and accurate judgement on the 21-year-old at fly-half is if he is given an extended run against world class opposition.

But with James all set to call the shots at pivot (and rightly so), De Villiers will be best off using Steyn as a potential solution to the midfield conundrum as he excelled at inside centre alongside his former Sharks team-mate at the World Cup.

Especially considering that six blokes will be pushing for the four available half-back spots in the matchday 22, while only two players are needed by De Villiers to cover the number twelve and thirteen jerseys respectively - an injury to either will be a massive blow.

De Villiers' love affair with Jacobs keeps Gcobani Bobo out of the touring squad all together, and it's fair to say that the latter probably had it coming following a less than impressive showing against the Azzurri. That Jacobs finds himself in the green and gold jersey after several years of absence still boggles the mind - even the man himself admitted to being surprised at his Bok rebirth.

While he is often lauded for his spontaneity on attack, his defensive capabilities have often been called into question and there are those who feel (this writer included) that Jacobs goes missing in action during crunch games.

Jacobs got a 60 per cent pass park in his test against Wales, but an improved performance will be needed against New Zealand and Australia. If the Sharks centre fails to bite, it could prove costly. He was above average in the Super 14 up until the semi-final where he crumbled under pressure, and didn't shine that much on tour where he was mainly used as an impact player - a position De Villiers should be using him in if nothing at all.

The problem for the Boks is that a player like Jacobs might have been able to perform against the weakened Welsh, but has left the new coach going into the much tougher Tri-Nations fixtures with a false impression of what the player can do.

The answer in the midfield is Steyn and De Villiers with the latter at thirteen where he has in fact been performing - only without the number thirteen on his back - very effectively in certain field positions in both the Super 14 and in the Test against Italy.

At wing, JP Pietersen is a somewhat surprise inclusion to say the least.

The World Cup star has suffered a massive dip in form, confidence and everything else that goes with carrying a rugby ball. He was excluded from De Villiers' training and matchday squads and placed on a programme designed to improve his conditioning.

How he could have reached the necessary levels of conditioning in four weeks, given how far off the pace the Springbok coaching staff said he was, is unbelievable.

The Springbok selectors would have been better advised to give him more game time in the Currie Cup with the Sharks where he played last week. Even then his performance was a forgettable one. But it's a start where he could attempt to heal the mental scars of a diabolical 2008 season, and rediscover the form that made him one of the most talked-about players last year.

A two-Test series against the All Blacks is a massive assignment and not one that should be tackled with a wing on the verge of cognitive collapse.

Pietersen aside, how De Villiers can justify Odwa Ndungane's inclusion in the Springbok Tri-Nations squad ahead of Tonderai Chavhanga is perplexing.

If Pietersen carries tackle bags, it means Ndungane will play his first tour match against New Zealand in New Zealand with all of one cap, against a c-grade Italy, to his name. Graham Henry must be salivating at the prospect.

Ndungane was solid without being outstanding throughout the Super 14 and possesses neither the speed nor tactical acumen to pose a serious threat to the All Blacks.

Chavhanga has his limitations, not least of all the ability to kick out of hand in acting as a second full-back. His skill under the high ball and defence came into question in the second Test against Wales, but he was solid in these facets of play in the Super 14. Both Pietersen and Ndungane also have these limitations.

He does, however, possess attributes that neither Pietersen or Ndungane have at present - devastating speed, good anticipation and positional play and a game-breaking ability.

This inclusion of Montgomery and Jantjes speaks for itself, however, I would start with the veteran full-back and bring on Jantjes when Monty starts running out of steam. Or, better yet, why not have them both in the starting line-up with Jantjes on the wing?

Moving on to the forwards, and the All Blacks will be keen to use their powerful scrum with the Springboks having a vulnerable look to their front row after axing experienced prop BJ Botha.

Botha, who has earned seventeen Test caps and who was South Africa's leading tighthead at last year's World Cup before he was injured, is one of the shock omissions made to the pack.

"No, I'm not injured. I was simply not selected. I don't know what the reason is," was Botha's explanation to the media. And quite frankly, we don't know either.

