SuperShorts They Said It: 'He's an athlete who has a tremendous array of skills'

"He's an athlete who has a tremendous array of skills. I'm not sure that he's a lock, he might be a loose forward."
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen on Isaac Ross. To clarify: first the All Black management promoted Ross and had him calling the lineouts, then they hooked him out of the All Blacks set-up and told him go and pack on more weight, now he needs to sharpen up, drop a few kilograms and slot on to the side of the scrum. You have to wonder if they're just winding the guy up.

"This, given North Korea's competence, is surely the biggest mismatch of the tournament: the world champions against the 2000-1 outsiders."
The Grauniad's Rob Smyth gets it all wrong when previewing the All Whites clash with Italy. Wonder what he made of North Korea shipping seven to Portugal.

"When we qualified for the World Cup, our Prime Minister cleaned our shoes. Because I scored in the play-offs against Russia, I was the first one to get my shoes cleaned."
Slovenia's Zlatko Dedic on the joys of making it big. New Zealand's own jock-sniffing PM would no doubt delight in polishing athletic footwear.

"There's more chance of me becoming the full-forward for the Dogs than there is any chance of a change in the Labor Party."
Australia's new Prime Minister Julia Gillard (speaking last month) about her prospects of leading the line for the Western Bulldogs Australian rules football team.

"THE END OF THE WORLD"
French sports newspaper L'Equipe keeps things in perspective after Thierry Henry and Co were knocked out of the World Cup. It's a headline we here at the Herald have put aside for use next October.