Pool: Aussies jump the gun on trophy engraving

First the Aussies bowled underarm. Then they failed to support New Zealand's World Cup rugby bid.

Now they've fuelled our fiery transtasman rivalry by engraving a trophy with Australia as the winner, before the event.

And, is if that's not bad enough, they lost.

So now Rotorua 8-ball player Bruce McDonald has the right to say he was in the eight-strong New Zealand masters' team which defended its transtasman trophy in Perth.

But his trophy says Australia won the event, and New Zealand were runners-up.

"I think Australia truly thought they were going to win - they simply didn't think they were going to get beaten and as such had the transtasman cup pre-engraved declaring them the winners," a shell-shocked McDonald said.

"But we went over and won the test fair and square. They didn't even have the decency to replace the plaques declaring us the winners."

McDonald said even though event organisers later apologised for the incident, admitting it was an "error of judgment", he and the team were left flabbergasted.

"We didn't feel too good about the whole thing," McDonald said.

"Even though they apologised they weren't gracious in defeat.

"We've decided to get the cup and trophies re-engraved and send Australia the bill."

McDonald, a three-time national pairs champion, said the incident had redefined transtasman rivalry in his opinion and would make next year's series "extremely interesting".

This month's victory in Perth had been the Kiwis' first on Australian soil.

- DAILY POST (ROTORUA)