The end of the road...... for now!

Like all good things, they must end and this sadly is my last blog post for a few weeks on Not Sweet Chariot. Now I’m the first to admit that I didn’t stick it out to the bitter end in New Zealand, seeing as my side England didn’t exactly cover themselves in glory, fumbling out rather meekly in the Quarter-final to the French.

So I decided to flee New Zealand to see Australia & Malaysia, not only to see a little of the world but also to experience different rugby cultures, and to see the matches away from New Zealand. These yielded all kinds of results from the people I spoke to and experiences. In Australia it seemed like the RWC was brushed aside in favour Aussie rules transfers & the opening game weekend of the A-league, whilst I then experienced heartache watching England crash out to the French on my own on a big screen with four others in the centre of Melbourne.

 However in Malaysia I met up with the Sabah Warriors, who along with about 60 others in the local Irish bar offered up passionate and rowdy support even in the sweltering 30 degree heat for the final. It’s been interesting to have these Rugby World Cup experiences outside of the host nation, yet still feeling connected to the action on and off the pitch at the host nation. I have been watching the Rugby World Cup admiringly from afar.

Of course the best experiences of my ‘tour’ came in New Zealand. From the hospitality, to the atmosphere at all the games I attended, even to the blanket media coverage it’s has been nothing short of perfect. I think my experience can be neatly summed up in one tidy story.

After stumbling off a 24 hour flight from England, me and Greg wandered around Christchurch bleary eyed looking for a bed for the night. As we wandered up the street we bumped into a big man donning the uniform of a fire officer. Without hesitation he stuck up a conversation, “Here for the rugby boys?” we replied and started to get chatting and within 5 minutes he had pointed us in the direction of the best hostel in town and how he wished England a successful tournament.

 That is something you just would not get in England, a friendly hello and a helping hand from a stranger like that. It just sums up the passion for rugby in New Zealand, and also the willingness to ‘Welcome the World’ which made New Zealand such great hosts for this tournament.

Now in this final blog post it would be rude of me not to mention the student hosts who looked after us so fantastically in Dunedin. Whilst the average England fan was spending out $200+ on accommodation in the town or freezing on a campsite, we stayed for free at a student house. It meant that we got to see a different, slightly student view of Dunedin. So from epic parties at the flat, to taking advantage of the student deals at every fast food place in town, we covered the board. 

Thankfully they where also eager Rugby fans and regularly gave me some good quotes for the impeding All Blacks clashes so I must thank the guys for that. When it came to the game days Dunedin was transformed, and bloated with the arrival with English fans. But always the theme was the same, the underdogs where always passionately supported from the locals students paying money to be a part of the Word Cup action. Often donning creative costumes to show support for the lesser favoured team, from the likes of Dracula & Boy Georgia made appearances in the stand. It only added for the excitement for me at the Otago stadium.

Away from match days we wondered around the south island, experiencing more famous kiwi hospitality. Even seeing our English hero’s in Queenstown before they proceeded to get rowdy and grope a couple of tourists. After three great weeks in Dunedin with our livers certainly a little worse for wear we made our way up to the North Island. After brief stops in Wellington and Taupo and we made our way to Auckland for England’s crucial group closer against Scotland.

Auckland was undoubtedly the beating heart of the Rugby World Cup, full of colour and life. The Queens wharf was transformed by the inflatable rugby ball, with the fan zone jammed packed full of tourists and rugby fans taking in all the interactive games and making use of the free wifi. Over the weekend I was in Auckland it was firmly gripped with excitement for both codes, as the warriors made the grand final.

 The final match for England’s pool against the Scots certainly delivered in what I envisaged for Eden Park. The venue was crammed with both passionate Scottish and England fans, as the national anthems blared out I felt truly lucky to have seen all of this, so far from home. It’s just a shame England couldn’t deliver in the tournament.

When it came to the Rugby it was fascinating to view the contrasting styles. All I knew of really was the 6 nations whilst occasionally getting up early on Saturday to view the Tri nations. So the bulldozing style of Tonga, Fiji & Samoa where quite the revelation.

 Whilst also admiring the distinct styles of the major powers of the game, from the free flowing play of the All Blacks, the Australians & now the Welsh. To the more ponderous power orientated styles of the English, French & Springboks. It was a great way to learn more about the sport, and this was helped significantly by the blanket coverage from the media.

It dominated every aspect of the news, from the top story on the TV NZ news of the announcement of the AB’s squad which at the time me & Greg found bizarre that squad announcement made prime time news. Even the controversy of the traffic nightmare in Auckland on the first game made pages and pages of news paper copy, the World Cup dominated this country and I am proud to have formed some tiny part of the coverage with my blog being in the New Zealand Herald.

If the plan for New Zealand was to welcome the world during the world cup, they certainly did a fantastic job. England will have to go a long way to beat the excitement and passion that I seen over my time at the tournament, from the ideal final result (finally the best team in the world won) to the spectacular and tense knock out ties. The Aussies win against the Springboks & the 14 men Welsh side losing to the French particularly standing out as games of the tournament.