CJ van der Linde and Brian Mujati are the tighthead props selected to tour with Gurthrö Steenkamp and Tendai "Beast" Mtawarira on the loosehead side.

While never quite regaining the form this year that made him one of the most feared scrummagers in 2007, Botha has plenty of experience, something that will be vital against the powerful scrumming unit of the All Blacks. If CJ van der Linde is injured early in the Tri-Nations, the Boks could be in trouble as De Villiers will be duty bound to play Mujati as his next option at number three.

Mujati and "The Beast" were both blooded around the tried and trusted front row forwards against Wales and Italy, and the experiments produced limited success.

The All Blacks, despite having lost powerhouse tighthead Carl Hayman to the northern hemisphere and being without first choice Tony Woodcock for most of their opening three Tests of 2008, dominated both Ireland and England in the scrums.

With the Tri-Nations seeing the return of the ELVs, scrums are set to be a key attacking weapon. If the All Blacks, as expected, can get an edge here the five-metre rule will allow their backs the space to build on their promising displays over the past three weeks.

At least Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield were re-united in the second row quickly enough after the Bloemfontein experiment with Andries Bekker, and the continuity in this area is one aspect where the Boks should have an edge on both New Zealand and Australia.

Big bruiser Danie Rossouw did not make it as a lock forward, and Bekker should have more caps added to his name as back-up to the Matfield/Botha show.

But the absence of a third Springbok hooker is a big surprise than Botha's exclusion among the props.

The reason being that a third hooker is much like a spare wheel. You don't need it until you break down, but then you can't move anywhere until it arrives.

If captain John Smit or back-up hooker Bismarck du Plessis get crocked, De Villiers will be left sending an SOS to the already hard-done by Schalk Brits to board a dreadfully long flight, and expect the jet-lagged Stormers star to turn it on in what will only be his second game in green and gold.

That Du Plessis is the second-choice hooking option is, in my opinion anyway, a big middle finger to Brits' talents. While Smit is Bok leader, he will never be displaced and has earned his jersey and respect by a country mile. Despite Du Plessis' try-scoring heroics against Italy, I'm still yet to be convinced. He's big and strong and can tackle a giant, but his line-out throwing is suspect and has a problem with ill discipline.

As far the back row is concerned, De Villiers has bitten off more than he can chew by opting for a whopping six loose forwards.

To include Ryan Kankowski, Pierre Spies, Luke Watson, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger and Joe Van Niekerk - all possible number eight options who between them will be playing for places in the matchday 22 - is an indulgence.

Sure, it gives the coach some nice options to tinker and play with, but it seems to be an overkill.

Kankowski makes the trip still nursing a sore head suffered against Italy last week in a collision that left him dazed and confused when he woke up in the team's dressing room. To rush him back after such a sickening blow is confusing.

It would have been logical to let him rest in South Africa for the away leg and then, like Du Preez, join the squad in Cape Town for the home leg of the tournament.

Burger has also been included after only 20 minutes game time following a knee injury some eight weeks ago.

Watson will travel on his first Tri-Nations tour as the openside flank back-up. On the evidence of the home Tests, however, it is debatable that Watson is the next best number six to Burger. The former Stormers skipper started well against Wales, but his performances dropped off over the course of the three Tests.

Van Niekerk has come roaring back to life this season and I would have given him the nod ahead of Watson in terms of his experience, form and versatility.

So it's clear that De Villiers has taken some calculated risks and there is no denying that the All Blacks and Wallabies, after losing out at the World Cup last year, will be hungry to make a point against the world champions.

But then again, it's a gamble that could lead to South Africa recording their first victory on New Zealand soil in a decade - whether it pays off or not remains to be seen.

We think this is the best team, or could have been, to make it happen:

PR's choice: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Conrad Jantjes, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Peter Grant, 22 Tonderai Chavhanga.

De Villiers' possible choice: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adi Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Bolla Conradie, 21 Frans Steyn, 22 Percy Montgomery.

The South Africa squad:

Backs: Bolla Conradie, Jean de Villiers, Peter Grant, Butch James, Conrad Jantjes, Adrian Jacobs, Ricky Januarie, Bryan Habana, Percy Montgomery, Odwa Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Ruan Pienaar, Francois Steyn.

