The gravel in your sporting ice cream.
I sat down one day and made a ‘cartoon’ about Clive Woodward and what a goose he is. Then I sent it to Bart, who put it on his site. I was stoked, so I did a couple more. You can see them here, here and here on thesilverfern.co.nz, or click on the pics for my Flickr site below – there’s a few photos from the rugby there, too.
Richie McCaw is a legend. This interview on the eve of the Lions series see him, as always, being blunt, frank and honest, and contains one ‘shit’ and one ‘piss’ – it’s great to see the All Black tradition of foul language hasn’t been stamped out just yet. It’s also fantastic to hear no talk of ‘visions’, ‘facilitation’ or ‘implementation’. This guy is a breath of fresh air, and so vital, not just to this series, but for New Zealand rugby overall. I was happy to see during the recent trial match the cameraman picked out a group of three non-playing All Blacks watching the game – Tana, Anton, and Richie, the current, a former and the future All Black captains standing around talking shit. Richie is a smart guy, and he’s learning from the guys that have been there before. I hope that if we are to lift the World Cup in 2007 and 2011 that it’s our #7 and captain that gets to lift it first.
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I bet you never knew you wanted to see a whole bunch of famous people playing Table Tennis (a bloody good game BTW). Now, your wish is fulfilled.
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I’ll make a disclosure here – I think Stephen Fleming is bloody fantastic. He came into the team as a young batsman with an elegant style of timing the ball to the boundary that reminded me of David Gower, one of the most gifted batsmen to have played the game. Flem has blossomed into arguably the best test and one day captain playing the game today. He’s given us moments of genius such as the way he sussed out Graeme Smith in the recent series here against South Africa, and of course the way he played the series that may be his finest hour, the tour to Australia in 2002. Recently he has fulfilled his promise with the bat, turning into the run machine we hoped he’d become. Flem’s only trophy is the ICC cup from that year, and I’d bet he would love to win some more before he leaves the international stage. An Australian Tri-series would be fantastic, or a test series win against the Ockers (let’s face it, it’s all about the Aussies). Fleming’s records today (most test runs for NZ and passing RJ Hadlee’s record of 86 test matches) consolidate his position as one of our best ever. Long may he continue.
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My (poor) effort at Photoshopping Tottenham’s ‘keeper Paul Robinson in the Guardian’s competition (ninth one down). As you were.
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Living in London during the 1999 treble season for Manchester United with a rabid red and a sky decoder, I watched most of the games shown on the way to the treble. The team was built on Fergusson’s youth FA Cup winning team of Giggs, Beckham, Scholes, and the Nevilles, along with the awesome spine of Schmicheal, Staam and Keane, who made the journeymen Johnson, Cole and Yorke’s jobs a lot easier. There were some classic moments and matches, such as the comeback in Turin, Giggs’ goal against Arsenal, and of course the Nou Camp. This article looks at why the wonder boys seem almost all washed up, and why they only won one European crown (which has always been Fergie’s greatest ambition). Still, even the most ardent member of the anti – united brigade (and it’s a big brigade) have to admit the ’99 team was a bit special.
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What a disappointment. The good feeling created after the carisbrook test (or just the first half) has disappeared, and the NZ public is back in a familiar position – on the backs of the coach. The of the backline formation that put Carlos Spencer, the best player in space in the world in the middle of a traffic jam has to be questioned, and the forward power that promised so much has limply disappeared.
We were out-smarted in Sydney and out-muscled in Johannesburg, and we’re calling from changes, but who is going to replace the men we have? There are one or two who may be past their used by date (it really does look like curtains for poor old Justin Marshall), but remember that we have McCaw and Robinson to return, to bolster the pack, and we still have largely the same backline that ran riot through last year’s Tri Nations. The league style backline might have to go, and a long term option at first five found, but remember that now is the time to be experimenting – not in France in three year’s time.
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Vive le revolution. The new regime of Santini, Arnesen and Jol promises much, but Tottenham fans are all too used to fresh starts and false dawns. There were promising signs when the first signings were defensive midfielders, something the team has cried out for too many years, but then the transfers largely dried up. Arnesen is renowned as a talent spotter and a couple of youngsters have been added, but presumably they won’t go into the first team for some time. The side looks alarmingly similar to the underachiving model of last year, so the pressure will be on Santini right from the start. Missing out on Davids was a blow, a couple of big names in midfield and defence would have had us breathing a little easier.
It seems we have to be patient again, and put our faith in three men new to the premiership. Their credentials are impressive, but it seems there are a number of factors that need to gel for improvement to come about. Spurs fans just want for the team to rise above the midtable position we’ve been occupying for a number of years, show some fight and just maybe to show the style and flair we miss so much.
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We can breathe a little easier with the Bledisloe already won, but Saturday night gives the All Blacks the chance to wrap up the Tri Nations, complete the clean sweep over Australia, answer the backline critics, and put on a show at Rugby’s greatest stage.
The team is unbeaten this year, having survived some enourmous pressure in conditions that have not suited the new backline formation, especially in the last two games. If we’re sick to death of talking about the flat formation, I’d guess the team is even more so. They will want to prove that thier tactics are the right ones, and now they have the dry track to show what they can do.
I think the Aussies will struggle to contain the black pack, bolstered by the return of Jonno Gibbes, who have done the hard work this year with style and considerable steel. Let’s hope the backs can match thier efforts, and create some memories of this massive fixture we’ll enjoy remembering for a change.
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NZ sport’s version of Shortland Street has gone from the penthouse to the frying pan on the thin ice in just a couple of years. Sacking Daniel Anderson has to be one of the worst moves of many the club has made.
It all seemed so rosy when the team was playing some absolutely sublime football on their way to the sharp end of the finals. But when it started to go wrong, former hero Mick Watson has been exposed as a man without a long term plan, clouding the issues in some of the thickest business-speak heard anywhere, let alone in Rugby League.
This weekend they face the Broncos, the team they have aspired to emulate. After the season they’ve had, a win won’t mean much at all.
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