October 7: Different strokes
It's easy to forget people from other countries can have opinions about our players, but apparently they do.
A French journalist at the All Blacks v Canada game in Wellington shocked me with this doozie.
He said the Aussie number two halfback,Luke Burgess, was better by some distance than NZ's three players in the same position.
Not only that, apparently Piri Weepu was no good at first five-eighth and Colin Slade was one of the ``worst
players at the tournament''.
Initially thinking he was winding me up, he went on to say he had worked out the final and that neither of us should watch it.
The reason?
He was ``100 per cent sure'' England would be taking on South Africa.
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Amidst all the hoo-ha over branded mouthguards I've been left a touch confused.
Two players, England's Manu Tuilagi and Samoa's Alesana Tuilagi, have both copped $10,000 fines for
wearing non-approved smile-savers that feature some kind of sponsor's logo.
But for all the fuss, the writing is so small I can't even tell you what that sponsor is?
Obviously they have made it worthwhile for the players to wear their mouthguards, but wouldn't the sponsors want to at least get some bang for their buck and have their name noticed?
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What's with the lack of decent replays being shown at the games?
Half the big hits get left out and many of the controversial moments remain conspicuously absent from the big
screens.
I don't know if it's down to any official IRB-mandated imposition, but I hope rugby's not going the way of European football, where all but the tamest replays get saved for the television audience.
We're not soccer hooligans, and we won't riot.
So let's leave the drama on show where it should be and keep it for all to see.
October 1: Tough job to rate the minnows
It's one of those things that can start arguments-how good is this team compared with that team?
Being the World Cup the question has risen to another level, especially when a colleague tried to tell me Georgia would struggle to make the top half of the ITM Cup.
Personally I couldn't see Georgia losing to the Hurricanes (this season anyway), but just where a team like Namibia would fit in, who can tell?
As for some of the clubs, American prop Eric Fry plays in the US Senior Men's 1st (Red) Division for a team called the Las Vegas Blackjacks.
Surely the Blackjacks would struggle against most of our college first XVs?
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Over a week out from the playoffs and there's already been a fair few tears shed.
Hardly an anthem goes by without a player or two welling up and having to use their mate's jersey as a hanky.
However, based on some of the performances of those most affected I'm not sure it does them much good.
Still, I think it's time Tony Woodcock or Andrew Hore opened up a little and had a quick cry during our national song.
As for the best national anthem, it's got to go to Argentina.
Any anthem with a minute long intro is going to take some beating.
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You have to love the confidence of Israel Dagg.
Quizzed over his bird or puppet try celebration, he happily played with the assembled media, throwing them cryptic ''clues'' as to the origin of the gesture.
It's great to see a player so relaxed, so clearly not nervous.
September 23: Once bitten?
It was the case of the mysterious reappearing fingers.
According to rugby legend - and Wikipedia - Georgian and Montpellier prop Goderdzi Shvelidze had two of his fingers bitten off during a game.
Meeting him at a team function in Masterton this week I thought I'd check it out for myself, sneaking a look at his hands while he (literally) fingered a Georgian ceremonial dagger.
Surprise, surprise, all digits were present.
When I quizzed him over the claim, he looked genuinely puzzled, calling over a translator to check if he'd understood what I'd asked.
For the rest of the afternoon Shvelidze pretended to bite his very much un-severed fingers every time he passed me.
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I know it was only Namibia but anyone thinking the Springboks might be a spent force should be having a serious re-think.
Their 87-0 demolition of their African neighbours was brutal at times.
Even more, a re-arranged backline seems to suggest a bit more flexibility and depth than we've been giving them credit.
With winger Francois Hougaard at halfback, halfback Ruan Pienaar at first-eighth and chunky fullback Francois Steyn at second five, they cut through their opposite numbers at will in the second half.
And while it's still a bit too early to start pairing up the quarter-finalists (Ireland needs to beat Italy), the likely Boks versus Australia clash has certainly swung back in favour of the Africans.
I just can't see the Aussies doing enough to get their heads right before that clash on October 9 in Wellington.
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You can't help feel sorry for unwanted wingers Sitivini Sivivatu and Hosea Gear.
Every time the All Blacks squad gets named, and every time Zac Guildford is the glaring ommission, they must shake their heads in wonder.
Both wingers had better form going into the tournament than Guildford and it seems the Crusader was the one name the AB's coaches chose with their hearts ahead of their heads.
He had a decent Super 15 but when it comes to test rugby he's just not good enough.
Sivi and Hosea must be thinking they could have added more to the ABs than simply fronting a press conference for off-field antics and possibly getting a run against Canada.
September 17: Minnows lift Cup interest
It's been the match of the tournament so far.
The mighty Canadian beavers, or mooses or whatever they're called, defeating the Tongans 25-20 at Whangarei.