So my plan is to travel on for a few more weeks, I’m taking in Malaysia, Singapore & Japan. Before I head back to a bitterly cold England, which will be gripped by frost and snow, then it’s back onto the job hunt ideally in Journalism.

Hopefully these blog posts will show as a good part of my portfolio (incidentally if any one who is reading this, and you enjoy my writing and want to give me a job drop me an e-mail!) Again I would like to thank the guys at the New Zealand Herald who have posted up my work, and to all the people who have commented on the blog and followed the adventure via twitter.  It’s been a pleasure to share my experience of the Rugby World Cup & I am already looking forward to my next visit to Rugby Country. But don’t worry; I will be back after my travels covering some rugby and posting up on the blog.

All Blacks scrape the final & I go drinking with the Sabah Warriors.

So After a couple of days in the tropical heat of Malaysia, my focus turned to the Rugby World Cup final. But understandably I was worried about where I could watch the big game, ideally with some rugby fans to get a sense of watching the rugby ‘Malaysian style’. Thankfully for me I came across the Sabah Warriors online and got talking to their media manager Ywan via e-mail.

The club was only formed six months ago from a group of friends who have returned to Malaysia after studying in the UK in Australia. Whilst away they where influenced by rugby, especially the hard compromising style of the sport coupled with fair play and respect for the match officials. Whilst Malaysia does have a blossoming rugby culture it is mainly based in Kuala Lumpur where all the sides regularly play each other.

 However on the Island of Borneo, there was only one semi professional rugby team. That’s when the Sabbah Warriors came in and wanted to promote the game to kids who idolise the stars of the English Premier League. After a brief chat I was invited for the social down at a local Irish bar on the Water front.   

As I made my way down to the bar in searing 30 degree heat, I wondered who was I going to be greeted with. After all the team had only been about for a few months, and only had a few members. Luckily I was greeting with 30 passionate rugby fans, all donning their team kit and cheering on both the All Blacks & the French in two separate camps. We even had a stereotypical French man shouting “Allez Le Bleu!” At regular intervals to set the tone, the Irish bar was crammed full of expats from Australia, France, America, and England all watching the rugby.

The whole event was put on my the rugby side to promote their team, and it was a real success. With everyone enjoying the complementary drinks from the teams sponsor, and eating down hot dogs from the pubs chef, as it got towards game time the atmosphere turned even more rowdy with both sets of fans breaking into booming chants before kick off, after the iconic highly charged Haka & the united v-shaped defiance formation from the French.

 

The game itself was hardly the most exciting World Cup Final, with the French coming straight out of the blocks. The French played their best rugby of the tournament, and looked much improved after unconvincing wins against England and Wales. However the All Blacks looked nervy, with Piri Weepu missing badly from a penalty, the nerves immediately transferred to the bar and Eden Park.

The All Blacks started to get into their game, battling against the aggression of the French who where closing down and getting wide quickly, limiting the AB’s expansive rugby. The breakthrough came from a set piece as a well work line out lead to Tony Woodcock to crash over with relative ease. The relief was palpable in the bar, it must have been ten fold at Eden park.  Wepu missed the conversion, again to place nerves on a high.

The tie continued in a similar vein, with the All Blacks attack being stopped time and time again by the French forwards, when it came to the scrumming the French where penalised by South African Craig Joubert. But whilst positionally Weepu was strong, his kicks at goal where nothing short of awful, slowly but surely the nerves came back for the All Blacks.

Fly-half Aaron Cruden hyper-extended his knee horribly, to a collective of wincing “ahh’s” from the assembled at the bar. On came 4^th choice Stephen Donald, who was kicking back at home before injuries to Colin Slade & Dan Carter forced Graham Henry’s hand as a last minute call up. His contribution would turn out to be the most crucial for the AB’s and surely go down in Kiwi folklore.

With the French penalised in the scrum Donald had the easiest of kicks to give the AB’S 8-0 lead. However the French had other idea’s and with half hour to go French captain Dusautoir  slid over the white wash to the shock of Eden park. Trinh-Duc converted leaving the match on a knife edge at 8-7, the French support in the bar where in full voice, whilst most AB fans where silent. Knowing of the inevitable turnaround was on the cards and hoping for a miracle turn around from the men in black.

The tension now was at heart attack inducing levels in the sweaty bar in Kota Kinabalu. With 16 minutes left on the clock, Trinh-Duc tried his luck with a penalty from just inside halfway only to push it wide, much to the joy of the AB fans assembled and to the woe of the rowdy French supporters. The All Blacks went into crisis mode, punting anything remotely near their twenty two deep into French territory.

But with boots into territory came more relenting French attack. Within the final minutes the French launching a 18-phase attack, which was greeted by shocked silence by Eden Park. Would this World Cup Dream end in a Nightmare? Thankfully a final kick into the French half wound up the final minutes. Jourbert blew up for a French infindgement and the relief in the bar & Eden Park was palpable, people overjoyed to see a nation so eager to win the Webb Ellis. As Richie lifted up the magnificent trophy, and as the fireworks lit up the TV screen I could only be overjoyed for the inhabitants of Rugby country and wondered how long the celebrations would last for.

The Not So Sweet Chariot's team of the tournament.

