Kiwis in denial

October 10th, 2007

Graham Henry believes the All Blacks are still the best team on the planet.

New Zealand have been ranked No 1 by the IRB for the last four years, only to choke against France in the World Cup quarter-finals last weekend. However, their coach insists the side that lifts the Webb Ellis Cup on 20 October won’t rule the world.

“We are the No 1 rugby side in the world and we have been for a long time and we still are,” Henry said after arriving back in New Zealand. “It’s just that we don’t have that little yellow cup which is a bit of a problem.

“I might have to go and steal the bugger at some stage. But we will get it. It’s only a matter of time if we continue with the same traditions and hard work in New Zealand rugby.”

Henry denied claims that New Zealand rugby was arrogant because the All Blacks couldn’t be called world champions.

“That’s not fair,” he said. “Our win-loss record is far superior to any other side in the world by a considerable margin. That’s factual, it’s not arrogant - it’s pride in what we have achieved over a long period of time. Every cup this team plays for apart from the World Cup is back in the trophy cabinet at the NZRU and you can’t do any more apart from winning the World Cup.”

By Simon www.keo.co.za

Winning ugly’s a skill

October 10th, 2007

The World Cup has once again shown the folly of a four year plan.

You don’t prepare to win a World Cup over four years. Ask Graham Henry or any other coach who has failed. You play the moment during the tournament and you hope the moment plays easy for you and your team.

England, at this World Cup, were in a state of chaos three weeks ago. France were a rabble in their opening defeat against Argentina and yet both are in the semi-final, while New Zealand, winners of 42 of 47 tests before the weekend’s Cardiff implosion, are gone.

The Springboks, this time last year, had lost five of their last six tests.

To win a World Cup you need to win two big games in the final three weeks of the tournament and have luck go your way. You also need to recognise the momentum motorway. France have momentum, fashioned through making 200 tackles and not being prepared to play with the ball against the All Blacks in Cardiff.

France’s most capped test player Fabian Pelous said the battle plan against New Zealand was simple because it could only work once every four years. He added that if they did it in the next five games they would fail every time. France, he said, did not want the ball.

France won with 30 percent ball as they felt they would have been a danger to themselves with more possession. What an advertisement for the game, you may ask.

Unfortunately, this is the reality of play-offs rugby, when the occasion has no regard for attacking skills, form or who is the more talented player. It comes down to who deals with the pressure better and who makes the least mistakes. It is a success formula that shows up the ignorance and arrogance of this modern day obsession in sacrificing everything over four years when it can all go wrong in 10 minutes.

You play great rugby for four years and then you prepare to play no rugby for three weeks.

New Zealand still hasn’t learned. Less than a day after Henry joined four other failed All Blacks World Cup campaigns, the country’s rugby boss Jock Hobbs was talking about building for 2011. Why?

Just accept that for two big games every four years you don’t want the ball and you don’t want the risk of playing rugby.

Defence, in the professional era, has won World Cups. Teams trying to play rugby have killed themselves.

That is what makes the World Cup so different to the Tri Nations and the Six Nations. It is a knock-out competition in which the equivalent of English soccer’s Sheffield United can knock over Manchester United by simply not being prepared to entertain a game of skill.

And that’s why England and France’s wins at the weekend did not turn the world order on its head. Neither side relied on skill to win, but both recognised the crassness of a situation in which no one cares how much you bleed in winning the fight. What matters is you are standing at the end to collect the belt.

The romantic notion is that the Boks could be different and actually play some rugby in the final two matches. The reality is the Boks have been at their best in World Cups when they haven’t had the ball either.

All of which shows how New Zealand is already getting it wrong for 2011 because they confuse being World Champions and World Cup holders. To be world champions and dominate between World Cup you have to have the ball.

To be World Cup holders – something they haven’t been since 1987 – you in fact don’t want the ball.

By Keo - www.keo.co.za

Laporte`s latest trick

Wednesday 03rd October 2007

France coach Bernard Laporte has named a starting XV with a whiff of the improvisational about it for his team's quarter-final against New Zealand on Saturday.

