ITM CUP.

Round 5 just finished with Hawkes Bay finally getting a win against the hapless Manawatu turbos, whereas we should have at least 3 wins if not 4. For some reason this year HB just haven't fired and are in very quick danger of left behind. This week we have Otago, who are virtually in the same position, sucky. We have 7 points they have 2. For the last 3 seasons we've finished in the top 4, but i can't see it this yr.

There could a couple of reasons for this. Personal changes have seen a few keys players drift away for more coin, one of them being Matt Berquist who is a dead eye dick with the kicking and another reason could be that b/c HB has been so successful over the last couple of yrs, some of the top class players have received higher honours. Dagg and Gilford, both are great try scorers, but are on duty for the All Blacks and 7's every so often which can disrupt a team.

Also, HB hasn't seemed to come to grips with the new tackle law this yr? Strange b/c everyone else seems to have??? Oh and also, it helps if you hold onto the ball too!!!!

Soccer world Cup last comments.

I watched the final on Sunday b/w The Netherlands and Spain, with Spain leaving victorious. However, it took way, way , way too long for any result to come from the game. I'm glad that Spain won. Enough said. But overall, the World Cup is a long boring display of pansies, rolling around on the grd clutching their faces in agonying, whilst looking at the ref. for a penalty. Oh how painful it was to watch. Esp. when the replay shows that there was no touches at all, let alone a broken bone. And i'd have to say that the Dutch and the Italians were/are the worst at it. Its really is farcical the amount of 'hollywood' acting that goes on in a game. And also, there should be NO WAY that a mere player(s) should be able to crowd and try to intimidate a ref, let alone shout/hurl abuse and touch a ref. In rugby, that's a red card probably a fine and more than likely a suspension. Thats needs to change alone with a camera on the goal line, please!!!!

But i will have to say that some of the goals, when there was a goal, were brilliant to watch, theres just not enough of them.

The All whites..have been and gone.

The NZ All Whites have bowed out of the 2010 WC with the heads held high, after finishing their pool games unbeaten, on 3 points. apart from the winning team, NZ will probably leave one of the biggest marks on the Cup for playing way above our ranking (pre WC of 78) and for also holding the current World Champs to a 1-1 draw. And heading into our last pool match against Paraguay we had a real chance of making the last 16. But as the game wore on we could tell that , although we still had ever chance, we lacking some real world class firepower up front and we just couldn't get a ball inthe back on the net. On th other hand, our defense was suberb, lead by our captain Ryan Nelsen. Who had a fantastic Cup and was obviously very disappointed in the post match interview for TV3 Campbell Live. Hopefully he'll make another WC for us.

All together I think the cup for us was a huge success . Ok, we didn't get win but our results were pretty bloody good, esp. against Italy, who dived and rolled around the pitch untill the ref. gave them a dodgy penalty to draw equal......rrrrrrr

Will the game grow in NZ, which was probably one of the goals of NZ Soccer, well in actual fact more kiwi's play soccer than rugby, but we're a rugby nation. But you never know. I hope so, b/c i'd us to be there for the next cup.

Anyway, well done guys.

The All Whites are coming!!!!

Unbelieveable 'draw' for the all Whites in the 2010 Soccer World Cup. And the last ten minutes watching were pretty nerve racking i can tell ya and it doesnt matter how many shots on goal the Italian team had... does it!!!

The kiwis are coming - Soccer world Cup 2010

Its just a few days away now, before the soccer world will go mad in South Africa and around the globe, with banners, chants and beer, supporting their teams. The New Zealand All Whites qualified this yr, first time in a 20. As you can imagine, kiwi fans have been going mad ( see below) getting themselves into a frenzy. Now i;m not a soccer fan but i will watch some games and probably all of the kiwi games. Whose going to win? I have no idea, probably a super power like Germany, France or Italy maybe??? I hope there are some surprises though?

My All Blacks.

If i have to select an All Black team right now from the current available NZ players in the Super 14 comp, this would be the 15 running out onto the grd, based on current form (not on experience or last yrs AB's)

15 Fullback Isaia Toeava or Cory Jane
14 Wing Joe Rokocoko
13 Center Conrad Smith
12 2nd 5 Benson Stanley or Ma'a Nonu
11 Wing Rudi Wulf
10 1st 5 Dan Carter
9 1/2 back Alby Mathewson or Brendon Leonard
8 Keiran Read or Viliami Ma’afu
7 Richie McCaw
6 Jerome Kaino
5 Sam Whitelock or Jeremy Thrush or Chris Jack
4 Brad Thorn
3 Owen Franks
2 Keven Mealamu
1 Tony Woodcock

Now, you'd have to say that there are a number of players out with injury, which would change things somewhat, such as the following;

Tom Donnelly -lock
Anthony Boric -lock
Mils Muliaina -Fullback
Andrew Hore -hooker
Sitiveni Sivivatu -wing
Ali Williams -Lock

To name a few.... And of course they are subs. With a few above players to come back, i'd expect my team to change. Maybe I'll revise it closer to the test season?

S14

As we head into week 10 of the Super 14, the kiwi teams are struggling, except for the Canterbury Crusaders. My team the Hurricanes are having a shocking run of things and haven't won a game since week 3. Now I will say this that a draw 26-26, a 19-18 loss and a last minute loss to the Sharks 26-29 haven't helped the cause, but they are wins! at this point the Canes are pretty much gone from the semi final race and will now just become a hindrance to other teams looking to solidify their position at the top of the table. Out of the rest of the kiwi teams, the Crusaders are doing well in 2nd and maybe the Auckland Blues might have a late run in to 4th? as for the Chiefs, i think they are gone too, just like the Highlanders have been for about the last 3 weeks.

The next fews weeks will be interesting?

Week 3 of the Super 14.

So week 3 has gone in the Super 14 and low and behold the Hurricanes have won all 3?? There must be somehting wrong with the cosmos or something??? Theres normally some sort of hiccup, then a mad dash to the final 4, but to so far? And second on the table isn't too bad...but there's so good teams coming up at this weekend we have Cheetahs in SA with a few injury concerns, so it will be a good test for the bench???
Stay tuned.

S14

Feb. 12 2010.

Those in the know will understand.

Super 14

4 weeks.........