And it was about time too.
After a series of near things by underdogs getting close to knocking off their more illustrious counterparts, it's great to see a ''minnow'' finally getting over the line-for the sake of the tournament at the very least.
That's not to say I've been enamoured by all the smaller teams.
Georgia and Russia have played some pretty negative rugby and I think they've been punished for it.
However as ''underdogs'' go, I'm still picking Samoa to be the big surprise package in the tournament, so look to them to upset the Welsh, if not trouble the Springboks.
It seems for every bit of good work the tournament organisers do they manage to reverse it with a clanger.
Before the tournament the beer price was set as $7.50- not a bad price considering what they could have made it, especially given the buying power of some European fans.
But what were they thinking pricing the official match day programmes at a whopping $15.
True it's 90 pages long, but at least a third of that is advertising.
And what would you prefer to buy at the ground: two cold beers or a programme?
It's strange how complicated a knock-out tournament can be, especially when the little fish start giving the bigger ones a scare at every turn.
How many times have I thumbed through my guidebook to see who plays who if Argentina beat England, Wales beat South Africa?
I know there's only 20 teams but working out who Winner Pool A and Runner-up pool D will eventually play given ''x'' number of permutations can be pretty trying.
Someone needs to invent an app.
September 13: Welsh penalty poser ... we should all just get over it
Having the best view in the house at Sunday's Wales versus South Africa match, I can give a definitive answer to the controversial question of whether Welshman James Hook's penalty kick went over.
And the answer is: I definitively have no idea.
I was sitting directly behind the line of the kick and at the time it did look pretty close, but when the Welsh journalist sitting beside me failed to even blink at the touchies' call I assumed everyone was happy with it.
I think even the heartiest Welsh fan would point to a handful of other missed chances rather than that early "miss'' as the reason for their 17-16 loss.
Could the great haka ad debate be the next in a series of marketing misjudgments this World Cup?
The ad break between the haka and the game's kick-off on Friday was ridiculous, with the rest of the games also suffering from the same letdown at the moment when things should be gearing up.
And I'm not quite sure what the payoff for advertisers is.
The 90-second delay particularly makes fools of everyone when you go to a game and see the referee and players standing around waiting for the green light to get things under way.
They say that World Cups are often won with the boot, but so far everyone seems to be doing their best to hand that initiative to their opposition.
The kicking to date has been woeful, and I'm not just talking about the inept display from all involved at a windless Dunedin stadium on Saturday night.
There have been plenty of dodgy punts.
September 9: Time for ABs to dish out 50-point hiding
By the time you read there will be no more sleeps to go.
Unbelievable as it seems the Rugby World Cup is now upon us.
Tonight the eventual tournament winners will take on Tonga at the new and improved Eden Park, and I for one am predicting a good old-fashioned hiding.
For me anything less than 50 points won't be good enough. Why?
Because that's exactly the kind of thrashing the ABs would have dished out in 1987, the only year we claimed the cup.
In pool play that year we beat Italy 70-6, dealt to Fiji 74-13 and beat Argentina 46-15.
In the knockout rounds we were no less emphatic, brushing aside Scotland 30-3, Wales 49-6, and France 29-9 in the final.
Such was our dominance, only four tries were scored against us all tournament.
So there it is, my first prediction of my World Cup blog.
Over the next six weeks I will be issuing plenty of them, as well as writing about the games I attend - starting with South Africa v Wales on Sunday - and some of the quirkier and more controversial stories that emerge as the cup unfolds.
But I'll be wanting to hear from you too, so email me your thoughts as the tournament progresses and I'll print the best of them.
Among the haka and the powhiri at various airports around the country welcoming the 19 other teams, spare a thought for Romanian rugby star Catalin Fercu.
The winger had to be replaced at the last minute due to his fear of flying.
So much like B. A. Baracus, or Arsenal striker ``the Non-Flying Dutchman'' Dennis Bergkamp - he just ain't gettin' on no plane.
And for all the talk of him, and his quality, it seems a real shame.
Oh, and the reason behind the name for this blog?
Many of you will remember that fateful night in November 2003 when the Aussies dumped us out of the semifinal 22-10 in Sydney.
With time running out, George Gregan told Byron Kelleher in no uncertain terms he was going to have to do a bit of waiting to get his hands on the Webb Ellis trophy. "Four more years, boys. Four more years.''
It was the cruellest act committed against a broken team and, as it turned out, a bit of an under-estimation by the Wallaby skipper.
So I say let's use those words and make sure this year it's one of our boys giving the ``four more years'' to someone the likes of Quade Cooper come October 23.
Email your World Cup thoughts to: seamus.boyer@age.co.nz or comment below. You must be logged in to add a comment.
