Many have taken potshots at league over the last few days after the latest incident involving Todd Carney. I can understand why.

Chris Rattue examines the Lou Vincent saga: "His twisted ideals at least partly reflect our society."

Lou Vincent's life ban is, for him, the culmination of a series of dreadful personal decisions, writes the Herald's Dylan Cleaver.

It has been easy enough to pick holes in New Zealand's test cricket down through the years. During the lean years, the team have given the critics plenty of ammunition.

Take a decent bow you Highlanders. It's been a while since you gave Super Rugby a decent rattle and your season-ticketholders much to cheer about, writes Wynne Gray.

A victory over the Hurricanes, with two home fixtures left, would have put the Crusaders in the box seat for a home semifinal. Instead, they lost 16-9, writes Justin Marshall.

Colombia wiped away the stain of Luis Suarez in the best possible way, leaving this World Cup to reclaim its place as one of the great sporting tournaments of all time.

Poor, old Luis Suarez. The more you see the biting incident in this otherwise terrific World Cup, the more you fear for the guy's mental health.

It would be pretty harsh on Coiln Slade if he was dropped to the bench after the way he's played. But I'm not sure that's what they will do., writes Richard Loe.

Let's face it, when the All Blacks thunder to a rollicking test victory, our focus is on the dazzling back play, writes Wynne Gray.

The elite players involved in representative fixtures can't have their cake and eat it, too.

The test series with England has been a big success. For that we must acknowledge the contribution of the visitors as much as the All Blacks.

David Leggat: NZ face some hard thinking on batting

There is a lack of outright venom on the field, writes Chris Rattue. England have been strong yet failed to hammer home their advantages and been excruciatingly polite about it all.

The old guard are back and it feels right. Still feels right five years after Jerome Kaino, Richie McCaw and Kieran Read first played as a loose trio against Australia in Sydney.

The driving maul is one facet of play England have used extremely effectively in this June series.

Halfway through the season, it's apparent how unpredictable selecting a top eight at the beginning of the year really is.

The scenes leading up to this morning's match between Uruguay and Costa Rica were extraordinary, writes Michael Burgess.

Those who feel the errors were first-test blues found comfort in coach Steve Hansen's assessment that his staff had overloaded the group with too many ideas.

his wasn't the preliminary final anyone was picking. Neither the Magic nor the Firebirds were expected to feature in this weekend's sudden-death match, but for very different reasons.

Just when it looked like they were here to play some rugby they've revealed they are actually here to demystify auras and destroy myths, writes Scotty Stevenson.

All England's chariots are facing the right direction, none of the wheels have lost a cotter pin and the gladiators are reading from the same team opus.

Australia and New Zealand have both recently embraced "football" as a term in a bid for increased integration with the global game, writes Keith Parry.

Today I'm going to talk about the narrowness of England's defence off set-piece, particularly the scrum.

Another dud in Dunedin will have the alarm bells ringing, writes Chris Rattue. At this point in his long career it is hard to be overly confident that the great man will get up off the canvas.

The difficult choices come next week when the selectors will, depending on injuries in Dunedin, possibly have all 31 players available, writes Gregor Paul.