Damien Traille, usually a centre and tried and unproven at fly-half, is now shifted to full-back, and there is a start for the - at this level - young and green Lionel Beauxis.

Fabien Pelous, so injury-prone as the years have rolled by, is also included in the second row ahead of folk hero Sébastian Chabal.

More to follow...

France: 15 Damien Traille, 14 Vincent Clerc, 13 David Marty, 12 Yannick Jauzion, 11 Cédric Heymans, 10 Lionel Beauxis, 9 Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, 8 Julien Bonnaire, 7 Thierry Dusautoir, 6 Serge Betsen, 5 Jérôme Thion, 4 Fabien Pelous, 3 Pieter de Villiers, 2 Raphaël Ibanez (c), 1 Olivier Milloud.
Replacements: 16 Dimitri Szarzewski, 17 Jean-Baptiste Poux, 18 Sébastien Chabal, 19 Imañol Harinordoquy, 20 Frédéric Michalak, 21 Christophe Dominici, 22 Clément Poitrenaud.

Date: Saturday, October 6
Venue: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Kick-off: 20:00 BST (19:00 GMT)
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)
Touch judges: Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Tony Spreadbury (England)
Television match official: Chris White (England)
Assessor: Steve Hilditch (Ireland)

www.planetrugby.com

In the words of the dearly departed

Wednesday 03rd October 2007

Whoopee doo. We now know the identity of the World Cup quarter-finalists. But France seems a sadder place for the loss of the twelve sides that fell at the first hurdle.

They gave their all, played with passion and scored some wonderful tries. So let's hear it for the so-called 'minnows' - the likes of the Portuguese, the Namibians, the Welsh and the Irish.

What's more, they were as entertaining off the pitch as they were with ball in hand.

Whilst the big boys droned on about taking it "game by game, one day at a time", the tournament's real entertainers had all the sad hacks in stitches with their take on life at the cutting edge of world rugby.

We've compiled a list of our favourite quotes, all taken the mouths of our fallen friends. But can you attach names and situations to the quips? Scroll to the bottom of the page for answers.

QUOTES:

1: "It is difficult - it is like taking me and putting me in Wimbledon to play Roger Federer."

2: "I'm not sure that I actually out-paced him, I just made him stop and possibly hesitate. I would never have run on the outside of anybody so these games must be giving me confidence."

3: "We are fitter and stronger than we have ever been before and are set to peak our conditioning levels just as the competition starts."

4: "Wow! I am honoured that there's a comparison between us, but we are very different players. I am Portuguese, he is French. He's professional, I am amateur."

5: "The window for the World Cup is in September and that puts the northern hemisphere sides under severe pressure to get themselves together."

6: "The majority of my players work in intense jobs where they are under a great deal of pressure - it makes them doubly professional."

7: "Isn't it Jones, Jones, Jones and Jones, with Williams, Williams and Williams? It is a huge Welsh law firm. It will be a huge hurdle for us and hopefully we will surprise the Welsh lawyers."

8: "Maybe the Argentines are a little cocky right now. There is one game played in the World Cup and we're talking about points and point-spreads already - it's a bit early.''

9: "I listen to [my country's] national music, it always helps and keeps me happy. It's the same music that we have always played before wars in the middle ages."

10: "It is difficult because it will be early in the morning back home, but I promise you that everyone will be up. They will track down televisions to the ends of the earth. That's why we have to perform."

11: "I listen to some music - loud, loud music - and watch a few of the moves of my opposition players. Then music again."

12: "It will be awesome. I was crying during the anthem - I've never seen so many people in front of me. It's was a dream of a lifetime."

13: "We can compete against the top teams. We're not shy about what we want to achieve and we'll keep backing ourselves no matter what all the critics say or all the naysayers say about the segregation of rugby. They can stuff themselves."

14: "With [Stirling] Mortlock and [Tom] Shanklin both in my pool, I'm really excited about that - to get a chance to play against them and see where I come up."