Team of the tournament

So after a whirlwind six week’s of rugby, it’s all over. New Zealand rightly, albeit nervously won on Sunday against the French. Now the focus turns to the stand out players of the tournament, hopefully you guys will agree with my selection for the best side at the Rugby World Cup.

Full-back - Israel Dagg 

Dagg had a fantastic World Cup and was a potent attacking for the AB’s as they won the Webb Ellis after 24 years of eluding the men in black. Dagg was truly devastating against the Wallabies, setting up Ma’a Nonu for the AB’S first try.

Wings- George North & James O’Conner.

I went with two young talents in the Wing positions, who had a huge impact for their sides in their first world cup tournaments. 21 year old O’Conner is the boy wonder of Australian rugby, and was the second highest points scorer in the tournament with 52 points. His star moment came against South Africa when he kicked a penalty for a narrow win for the Wallabies under massive pressure.

George North was one of Wales brightest lights for the Red Dragons in New Zealand, blessed with power, pace and dancing feet North had it all, as the Welsh made their way to the Rugby World Cup Semi finals. More worryingly he is only just 19 so expect him to star in a few more World Cup’s to come.

Outside-centre - Manu Tuilagi

Aside from a spot of swimming in Auckland harbour, wearing a branded mouth guard and getting involved with England’s mischief in Queenstown. Manu Tuilagi was England’s best player in an otherwise disappointing tournament for the former World Cup Winners. His bulldozing, uncompromising style was truly unique in a side devout of flair and creativity. Again youth is truly on his side, providing he can mature off the pitch, I can see him being a major part of the England set up.

Inside-centre - Ma'a Nonu 

Nonu had a strong World Cup and stood out in a All Blacks side full of excellent ball carriers. Nonu’s pace and aggression was a key asset for the All Blacks, often dictating attacks for his side. However his distribution was at his best throughout the tournament, this particularly showed against the Wallabies. As the AB’s convincingly beat their Tasman rivals to get to the Rugby World Cup final.

Fly-half -Morné Steyn

Arguably this slot should have been for Dan Carter, but unfortunately injury ruled him out of the business end of the tournament. Much to the worry of the nation, but in his absence Morne Steyn of the Springboks stepped up as my Fly-half choice. An expert long kicker, and with 14 conversions in 5 matches he was the tournaments leading points kicker by some margin. Despite the defending champions crashing out in disappointing style in the Quarter Finals.

Scrum-half- Dimitri Yachvili           

Yachvili was one of the French sides stand out players in the tournament, often starting the attacks for the bulldozing French side. But also his contribution with the boot was telling, often kicking his side out of trouble along with partner in crime Morgan Parra, both of whom where the major thrust for Les Blues.

Loose-head prop - Tony Woodcock

One half of the Woodcock brothers, the veteran was potent in the scrum of the AB’S. Solid throughout the tournament and particularly in the Semi final against the Wallabies, as the All Blacks absolutely demolished their pack. More importantly Woodcock also scored the AB’s only try in the tight victory over the French.

Hooker - William Servat

A master on the line-out, and well versed in the scrum Servat was my pick at hooker. He was strong in the tight exchanges and he formed a key element as the second oldest ever French side to reach a World Cup final.  At 32 you can imagine that this could have been his last World Cup, but he will be proud of his efforts as he helped his side get to the Rugby World Cup final.

Tight-head prop - Nicolas Mas 

Mas was sorely missed in his sides first match up with New Zealand as Les Blues where beaten convincingly. But in the final he returned to his best with a strong defensive display, in what was a tight and tense final. Just like team mate Servat, Mas was strong in the scrum, and was a defensive rock of strength for his side.

Second-rows: Danie Rossouw & Brad Thorn

Both Thorn & Rossouw where my certain choices in the second row, Roussouw in particular was devastating for the Springbok’s in the pool stages both in the tackle & with the ball breaking the line time and time again. Thorn again optimises the number 4 shirt, big, uncompromising & strong as a ox, whilst also dominant in the set pieces and scrum. Many people I asked about the All Blacks pointed to him as the colossus of the side. Now he is the oldest Rugby World Cup winner of all time.

Blind-side flanker: Jerome Kaino 

Kaino is now the 5^th All Blacks team member in my squad, and is in as being the most complete number 6 in the tournament. Fantastic with the ball in hand, but crucially working hard with and without the ball for his side, making all of those hard yards and making doing the less glamorous jobs for his side.

Open-side flanker: Richie McCaw

It just had to be Richie hadn’t it? The All Blacks captain was dominant in the games he played, and whilst injured the nation prayed that he didn’t pull out of the squad. He done what every great leader does, which was carry on through adversity and he got the job done for the All Blacks. He also looks good wearing a silver cap & lifting gold trophies.

Number eight- Toby Faletau

Naturalised Welsh-man Toby Faletau is my choice at number 8. He came from strong rugby stock as his father Kuli played for Tonga at the Rugby World Cup. Faletau was fantastic for the Welsh and was a mainstay in the side throughout the tournament. With his defensive work combining with the flair of the Welsh side nearly pushing them to their first World Cup Final,at just 20 he has a big future in the Welsh set up.