Forwards: Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Bismarck du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Tendai Mtawarira, Brian Mujati, Victor Matfield, Pierre Spies, Juan Smith, John Smit (c), Gurthrö Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Joe van Niekerk, Luke Watson.

By Dave Morris

Ronaldo The Wrong Move For Real?

Posted 26/06/08 13:54 | Tim Stannard | www.football365.com

Disgruntled Manchester United fans want it. Felipe Scolari wants it. Bored newspaper readers want it. His mum wants it. Darn near everyone wants Cristiano Ronaldo to be the latest Galactico hooked into the Real Madrid marketing machine.

Everyone, except Real Madrid fans, it seems.

Whilst the posing Portuguese pouter is being pictured standing around on yachts thanks to his country's rather sheepish exit from Euro 2008, Real Madrid are reportedly putting together the final touches to a whopping 85million Euro bid to bring the Champions League winner to the Bernabeu this summer with one Marca writer predicting the unveiling of the latest addition to their collection to be July 7.

Even if Sir Alex hurled himself in front of Ronaldo's departing taxi, suffragette style, the Old Trafford old timer would simply find himself squished and squashed, such is the ludicrous amount of money being slapped on the table for the want-away winger.

"If Real Madrid want to sign a player, then he is signed. They always manage it," shrugged Zidane this week. And he's a man who knows a thing or two about the lure of filthy lucre.

In less cynical Spain - although not in Messi-mad Cataluyna, mind - Cristiano Ronaldo is generally considered to be the best player in the world thanks to his remarkable goalscoring record and the fact that his bi- game bottling prowess is less publicised.

For this reason one would have thought that Real Madrid fans would be daisy-sniffing and dreamy at the thought of their new hair-gelled hero tearing opposition defenders a new one over the next few years.

But they're not. In fact, it's genuinely hard to find a supporter who doesn't think that the club's continuous craving for Cristiano is rather unhealthy.

When Ramón Calderón won the club's legally-dubious dog's dinner of a presidential election two years ago the candidate promised Kaká, Cesc Fabregas and Arjen Robben. The president only brought one of these to the Spanish capital. And he turned out to have just one functioning leg.

In bringing Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu, Calderón thinks that he will finally be loved and adored by the fans - something all club presidents constantly crave.

Currently, the Real Madrid big cheese is viewed as the George Bush of La Primera - the bumbling idiot-puppet of more powerful darker forces.

Aside from the need for Calderón's ego to be given a good rub, there is a clear on-the-pitch purpose for Ronaldo's possible arrival in the Spanish capital - the desperate need for the club to become a global footballing force again.

"What's important to us is to win the Champions League and he can help us to achieve that," confessed Bernd Schuster at the end of the season as he reflected on four years of second-round failure for Real Madrid in Europe.

Ronaldo would be expected to slot into the left midfield berth, a position currently shared between Robinho - a party-loving pest who has one good game in three, and Arjen Robben - a brilliant footballer on his day but as fragile as a brittle-boned snowflake.

The midfielder will also be filling a David Beckham-shaped gap off the field too. Since the England international headed to Los Angeles, the club's annual income from marketing has dropped from 124 million euros to 111 million.

Although most football fans like to hold their nose and claim the moral high ground over such matters, the dirty business of shirt sales and sponsorship deals is important to all clubs from Morecambe to Milan.

Real Madrid currently have a squad containing world-class players such as Iker Casillas and Wesley Sneijder, but none come close to having the profile of Cristiano Ronaldo.

But this strikes a stake into the heart of why the move for the Manchester United player is seen with less than enthusiastic eyes by most Madrid fans, who still have traumatic memories of the messy ending of Florentino Perez' Galactico era.

With back-to-back league titles in the bag, the current Real Madrid squad can only get better, but only if there are no major structural changes to upset a fairly harmonious bunch of players warned AS' Juanma Trueba at the end of May.

'Madrid is betting heavily on Cristiano and it's a risk to their image,' wrote Trueba in an on-line discussion with readers. 'It's a great threat to the ecosystem that Madrid have created with their mix of veterans and young players.'