15: "It's like when a person jumps from the eighth floor. Before he hits, everything's fine. But I do have a parachute. I just hope it will open."

16: "Part of the segregation is that we keep being called 'two-tier' and they should stop calling us 'two-tier' countries. We're all playing for the same trophy and as long as they keep labelling us like that then people keep looking at us like that, and that's not what we should be about. We do deserve to be here."

17: "Injuries to the left, injuries to the right - we have a good political balance."

18: "We used to just lift coconuts and banana trees, now we've got dieticians, weights, everything! The players look after their bodies now. Once we go fully professional, once we get a big company to sponsor us, we'll have 15 Michael Joneses, so look out!"

19: "Bro, I wasn't out cold, but the game's just coming back to me now. I can remember the first but not the second."

20: "Yes, I understand all that - and I would describe it as a crisis, yes."

21: "We always sing it with that passion. It is our battle cry that tells the opposition we are ready to die on the pitch."

22: "I would like to think that you would never see a 'cool' Samoa team ever again. It's something we've really had to address this week. That was the difference between winning and losing. It's not our normal style. It's been a pretty painful week for us."

23: "Sébastien Chabal did a good impression of a soccer player. He put on a good show, then got up and was running again."

24: "We haven't become a bad team in a week and it is not like the guys have been out drinking and smoking. There is a good mood and we want to go places. It has not panned out but we just have to win our next game."

25: "There's been a real negativity around us at the moment. It's disappointing. We're strong in spirit and very positive. We don't understand what's going on. The country's behind us, the supporters are behind us, but the press is not supporting us. There's a disparity somewhere."

26: "I was saying to my parents that it' has been two weeks now and I haven't been out of my hotel apart from going to training. It does become a bit groundhog-ish."

27: "We threw the petrol tanks - and the car included - at the South Africans. My job was made easy by the boys; when I asked them to step up for their country they did."

28: "The boys are enjoying the World Cup experience. It's a tight group anyway. It's a relaxed mood here in France and the weather's been great."

29: "I would like to see in my life time a Pacific team in the semi-final of a Rugby World Cup."

30: "We go into games wanting to start well. It's not a plan of ours to start poorly and lull them into a false sense of security and then run all over them. If we could do that, brilliant, but obviously we can't."

31: "I have had two wonderful years. I would like to thank Italian rugby for having allowed me to work with the national team. Now I wish them very well. It's been an amazing experience for me."

32: "Luck? No, not really. I think they made less errors. However, we had the ball the most so we had the opportunity to make the most errors."

33: "People don't realise how disappointing this is. I mean, people use the word 'disappointment' but they've never experienced what we're feeling at the moment. We've just hit the biggest low."

34: "There are parades back home, schools are wearing red and the supporters in New Zealand have gone crazy. All the pain we have gone through in this tournament has brought us together as a nation."

35: "You've got four years to recover from any injuries so give it your all."

36: "No way - if I cut my hair I lose my strength."

37: "A coach with plans for playing against the All Blacks is maybe being a little pretentious. We need to be proud to play New Zealand and to not embarrass ourselves."

38: "I'm excited, but I'm not going to be asking for their autographs after the game."

39: "We don't even know what to expect of our celebrations. It's our first victory - we're amateurs at winning!"

40: "It will be good to get one over on Mr Andrew - he is still very boring."

41: "On the contrary, I think we actually gave them too much respect."

42: "We need to find the guy with the voodoo doll who keeps putting pins into our players. Injuries are part of the game but we've had eight or nine injuries to key players this year - I'm running out of fingers to count them on."

43: "We are running out of excuses - it's now time to deliver."

44: "When I arrived on the field I was speechless. It was a wonderful feeling. Also, to play my 100th international match at the Parc des Princes, a true rugby temple, it's really special. It's a night I'll never forget."

45: "Gaman [patience] - that has been the key word for us throughout the World Cup. That's one Japanese word which JK has been able to remember!"

46: "My hands were sweating because of what happened to Schalk and the American guy who got five weeks. I thought if it was more than one week, I should just go home."