Coach of the tournament

Warren Gatland- For me Warren gets the nod as coach of the tournament. He crafted a young excited Welsh side in the mould of the great sides of yesteryear. Playing with a distinct southern hemisphere style, and taking the likes of South Africa & France down to the wire, the New Zealand native should be proud of what he has done.  Perhaps a call from the All Blacks is on the cards?

Will the All Blacks Win the Rugby World Cup? It's all in the mind.

Can Graham Henry match the feats of Sir Brian Lochore?

So after 2,230 points, 47 match games and 20 disciplinary cards shown it’s down to the Rugby World Cup Final in Auckland. During my blog post’s over the tournament I have taken pulse checks on a  regular basis on how New Zealand is coping with differing World Cup issues. From students to shop keepers I have had plenty of opinions ranging from the not so crunch Semi-Final even back at the start of the tournament the chances of the All Blacks to win the Webb Ellis trophy.                 

So I thought what better to catch up with as many people that I could with a score prediction via Twitter. Straight away I have been contacted by plenty of passionate Kiwi & French fans eager to look into their virtual crystal ball to predict the score come Sunday evening.

Understandably the All Blacks received the greatest support, with the vast majority of predictions going for an All Blacks win. However I did receive a couple of e-mails from French fans, going for a French victory against the odds (some bookies are placing France at 6.50 to win outright). One such E-mail came from Frenchman Ivallio Raminov, who was born in Marseille and was backing Les Bleus. “It will be unlikely but a French win on Sunday would be from one of the most reluctant winning teams in Rugby World Cup history. We have battled our way this far & we also have that win in Cardiff a few years ago on our side that I think is a big mental plus.”

When asked about the pool match Ivallio was reluctant to look back on the 37-17 defeat. “You can’t think about the pool results now, we have beaten England & Wales to get here, It’s just one game and we will have improved since then no doubt.”  The faith is also shared by French coach Marc Lievremont "Every time we play the All Blacks it's always the same - they are always the favourites, but I believe in our team and we can win."

 Dimitri Yachvili & Morgan Parra will undoubtedly be the men to watch for the French, with the both players the French side’s leading point takers at the Rugby World Cup. In a tournament where the kicking has been poor these two have played well with Parra’s three penalties the difference in the Semi-Final against the Welsh. The French understandably have kept the same side that beat the plucky Welsh side last weekend.

On the other hand I was flooded by Kiwi fans with bold predictions for the final. Many of which where around the late twenty to early 30 mark, convinced that the All Blacks will record a similar result from the pool match. With the New Zealanders now convinced that history will repeat itself from the glory of 1987 final. The result is certainly not guaranteed and Dunedin student Liam Farley was eager to point this out. “The All Blacks need to focus above all else on Sunday, some of my mates acted like we won it after the Australia game. We are on the edge of history, so must keep it tight, it’s positive that we have kept the same side for the final.”

Piri Weepu, who is shortlisted for the World player of the year, was clear that the build up needs to be relaxed yet focused for the All Blacks. "If you take it too seriously you'll already have played the game in your head at the start of the week. You need to have a clear head on Sunday, because the more relaxed a state you are in the better game you play.”

I can only imagine the excitement in New Zealand is now reaching fever pitch before the All Blacks step out at Eden Park. I just hope that the flood of Kiwi predictions I received are correct. If the All Blacks hit the blocks running just like the Semi-Final, I think 4 million people in a certain southern hemisphere country might be having a little celebration. 

All Blacks in final & my Malaysian RWC mission.

So my travels have lead me further away from Rugby Country as I am about to head to Malaysia for a couple of weeks. I’m off to the mystical island of Borneo, home of ginger monkeys and a team that is currently ranked 63rd in the IRB world rankings. Hopefully during my time here I can find out some more about the country’s rugby heritage.

More importantly during the crunch semi against the Aussie’s on Sunday I took some time to look at the trending topics in Malaysia and surprisingly the All Blacks where on the list. I’ll be testing out some of my basic Malaysian to find out how the AB’S are seen in South East Asia, especially as I will be watching the World Cup Final in some bar in Kota Kinabatu (my base for my trip).

Describing the game as a ‘big win’ last Sunday is a massive understatement. The palpable sense of relief from the kick off as the All Blacks attacked the Aussies early on was clear especially when Quade Cooper punted into touch from the kick-off. It seemed like the jitters, the bottling, the choking had all gone. New Zealand utilised the space fantastically in the opening exchanges, pinning Australia well back in their twenty two, thanks in part to Cory Jane and Israel Dagg who both threatened with scything runs. Within seconds the pressure paid dividends for the AB’S as the ball was whipped wide for Nonu to cross over the whitewash.

The relief at my host’s house in Melbourne was huge, along with the atmosphere at Eden Park, as “All Blacks” was chanted continuously by the 60,000 faithful in attendance. Weepu made up for his missed conversion by slotting away a penalty giving the AB’S a 8-0 lead. Immediately the Wallabies cranked up the pressure, with James O’conner scoring to the delight of the Aussie commentators. Meanwhile Quade Cooper was on the wrong side of pundit George Gregan’s rath, who branded the number 10 wasteful in possession.