During the recent, ten-week-long league title celebrations, Raúl reportedly asked Calderón not to break up the current squad - a giddy group of footballers that sees the club captain at his happiest in years. And a happy Raúl is a scoring Raul.

The arrival of Ronaldo and his wage structure-busting salary demands would a major threat to the harmony that Bernd Schuster has managed to bring to his squad, as well as kick off a round of distracting contract renegotiations from Raúl and Casillas - the side's top earners - to bring them to parity with the new boy.

A move for Cristiano Ronaldo would be a significant investment for a club whose debts grew last year and who are using a loan from Banco Santander to pay for the transfer, according to Marca. Despite this external funding, the arrival of just one big name means that several others would have to depart. "If he comes then we'll have to let one or two players go. They will be the victims," advised Bernd Schuster.

Unlike the likes of Roman Abramovich or the Glazers - who can spend their money how they damn well please - Ramón Calderón will be splashing cash that does not belong to him.

If the move goes Pete Tong, the club president can simply walk away - or be booted out - leaving the club with a financial mess for his replacement to clear up.

And this is another major concern to fans who would rather see modesty and sound financial management as the tactic for fighting their way back to football's top table.

"90 million euros is just too much," warned former player Manuel Sanchís.

What's more, 90 million is an awful lot of money to spend on a player that the club doesn't really need.

'If Schuster is not capable of getting past the last sixteen of the Champions League having spent 100 million euros, perhaps the problem is not the cheque book,' mused Roberto Palomer in Marca.

Real Madrid have yet to fill the right midfield position left by Beckham, a player that Schuster said would have played a key role last season had he stayed.

But most of all, the side needs another quality striker as a back-up and long-term replacement to Ruud Van Nistelrooy, as it was the absence of the injured Dutch striker and his ridiculously good goalscoring record that really cost Real Madrid a decent Champions League run last season.

Supporters in the city are currently calling for the signing of David Villa, but it is hard to see how a move for both the Valencia striker and Ronaldo could be funded without putting an unbearable strain on the club's finances or a devastating garage sale of Sneijder, Ramos and Robinho.

Having promised modesty and a return to the ethics of team spirit in his campaign of two years ago, Ramón Calderón is instead looking to turn the clock back to a Galactico era, best forgotten, by pursuing a signing that is not especially needed or especially desired.

With back-to back-league titles, a level of consistency and the emergence of Pepe, Sneijder, Gonzalo Higuaín and Fernando Gago, a more softly, softly approach is starting to bear fruit for the current Spanish champions.

For Real Madrid fans, the arrival of the world's best player could be a major step back for the club, despite how absurd that may sound.

My advice to Martin Johnson: Be yourself, clear the trash and start afresh

From The Sunday Times

June 22, 2008

The incoming head coach has all the right qualities required to rescue a dire situation as long as he can stay true to his own instincts.

Stephen Jones, rugby correspondent

MARTIN, this is horrible. You have to act. I realise that I am buying into your least favourite part of your legend - that all you have to do is say a few words, or glower, and everything gets better. But it is horrible. England are rubbish. They have lost so much, and in particular, they have lost their honesty with themselves.

And please be yourself when you start officially on July 1. Don’t come in and be urbane or glib or statesmanlike. If you are yourself, then you will not become a martyr to excuses. England have been generally catastrophic for five years but in all the media conferences in all that time, including the one after yesterday’s horrendous debacle, all I have heard is about 20 minutes per conference of bleating and clutching at silly straws. I have hardly heard one coach put his hands up and say that the England team were dire, so it must follow that I was dire too.

If you are yourself, you will cut through all the rubbish. You will not suffer fools and you will take the necessary hard decisions. Your strength will ensure that you put the current coaching regime of John Wells, Mike Ford, Jon Callard and Graham Rowntree and all the rest of the back-up team under the most baleful and unforgiving microscope. Your sense of what is right will mean that you discard anyone, be they friends or enemies, who you know in your heart is not right.