47: "First of all it is their faith in themselves that they could. They believed and needed others to believe. Blessed is he who believes."

48: "I said to the boys before the game: 'today you either die or come back to the changing room with nothing'. I said 'let us prepare to go out there and die today to win' and that's how much it meant to us today, to lose our life."

49: "We had a big prayer this morning before our game and that's probably the secret."

50: "It's not as odd as it sounds. Pig farming is a good business back home. Pigs are used for lots of celebrations, weddings, birthdays. Put them in a pen, feed them and go from there."

ANSWERS:

1: Namibia coach Hakkies Husselman considers the prospect of amateurs playing professionals.

2: USA wing Takudzwa Ngwenya comes over all coy after skinning Bryan 'Beats Cheetah' Habana over forty metres.

3: Wales coach Gareth Jenkins - sorry, former Wales coach - speaks up his side's chances on the eve of battle.

4: Portugal captain Vasco Uva on being compared to former France star Olivier Magne.

5: Ireland boss Eddie O'Sullivan points a finger at the calendar.

6: Portugal coach Tomáz Morais on the benefits of 'real' work.

7: Canada coach Ric Suggitt scores some cheap points.

8: Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan refuses to panic after seeing France fall to Argentina.

9: Georgia's David Khinchagashvili on his psyche-out technique.

10: Samoa captain Semo Sititi feels the love from afar.

11: US wing Takudzwa Ngwenya prepares for a match.

12: Portugal hooker João Correia reflects on his encounter with Scotland.

13: Canada coach Ric Suggitt gets political.

14: Fiji centre Seru Rabeni limbers up for action.

15: Georgia coach Malkhaz Cheishvili describes his emotions on the eve of the tournament.

16: Canada coach Ric Suggitt gets even more political.

17: Italy manager Carlo Checchinato manages to see the funny side.

18: Samoa forwards coach Peter Fatialofa looks ahead with hope.

19: Japan flank Philip O'Reilly after his rather robust meeting with Vilimoni Delasau of Fiji.

20: An honest moment for Ireland coach Eddie O'Sullivan.

21: Portugal's Pedro Leal on that anthem.

22: Samoa coach Michael Jones admonishes his side for the performance against Tonga.

23: Namibia coach Hakkies Husselman accuses the big man of play-acting in the wake of a high hit.

24: Ireland hooker Frankie Sheahan looks ahead to the game against Argentina.

25: Wales coach Gareth Jenkins wags a finger at the hacks.

26: US captain Mike Hercus gets to grips with modern rugby.

27: Tonga captain Nili Latu after taking the Springboks to the wire.

28: Wales coach Gareth Jenkins fails to spot the storm clouds on the horizon.

29: Samoa coach Michael Jones looks ahead with hope.

30: Wales flank Colin Charvis at a loss to explain his side's slow starts.

31: Italy coach Pierre Berbizier signs off after the defeat to Scotland.

32: Italy centre Mirco Bergamasco on how Scotland won.

33: Wales coach Gareth Jenkins on defeat to Fiji.

34: Tonga captain Nili Latu on his nation's best World Cup showing yet.

35: US centre Thretton Palamo gees up his mates.

36: Tonga star Finau Maka - he of the mountainous 'fro - hands off the barbers.

37: Romania coach Daniel Santamans decides not to kid himself.

38: Portugal lock Gonçalo Uva refuses to swoon in the presence of the All Blacks.

39: Georgia flank Rati Urushadze is taken aback by his side's win over Namibia.

40: Tonga centre Epeli Taione, the former Newcastle Falcons star, gets even with his old boss on the eve of the England game.

41: Italy captain Marco Bortolami responds to accusations from the All Blacks after he chose a huddle over the haka.

42: Japan coach John Kirwan feels the pain.

43: Ireland star Gordon D'Arcy on the eve of the Argentina game.

44: Italy captain Alessandro Troncon on becoming a centurion.

45: Japan centre Shotaro Onisha pokes fun at John Kirwan.