Piri Wepu hardly brought his kicking boots and missed another penalty, but just after Cruden slotted away a field goal for the AB’S to take a 11-3 lead. Quade tried to answer the pundits came after some sustained Wallaby pressure to slot away a drop goal. Luckily Wepu also found some kicking form and slotted away a penalty for the AB’s going in leading 14-6 at half time. In truth it should have been much more, which caused some nervier fans to brandish the missed penalties from Wipu as missed opportunities.

Thankfully the more worried fans where quickly put at ease after half time. The All Blacks starting at a blistering pace, and doing a fantastic job at forcing their opponents into errors in the scrum. Worryingly for the Wallabies returning captain David Pocock seemed to be prone to the majority of these errors. Wipu converted to set the gap at 11 points, with everyone at my Melbourne hosts breathing a sigh of relief. The points where also significant for Wipu & the All Blacks his kick was his 100th test point, but also the teams 2000th ever Rugby World Cup points, the first nation ever to do so.

Nonu Crashes over for the only try of the match. 

Piri again was poor with the boot and missed another opportunity before Andy Ellis came on. Again the pressure grew on the Wallabies, with the All Blacks forward line completely dominating. More pressure arouse, yet the All Blacks couldn’t capitalise. Israel Dagg missing a well worked drop goal attempt, yet the Aussies offered nothing in the attack and where at the mercy of the All Blacks, who just didn’t seem to close the game off. This was further compounded by Cruden’s penalty effort from distance.

But commeth the hour, commeth the man and within minutes of Wipu’s introduction back onto the pitch he stepped up to slot away the decisive penalty after yet more errors in the Aussie pack. The All Blacks where 20-6 up and the tie was effectively over. By full time Eden Park was a cauldron of noise and celebration, as was my watching post in Melbourne as we celebrated by eating some Kangaroo and toasting a fine All Blacks win.

Now the focus shifts to the final, where the All Blacks will face a French side that have fought tooth and nail to make their way to the final. Many pundits have dismissed the French already, but I would not be so sure, and I’m sure Graham Henry will leave no stone unturned in guaranteeing an All Blacks win. I suggest he looks at a video from 24 years ago for inspiration.

Welsh side well equipped to make first ever final

It’s not often that we make any predictions worth shouting about on Not Sweet Chariot, often aimless very obvious punditry on the Rugby World Cup. However looking at the up coming Semi-Final between Wales & France I can honestly say we where ahead of the curve In Wales doing well in this years Rugby World Cup.

In our third ever blog sales assistant Mary of Bed, Bath & Table Dunedin called for Wales to go far. But she went on purely nostalgic terms, but we all knew she was ahead of her time clearly for seeing that the Welsh forward ‘southern hemisphere’ style was perfect for the World Cup. Well in the spirit of that well thought out nostalgic comment from Mary. I thought a look at the Welsh side was in order, to see if they defeat the odds on Saturday by beating the French and reach their first ever World Cup Final.

Warren Gatland has created a young side with a number of players to form the core of the side for years to come. The likes of Scott Williams, George North & Sam Warburton have been superb for the Dragon’s so far and all are no older than 22 and the whole nation is behind them come Saturday.

More of the same and Wales could be in the final.

Already many pundits have called Wales “The All Blacks of the North.” With their forward free flowing style much like All Blacks, compared to the slow defensive smothering tactics of the English & French sides. But aside from playing styles there are plenty of similarities between the nations of Wales & New Zealand. Both nations are small in population, but are passionate for the game.

One man in Wales who will be watching eagerly is Elgan Hughes, a passionate rugby fan; he was the first person to congratulate me when I mentioned I was heading to see the Rugby World Cup.  I caught up with him via e-mail to gauge his feelings on this Welsh revival; “It’s not a massive surprise to me really, the Welsh have always been known as strong ball carriers,but now we have a strong, physical side that can compete with the biggest sides in the world and win.”

 Elgan who has represented his home town of Llandovery semi professionally genuinely thinks that the final is beckoning for the Welsh. “I think you have to dream at this stage, no one gave us a prayer against the Irish and we won, and even though the French beat the English they have not been amazing, besides we deserve a final.”

But deserving and getting to a final are two very differing things. But the Welsh are well equipped to stir up a result. James Hook will start at fly-half replacing James Priestland, who has been unable to train all week after picking up a shoulder knock after the victory over Ireland. But Kiwi boss Warren Gatland is eager not to celebrate too soon, “Beating France on Saturday must be and will be our sole focus .The time to reflect and to celebrate will come if we win our next two matches, until that happens our focus on the task ahead must be absolute."

Untill then the tiny nation of 3 million will be behind Wales, hoping that the “New Zealand of the north” can potentially meet their southern hemisphere cousins come the 23^rd of October.

Pulse check- Will the All Blacks make the final?

As the All Blacks face a crunch semi-final against Australia on Sunday, I decided to call up some of my student friends in Dunedin and get a “pulse check” on the big game. If the All Blacks where to win it would be their first World Cup final appearance since 1995.