Indeed, I would seriously consider beginning with a clean slate because the current England coaching set-up worries me. It worried me under Brian Ashton and it has worried me under Rob Andrew these past few weeks. If you see, say, Wasps play, under Ian McGeechan and Shaun Edwards, you can see what they are driving at, even if they lose. Frankly, watching England in the past two weeks, I simply cannot fathom what they have been working on in their coaching sessions. Brian Smith must come in, but there must be freshness elsewhere too.

And if you are yourself, you will be endlessly pragmatic and live in the moment. Please God, you will remember that England have an under20 team to develop youngsters. England’s policy of late, to bypass players of experience and proven craft in favour of punts on youth, has been resoundingly unsuccessful and a total and myopic disgrace. Last night, Andrew told us to go easy on Danny Care, who struggled a little in the Test. “He is a young man playing his first Test in New Zealand,” Andrew said. Who’s fault is that, Rob? You chose him, and you had alternatives.

If you are yourself, if you stay in the moment, then there will be no future, only the present. You will reject with the old ferocity this desperate idea that England sporting life is a rehearsal, that everything is a preparation for some indeterminate point in the future. As a player, you absolutely refused to look one millisecond beyond the next game, and that concentration helped you to be focused, to be at your best, to win.

If you are yourself, you will bring rigour and discipline back to the team. One senior member of this touring party bemoaned at the end of last week what he saw as a “lack of discipline” about operations under Andrew. He meant a lack of discipline in terms of preparation and focus, but he could just as easily have been referring to the alleged silly behaviour, to the childish messing about, which would be anathema to you.

And if you are yourself, you will bring back the air of agonised devastation in the event of a defeat. It is simply not good enough for youngsters to come on television after England have lost, beaming all over their faces because they have won a cap, and perhaps contributed something to the losing cause. Maybe the losing habit has become pernicious, but English defeats seem to me to be far more readily accepted than they ever should be.

You might even give England an inspirational leader, something they have lacked during the worthy but nonvolcanic captaincies of Phil Vickery, Steve Borthwick and others. It is time to use your own instincts about leadership – not simply to find someone in your own image. James Haskell may be blond and brash, while you are dark and terse. But it is time to find someone to give real inspiration and passion, and time to stop passing the post through on the basis of Buggins’s turn. Surely, too, you will follow your instincts and choose players of proven, pragmatic achievement and also treasure those with extra skills. You will not be succoured into believing for one moment that you can choose dancing prancers who do not have power to add to their ephemera.

At least England’s weak areas lie where you were strong. They have been underpowered in the second row ever since you retired and what better man could there be to drag forward the next generation? You can provide a finishing school which all the junior teams, all the academies and all the other routes could only dream of. You may not have any coaching badges, but what is coaching alongside the ability to galvanise an individual?

Please hurry. Please divorce yourself, without declaring that you are doing so, from all the endless reporting lines which tend to strangle Twickenham. Please do not bother with consensus. Please be a sole leader. Please don’t bother to ingratiate, and do not worry for a second about your popularity and your legend. If you are yourself, then England will achieve results to burnish the legend.

And finally, please do not talk about building on the legacy which you have been left. There is no legacy. On July 1, a new agreement between Union and clubs comes in. More important, you come in, too. But the truth is that after five years of shambles, bumbling, ludicrous selections and dishonesty, you are effectively starting from scratch.

Shaq raps on New York stage, takes shots at Kobe

ESPN.com news services | Updated: June 24, 2008, 10:36 AM ET

Four years, two teams and a championship later, Shaquille O'Neal is still ripping Kobe Bryant.

Video on TMZ.com shows the Phoenix Suns center doing a freestyle rap in a nightclub on Sunday night in which he puts down his former Los Angeles Lakers teammate.

"You know how I be," Shaq rapped. "Last week Kobe couldn't do without me."

Bryant led the Lakers to the NBA Finals this season, but they were beaten 4-2 by the Boston Celtics.

O'Neal and Bryant last played together during the 2003-04 season, when the duo led the Lakers to the Finals. They lost to the Pistons that season, and soon after O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat, breaking up a duo that won three titles.