46: Namibia loose forward Jacques Nieuwenhuis on his one-week ban (and red card) for his high hit on Sébastien Chabal.

47: Georgia coach Malkhaz Cheishvili explains his side's win over Namibia.

48: A moment of melodrama for Tonga captain Nili Latu following the win over Samoa.

49: Tonga coach Quddus Fielea's take on that win over Samoa.

50: Tonga flank Hale T Pole talks about life after rugby - as a pig farmer.

Compiled by Andy Jackson www.planetrugby.com

Giteau wary of Wilkinson

Tuesday 02nd October 2007

Australia centre Matt Giteau believes World Cup quarter-final opponents England are a far more dangerous team now Jonny Wilkinson is back.

The Wallabies view the defending champions as a growing force and put much of that down to the return of Wilkinson, their drop-goal nemesis from the 2003 final.

Wilkinson missed England's first two matches of the tournament with an ankle injury before returning for the wins over Samoa and Tonga.

"The reason England are looking more dangerous is that they are starting to build into the competition nicely," said Giteau.

"Their backline has been improving since the South Africa game and they get a lot of confidence with Jonny in the side.

"He provides a lot for the team, not only his kicking and general play but just him being in the team.

"He is definitely a key player there. When Jonny is in the team, they feel they can try things. When they play without him, they lack of confidence."

Australia are playing down suggestions of revenge for the 2003 final, which England won in the dying seconds of extra-time thanks to Wilkinson's drop-goal.

But they have learned their lessons from the defeat.

Defence coach John Muggleton has been drilling into his men the need to cut down the time and space in which Wilkinson has to work.

England have scored the fewest tries of the eight quarter-finalists but have landed the most drop-goals, with Wilkinson slotting four in the last two games.

"There's not a great deal of difference to any other number ten, like Dan Carter. We want to put them under pressure and it is the same with Jonny Wilkinson," said Muggleton.

"All number tens like extra space and time. We want to cut down their time, if we can do that.

"We've got to make sure space is something they don't get. We've got to respect the halfway line as our try-line.

"We don't want them to get in our half and have the opportunity to kick penalty goals and keep the scoreboard ticking over."

Giteau will be an interested observer when England head coach Brian Ashton reveals whether Olly Barkley or Andy Farrell will start opposite him at inside centre.

"They obviously provide different things and which centre they choose will say a fair bit about how they will play the game," said Giteau.

"Barkley is very skilful, fast on his feet and more of an evasive player. Andy Farrell is a bit more dominant and a more aggressive player.

"It would be like the difference between Stirling Mortlock and myself."

www.planetrugby.com

Refs look to the final

Tuesday 02nd October 2007

Naturally there is speculation about the appointment of a referee to the World Cup Final - a rare honour for a referee.

So far only four men have refereed a World Cup final - Kerry Fitzgerald of Australia, Derek Bevan of Wales, Ed Morrison of England and André Watson of South Africa who did so twice.

The touch judges/TMOs have gone home and just the dozen referees remains. They are Wayne Barnes (England), Stuart Dickinson (Australia), Paul Honiss (New Zealand), Marius Jonker (South Africa), Joël Jutge (France), Jonathan Kaplan (South Africa), Alan Lewis (Ireland), Nigel Owens (Wales), Alain Rolland (Ireland), Tony Spreadbury (England), Steve Walsh (New Zealand) and Chris White (England).

The men who do the appointments are the selectors. They did them for all the pool matches and then did the appointments for the quarter-finals on Monday. The appointments to the quarter-finals quite possibly give an idea of forward thinking.

The selectors are David Pickering (chairman), Kevin Bowring, Michel Lamoulie of France, Bob Francis of New Zealand, Tappe Henning of South Africa and Steve Hilditch of Ireland

The selectors have eight matches for the 12 referees. The likelihood is that two of the quarter-final referees are those whom they have in mind as possibles for the final. That means they would have to have six referees for the knock-out matches - the four quarter-finals, the two semi-finals, the 3rd/4th play-off and the final.