 Australia are coming into the tie on a high after beating former world champions South Africa thanks to a James O’Conner penalty which sealed a 11-9 victory for the Wallabies. But will the men in Black have enough for victory? The likes of Richie Mccaw and Colin Slade are out for the tie along with talismanic Dan Carter who has been ruled out of the tournament can the All Blacks get the result? It’s time for the students of Dunedin to call the result.

“Target our boy Quade and we’ll get the win.”          Liam Farley.

Weepu will have to overcome Heartbreak to kick the AB'S to the final

Liam is confident for an All Blacks big performance especially against old rivals, despite the Aussies beating the Springbok’s “Australia only just scraped through against a poor South Africa side they can't be too cocky either,the All Blacks better hope the Aussies don't employ a similar defensive strategy as the Puma's did, which seemed to choke any bigger set plays the All Blacks tried to make.”

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the AB’s “Our scrumming seems better, but our backline will have to kick it up a gear, I think if we also target Quade with our forwards we can force some errors, he has been awful so far, I hope that continues.”  Liam’s hoping on a tight win for the AB’S and onwards to the final.

 Liam’s Tip- Australia 20- New Zealand 26 

“The Aussie’s will beat the Kiwi’s and the country will be in a state of shock.” Jordy Bowman

Proud Australian Jordy Bowman is backing the Wallabies much to the distain of her housemates. “I’ve been getting plenty of abuse for supporting my national team in New Zealand during the World Cup, I should get my revenge come Sunday.” Jordy points to flanker David Pocock as the potential match winner. “We really missed him against the Irish, and his physical performance against South Africa was amazing, he’ll be the difference against the All Blacks pack.”

“All Blacks will be rattled by their injury losses; Cooper will finally play like he's meant to, and New Zealand will be rioting in the streets come 11pm Sunday.” Boasted Jordy, with the Wallabies coach Robbie Deans the biggest source of pride for the Aussie in New Zealand, “Can you imagine if a Kiwi coach beats the All Blacks and then lifts the World Cup for Australia, he wont be allowed to come back home!” Jordy went for a repeat score for the Australians that seen them through the Quarter-Final against South Africa.

Jordy’s Tip- Australia 11- New Zealand 9  

“Despite the players out we will still win, and be in the final.” Shaun Ferguson

Shaun Ferguson on the other hand is all for a gutsy tournament defining victory for the All Blacks despite but the apparent lack of personnel. “If we where to loose it will be purely mental, we need to play proper AB football from the start and get it to our backs and attack. We seem to play nervous rugby early on in the important games which leads to mistakes across the pitch.”

Australia who last won a test at Eden Park in 1986 will still be a major threat, but Shaun thinks it’ll be a team effort to get the win. “I think we will have 3 key men on the pitch on Sunday. Weepu will have a big match and overcome personal heartache; all of New Zealand will be supporting him. Sonny Bill will continue where he has left off and terrify the Aussies. But I think Brad Thorn will be a colossus in the pack. If they all play well New Zealand will win, simple as.” Shaun has gone for strong AB win, firmly convincing himself of a big victory.

Shaun’s Tip- Australia 23- New Zealand 37 

England bow out in not so surprising style.

So the end of the road….

So I’m away from the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand for just one game & England crash out in unconvincing style against a French side that even before Saturday’s match had been playing some uninspiring rugby, and even faulted against Tonga just the weekend previously.

Perhaps I could easily point to jinxes, bad luck omens and black magic of my presence away from New Zealand leading to the downfall of England but that would just be lazy. In truth, from watching all of the group games it’s not a massive shock. England had been unimpressive even if winning in the pool B ties topping the group comfortably with four wins. But each game came with a must-try-better element to it. Aside from the crushing of the Romanians I never truly left each game happy for the next game. I just hoped each game would yield an improved performance, but against France they failed to deliver.

The French raced into a 16 point lead early on with two tries from Vincent Clerc and Maxime Medard. Martin Johnston’s New midfield formation of Flood & Wilkinson failed to work, with poor passing and failed kicking the hallmarks of the duos performance.  The French on the other hand took advantage with the errors in the breakdown with Yachvili slotting two penalties away.

 England battled back late with a try from Northampton Saint’s Ben Folden and Mark Cueto two minutes to go offered a glimmer of hope, but in truth the French had the upper hand throughout the match. In the second half England lacked drive and the creativity which was lacking in previous games the only outlet seemed to be the bulldozing style of Manu Tuilangi.

 So England where outplayed by an organized French side, ultimately key decisions of personnel in crucial games and off-field antics paid for their World Cup campaign. The buck stops at Martin Johnston and I wouldn’t at all be surprised if he is indeed relieved for his duties after a ‘full and frank’ review from the RFU.

The issue of off-field antics should perhaps be the one of most concern. Whilst in New Zealand a tabloid maelstrom raged in the UK. From Mike Tindell canoodling with a blonde ‘friend’ in Queenstown to a trio of England players asking a member of hotel staff in Dunedin for an Aussie kiss, this could arguably have been one of England’s most scandalous tabloid fuelled tour in living memory.