O'Neal went on to win a championship with the Heat in 2006. During his rap, O'Neal, who was traded to the Suns last year, said that he is "the difference between first and last place."

He also implored the crowd to sing along to his oft-repeated chorus: "Kobe [expletive], tell me how my [expletive] tastes."

Smiling and laughing often, O'Neal also sang that Bryant broke up his marriage.

"I'm a horse. Kobe ratted me out," he rapped. "That's why I'm getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a [woman] a mil. I don't do that 'cause my name's Shaquille. I love 'em, I don't leave 'em. I got a vasectomy, now I can't breed 'em."

In 2004, Bryant, while embroiled in a rape investigation, alleged that O'Neal paid up to $1 million in hush money to various women. O'Neal told ESPN then: "This whole situation is ridiculous."

After repeating the chorus a number of times on Sunday night, O'Neal ended his rap by singing, " Kobe, you can't do without me" over and over.

Reached by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith on Monday, O'Neal issued the following statement: "I was freestyling. That's all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. That is what MC's do. They freestyle when called upon. I'm totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. And by the way, don't forget, six albums, two platinum, two gold. Anybody who knows me knows I'm a funny freestyler. Check the NBA DVD when I was rapping about Vlade Divac during my first championship run. Please tell everybody don't make something out of nothing."

O'Neal and Bryant do have a history of feuding, however, which started even before the Lakers split them up. Bryant bristled when O'Neal called him his "little brother." At one point, Bryant questioned O'Neal's conditioning.

Soon after being traded by the Lakers, O'Neal didn't hide his disdain, calling Bryant a "clown" and a "joke."

In recent years, however, the war of words has quieted, and O'Neal even went on record as saying that Bryant should have won the 2007 MVP award.

On Monday, O'Neal tried to explain how the freestyle format shouldn't be taken too seriously.

"Everyone that knows Shaq knows two things about me: One, that I'm a rapper, and two, that I'm a comedian. When I played with Kobe, me, him, Brian Shaw, J.R. Rider, we had freestyle sessions all the time. ... all in fun and we said crazier stuff than that. If I hurt anyone's feelings, I apologize."

British press pick at English bones

NZPA - 22/06/2008

The British press were scathing of England's two-week tour of New Zealand, describing it as a failure on the field and a public relations disaster off it.

New Zealand's greatest critic Stephen Jones turned his sights on the English in his Sunday Times column following their 12-44 second Iveco Series Test capitulation.

Jones lamented a lack of professionalism and discipline from players and management to allow the alleged late-night misconduct which sparked a police investigation in Auckland.

"If the mildest allegations are true, the actions reveal something seriously amiss in the squad, its attitude, its hierarchy and the way the players are treated," Jones wrote.

"It seemed to me that the current England players, in and out of bed, did not care enough, were easily distracted, lacked passion for revenge."

The Guardian writer Robert Kitson lampooned a listless effort which followed the 20-37 loss a week earlier.

"Had the entire squad been arrested before kick-off and driven away in a convoy of police vans it would have been a marginally less embarrassing night," Kitson wrote.

"The All Blacks barely had to rise above the mediocre at times, so ordinary was the team in white. There was a huge hole on one side of the stadium because of major ground redevelopments but it was nothing compared with the yawning credibility gap that has opened up around England in the past eight days."

Stuart Barnes theorised in The Sunday Times that the England players received better coaching at club level than they did for their country.

"This side is crying out for an inventive attack coach who can change the way England think (when they allow themselves to ponder anything bar a defensive obsession so savagely exposed by the All Blacks)," Barnes penned in The Sunday Times.

"New Zealand are not a great team and without a vintage display from (first five-eighth) Dan Carter are likely to be pasted in South Africa."

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph Paul Ackford agreed with his former England teammate Barnes about the All Blacks' frailties but they said they were a class above the one-paced visitors.

"Dan Carter, who finished with another 22-point haul, was the principal difference between the sides. That, and an instinctive ability to up the pace and the collisions when it mattered," Ackford wrote.

"Until England can find a tempo, and a core of players who can compete with individuals of Carter's pedigree, they will continue to struggle against the world's best."