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.

Is there anything weirder than the miserable story of the English football side? Why is the mother ship so useless at the world's biggest sport?

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.

Fifa can appear to be on the wrong track as we know from the Qatar World Cup hosting controversy, but long may it reign over football if that is what is necessary to produce the amazing contests we are seeing from Brazil.

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 All Blacks 2014-style are the nearest thing to a shambles when compared to the glories of last year, writes Chris Rattue.

England - rightly it must be said - argued that a weekend which begins on May 31 does not qualify as a weekend in June, writes Chris Rattue.

There's a "Tongan Thor" running around fellow schoolboys into the media's glare and a mad scramble for his signature, writes Chris Rattue.

Here's our vision for fixing cricket and how we see the game taking shape under an exciting set of innovative rules and practices, writes Chris Rattue.

The Blues go in for a slow but premature death, season after season, and it is happening again, writes Chris Rattue: Sir John Kirwan is shaping as a struggling coach, to be frank.

Another season, the same old problem for Australian rugby. They're soft, writes Chris Rattue.

Lydia Ko is too good to be true. She is so good that golf aficionados speak their mind in hushed tones, or behind closed doors, writes Chris Rattue.

The evidence is not overwhelming, but a strong hunch says the Warriors have enough already to reach a positive verdict on their "interim" coach, writes Chris Rattue.

First Benji Marshall - gone. Now Steven Luatua - dropped. Are none of the Blues' feelgood stories sacred? Next thing they'll be hauling their yellow Fiat Bambina off to the scrapyard, writes Chris Rattue.

Steve Hansen sounded like a tired old man whistling in the dark as he berated young rugby men for moving overseas, writes Chris Rattue.

John Kirwan's deep into his second season and still doesn't know who the first five-eighth should be, writes Chris Rattue. It's the cardinal sin of rugby coaching and selecting.

New Warriors coach Andrew McFadden won't be jumping for joy on his first start as head coach, even though his side stopped the rot, writes Chris Rattue.

Owen Glenn, it looks clear, is positioning himself for an exit, writes Chris Rattue. If it comes down to which co-owner becomes the remaining owner, I'd plump for Watson.

The Blues might as well cut their losses on the Benji Marshall experiment before his alleged rugby union education causes a calamity, writes Chris Rattue.

Rugby has a sleeping pill problem all right. It's called the Super 15. What a yawn, writes Chris Rattue. "Nothing has been the same since the All Black bosses, with the NZRU's support, yanked an entire test squad out of much of the Super competition."

New Zealand Herald sports columnist Chris Rattue watches a weekend of sport and decides it is time to change a few rules on the sporting landscape.

There is a fatal flaw in our home-based development system, writes Chris Rattue. The players aren't forged in a furnace, like the young Aussies are.

Hey Mr Mayor and anyone else in charge. This one is aimed at you, writes Chris Rattue.

Beauden Barrett versus Willie le Roux. What a treat.

NZ aren't the invincible beast they appeared in 2013, writes Chris Rattue. "The NZ teams have come roaring out the gate like a drunk exiting a nightclub at 3am."

Coaching inbreeding has turned the champs into comparative chumps, writes Chris Rattue. "That backline is about as exciting and instinctive as a North Korean political rally."

Chuck Benji Marshall in the deep end and give us all a break from the "no pressure" gobbledegook concerning the Blues' high-profile recruit, writes Chris Rattue.

That's more like it. It's traditional for the league season to start with a decent rumour and a month out from the NRL kickoff, we have a doozy.

Aussie cricket treats NZ the way NZ rugby treats the Pacific Islands, writes Chris Rattue. India, England and Australia have gone behind the rest of cricket's back to come up with a scheme to suit themselves.

Staggered. Jesse Ryder is too good, and New Zealand not good enough, for the gifted leftie to be left out of the test squad against India.