I understand the issue of building team-moral, and the occasional pint of 8 is a strong element of English rugby culture. But surely when the aim is to win the World Cup a spot of midget hurling and backpacking flirting can wait? Just take a look at Australia and New Zeland sides, both sides have 3 World Cup’s between them. But during my time in both countries no talk has been made of late night drinking or over zealous antics in New Zealand by the media. Maybe their press is just smarter than ours.

Then onto the team selection dilemmas faced by Martin Johnston, it seems ultimately the choice of the once talismanic Wilkinson was one error to far. Wilkinson, whilst strong in the tackle he was poor in the kicking department. It’s the area Wilkinson’s needs to be firing on all cylinders if England where to have any chances of lifting this years Rugby World Cup.

However both kicking at goal and positional kicking was poor throughout the tournament. Perhaps the writing was on the wall after his first against Argentina when he missed four penalties in a row. Martin Johnston even recognised his error of his ways against the French but instead of dropping Wilkinson he placed in Flood for Tindall in a move which was misplaced and ultimately backfired.

So after a tournament which promised so much for England it ended in a flat, uninspiring performance. After each previous match post I often signed off with a familiar ‘must try better for bigger tests’ but the English have no more tests and our now set for the long ride home. The sweet chariot will rumble on regardless, even if it is without the likes of Johnston, Wilkinson or Tindle, but now we have the six nations to focus on. It started so Sweet, it ended not-so-sweet. Seems apt.

Top 5 Pool Moments.

Top 5- Pool stage moments.

So with the Quarter-finals coming at the Rugby World Cup we are saying goodbye to plenty of memorable matches. I give you a run down of my top 5 pool moments at Rugby World Cup 2011.

1. Ireland Beating the Aussies.

Number 1 has to be the Irish beating the Aussies 6-15 in Auckland, much to the delight of the thousands of Kiwis & Irish in attendance. The Irish played fantastically well with crucial penalty kicks from Sexton & O’Gara coupled with a resilient defensive display. We managed to catch the game at our student digs in Dunedin. Everyone in the room apart from one girl was behind the Irish and the room bizarrely erupted to the tune of ‘Danny boy’ when the full time whistle was blown. Needless to say the result pushed everyone out for a night on the town and some sore heads in the morning.

2. The opening Ceremony & the All Blacks Beating Tonga.

Second on our top 5 list came at the start of our tour when we watched the first game of the Rugby World Cup. Me and Greg bundled into Dunedin’s official fan-zone for the first game and the opening ceremony. Aside from the expensive beer the whole event was great.

The opening ceremony had it all. Firstly it wasn’t too long and boring, secondly it had an inspirational child; that could fly, and finally it has to be special guest Jonah Lomu who looked like the best dressed man in New Zealand.  Onto the game and the atmosphere was electric, from the national anthems to the performance of the Haka. Everyone was fully behind the All Blacks and they looked impressive going in 29-0 at half time. Tonga’s hard hitting style did yield one try but the AB’s where rampant much to the delight of the fans. They ended up 41-10 winners.

3. Wales pushing the Bok’s all the way.

This is my second favourite moment for the northern hemisphere sides so far at the Rugby World Cup. We watched the games in Queenstown in a bar along with most of the England playing squad. They went on to write their own tabloid headlines that night, but before canoodling with backpackers they watched a great game of Rugby.

Wales looked fired up and going into the final third of the game they where ahead 16-10 through a Toby Faletau try. But the Bok’s sprung into life with Francois Hougaard's try and Morne Steyn's conversion right at the death giving the defending champions the victory. But controversy rumbled on with referee Wayne Barnes, the referee all kiwi’s love to hate who denied the Welsh a penalty goal which had drifted over. But the game was a great watch and the Welsh really did deserve something from the game.

4. Tonga Beating the French.

One of the final group games pulled out one of the biggest surprises of the pool as Tonga beat a flagging French side in Wellington. We managed to catch the match before England’s game against Scotland in Eden Park. Auckland had been buzzing all day with Tongan fans around the city, all of which had adorned their cars in the national colours and proceeded to drive around beeping at anyone who would notice.

The match itself was dominated by the bulldozing style of the Tongans, despite the French taking the lead early they constantly made mistakes in the breakdown. Consequently Tonga benefitted through the kicking of Kurt Morath, and recorded the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history.

5. Richie McCaw’s 100^th Cap hat.

So after over a decade of service to the All Blacks and Richie McCaw was the first ever AB to join the 100 club. So after a convincing win against the French Richie was called up in front of the Eden Park faithful. Then he was presented with a magnificent silver 100th cap. It looked like a mixture of a jocky cap and something an especially rebellious public school boy would wear. Again Richie as ever donned the cap and began to speak of his team mates and of his importance of the team. All very noble stuff, but he had a massive silver hat on his head. It was my favourite ‘comedy’ moment at the Rugby World Cup.

So these are my Top 5 pool stage moments, but over the weekend the real action begins with Knock-out rugby, I am certainly looking forward to it.

Thanks New Zealand. Onto Australia.