Refereeing the quarter-finals would keep the possible finalists tuned for the final, but it is unlikely that any of the quarter-final referees would referee a semi-final.

That means that the selectors possibly have the six earmarked referees in three groups of two referees each.

The referees appointed to the quarter-finals are Wayne Barnes, Joël Jutge, Alan Lewis and Alain Rolland. A betting man would suggest that two of those four will go on to do the last two matches - the 3rd/4th play-off and the final.

A betting man would perhaps bet on Jutge and Rolland. Jutge could be eliminated by nationality if France press on through to the last four, but Irish Rolland has no such constraint. If the selectors chose these four Rolland's Irishness would ensure his availability for either the final or the play-off.

If we follow our speculative train of thought, then the referees ranked as three and four would do the semi-finals. They would come from the eight referees not in the quarters - Dickinson, Honiss, Jonker, Kaplan, Owens, Spreadbury, Walsh and White.

The choice could come down to three - Kaplan, Walsh and White. Much may depend on which teams are playing in the semis.

Betting is that it will be South Africa against Argentina, which would make Walsh eligible and Kaplan therefor eligible for the other semi, regardless which two teams get through the quarters.

Not everybody is going to agree with the choice but the distillation of the best - the best distilled into the very best - will produce the best that rugby football can offer.

Imagine how this would look:

Quarter-final referees: Wayne Barnes, Joël Jutge, Alan Lewis and Alain Rolland

Semi-final referees: Jonathan Kaplan and Steve Walsh

3rd/4th and Final: Joël Jutge and Alain Rolland.

And the others all muck in as touch judges, touch-line monitors and TMOs.

And all of that is just speculation.

www.planetrugby.com

Du Plessis set for shock World Cup start

Tuesday 02nd October 2007

Tighthead prop Jannie du Plessis, who earlier this week received a 'miracle' Rugby World Cup call-up, is set for an even bigger gift when he is named in the Springbok starting XV to face Fiji in Sunday's RWC quarter-final at Stade Velodrome in Marseille.

The Springbok management on Tuesday confirmed that prop CJ van der Linde has been ruled out of the first weekend of play-off matches with a "bruised right knee", but he will not be returning home.

Van der Linde is the second Bok tighthead prop since Sunday to suffer a knee injury, with fellow tighthead BJ Botha returning to South Africa after damaging knee ligaments in the 64-15 victory over the United States at the weekend.

"CJ [van der Linde] hurt his knee during practice on Tuesday in the Stade Jean Bouin, Marseille," read a statement from the Bok management.

Coach Jake White confirmed that van der Linde would not be playing this weekend, although he will be "managed in camp" and is expected to recover in time to be in a position to participate in the semi-finals and possible final.

Du Plessis - who is expected to arrive in Marseille on Wednesday as a replacement for Botha - will step off the plane and onto the training field.

White also told the media in Marseille that Du Plessis was being considered as the starting tighthead, with the only other fit props - Os du Randt and Gurthro Steenkamp - both being specialist looseheads.

"Jannie [du Plessis] will have to start," White said.

"Gurthro [Steenkamp] will come on to the bench and we also have [hooker and captain] John Smit who can move over to prop if Jannie doesn't last the 80 minutes."

While coach White tried to remain positive about the situation, veteran prop Os du Randt was more realistic about first losing Botha and then Van der Linde in a matter of days.

"Suddenly losing two of our best tightheads is always a concern," Du Randt, a veteran of the victorious 1995 World Cup-winning Bok team, said.

"Injuries are part of the game. We have to adapt and make the best of a sad story."

Du Randt said he would be willing to move to the tighthead side if it became necessary, but he added: "I hope I won't have to.

"I have probably played at tighthead for no more than 30 or 40 minutes in my whole career. I am not comfortable on that side."

Du Plessis will join his younger brother, hooker Bismarck, in the matchday 22 to face Fiji, with the explosive Bismarck expected to start off the bench as captain Smit's understudy.

www.planetrugby.com