So after a month in Rugby country, I have fled across the water to Australia. I managed to catch all of England’s pool games and experienced all New Zealand had to offer. Unfortunately my funds and pre-booked flights mean I miss out on the Quarter-Finals and beyond. However my month in NZ has been amazing from bumping into the England Squad on that Sunday in Queenstown to swimming with dolphins in Kaikoura I have had a blast.

The hospitality I have experienced in New Zealand has been unbelievable, from our student hosts in Dunedin & the help on our twitter account for our stays in Wellington, Dunedin & Taupo. We’ve connected with so many people in this month in NZ often in bars/pub/Rugby Stadiums or the hostels that we have stayed at.

The official slogan for the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand was that ‘The World is coming to play’, I ran into fans & players from every team at the tournament. From proud Kiwi support of the Romanian side to finding out about the Haka my experiences of the tournament have been great (aside from over expensive beer in the stadium and in some central bars). Unsurprisingly New Zealand has benefitted financially extensively from the influx of fans across the world and they deserve it. I have felt welcomed by the Kiwi’s during my time on the other side of the world.

More importantly in my time in New Zealand I have turned my attention to the All Blacks. Before my visit to New Zealand I was clearly aware of the All Blacks, knowing of how they are feared in world rugby. But now, after a month in a country which is undeniably a nation in union who are supporting the men in black, even if that momentarily changed when the Warriors played in the NRL grand final last weekend.

I get the excitement and the hype behind the side. They play rugby the way as it was meant to be played, fast attacking rugby with plenty of flair. A game day in New Zealand for the All Blacks is a truly special occasion and on home soil for an international tournament it is a unique feeling. I feel lucky to have experienced this.

However to all the positive excitement for the AB’s everyone I have spoken to have said the nation would sink into a depression if some how the Rugby World Cup is not won after an illusive 24 years. I just hope that this doesn’t happen. Because after England your All Blacks are my team, one of them should win. Even thought I am in Australia I will be donning my black England top for both England & New Zealand matches, perhaps the most symbolic and controversial of top to wear on such an occasion.  

Even though I’m not in Rugby Country I will still be following events eagerly, and have maintained all of my contacts who helped out with previous blog posts. Seeing as I’m on the other side of the world I can still offer you a unique fan insight to the tournament. If that is only dodging the abuse from Aussies for supporting both England and the All Blacks, whilst also giving an Australian perspective of them (hopefully) crashing out to South Africa on Sunday.

So finally a big thank you to everyone who has helped me in my time in New Zealand, from people on Twitter to the comments online, I am truly glad you where able to make writing  whilst in New Zealand so enjoyable. I will continue to give my blogs right up till after the final and give you my views on England & New Zealand from Australia. Let’s hope the knock out phases can deliver and make this a memorable World Cup. 

Northampton Saints make mark on world stage.

Another week at the Rugby World cup and the Saints stars have had mixed fortunes both on and off the field. I take a look at a couple of stand out moments.

Chris Ashton.

Saints winger Ashton has arguably been England’s brightest light in what has been so far a very unconvincing tournament. He capped off an impressive performance against Romania in which he swan dived over the white wash three times. At the moment Ashton is currently the tournaments leading try scorer with 6 so far. Against Scotland the winger looked lively and he was rewarded for his display as he collected Toby Flood’s long pass to score England’s crucial try to beat Scotland 16-12. He certainly should be in line for a start against the French on Saturday.

Off the pitch and Ashton has been involved with some antics with Saints skipper Dylan Hartley allegedly being disrespectful to a female member of hotel staff in Dunedin. All three have been made to publicly apologise for the incident by Martin Johnston. Let’s hope he can focus on getting some more tries and try to become the first ever English player to become the leading try scorer at a Rugby World Cup.

Ben Folden

Saints Ashton celebrates Sixth try of the tournament.

Folden scored his first try of the Rugby World Cup in England’s comprehensive 67-3 victory over the Romanians in Dunedin. Again Folden started England’s final pool match against the Scots and certainly made an impact for his side. In the second half Folden made a crucial try interception to knock the ball from a rushing Simon Danielli on the try line. The incident was a turning point for the English, as they eventually won the match 16-12 with thanks to Ashton’s last gasp try. The full back is expected to start against the French on Saturday.

Courtney Lawes

Lawes slotted immediately into the England side for their final pool match against Scotland after being banned for two matches in the first citation of the Rugby World Cup. He had an average match against the Scots, and was partly to blame along with the whole pack for the 5 scrum infringements in the first 15 minutes of the game. But his appearance against the Scots just shows you how he is rated by Johnstone in the England camp especially after two games out.

Dylan Hartley

Saints Captain Hartley came on for World Cup veteran Steve Thompson at hooker during last Saturday’s match against the Scottish. He certainly helped in the pack as England turned around a poor first half in the scrum. However Hartley was also along with Saints Winger Ashton in an incident involving a hotel worker Annabel Newton. The group have now been disciplined internally and England manager Martin Johnson was understandably annoyed by the incident.

"We investigated the facts fully. They have been disciplined. They have been reprimanded for their behaviour and left in no doubt. If you leave yourself open for these headlines to be written it drags us all into it and that is what makes me particularly angry."

Let’s hope the English Saints can dodge controversy for another week and push the English side to World Cup glory.

Mitch Freeley