Great Britain's Not Great At All.

So the Olympics kicked off with a huge bang on Friday night.  It actually wasn’t too bad as far as Opening Ceremonies go.  I wasn’t bored out of my mind at all, which was a nice change.  Let’s hope London can keep it up and continue to put on a damn good show.  Shame about the ticketing balls up that has seen loads of empty seats at so-called ‘sold out’ events, but if they react quick enough hopefully they can solve this by giving tickets away to teachers, children, doctors, nurses and military folk etc.  Empty seats and a lack of atmosphere at each event looks shocking and must be disappointing for the athletes who have sacrificed their entire lives to get to the pinnacle of world sport.

The Chiefs and Crusaders were the first to play in the semi finals over the weekend of Super Rugby, you would have thought every player in each team had slept with their oppositions wives/girlfriends etc such was the anger and intensity of the match.  Forget that in two weeks time most of these lads will be sharing an All Blacks changing room with each other.  For that 80 minutes they hated the sight of their opposition jumper, and the man wearing it to boot.  The Crusaders were awful, yes the Chiefs deserve some credit for that, their defence was up quickly and their forwards made the Crusaders work for every bit of possession they could muster.  But a vintage Crusaders performance this was not.  Their game was littered with uncharacteristic errors that handed the ball over to the Chiefs at important times and more often than not with important territory also.  I got the feeling the Crusaders will feel they beat themselves in this game more than the Chiefs beat them.  They played horribly but were still in it right up until the final whistle and could have gone to extra time with a droppie in the dying seconds.  But alas it wasn’t to be and the Chiefs now find themselves with a home final.  A lift in their efficiency and performing their individual roles will be required to beat a classy looking Sharks side.  One thing they seem to have in spades is the aggression and intensity for a home Grand Final victory.

The Sharks v Stormers game was equally intense.  Both sides tore into each other again and even Bismarck went flying after being bumped off by the impressive Eben Etzebeth.  The Sharks are definitely playing the most complete rugby at the moment and beat the Stormers up.  When the time was right either went wide or that dirty little Frenchman Freddie would drop back to the pocket and attempt a droppie.  Fair enough, it’s playiff time after all.  With their loosies on fire at the moment, Freddie Michalak in the form of his career and JP Pietersen almost unstoppable, the Sharks look like a formidable challenge for the Chiefs.  Unfortunately for them I feel the travel will get the better of them.  Durban – Brisbane – Durban – Cape Town – Durban – Auckland – Hamilton is not what you would consider an ideal preparation for the biggest game of the season.  But hey, it’s why they get paid so much isn’t it? 

My pick is the Chiefs to win over a tiring and slow finishing Sharks who will not go down without a fight and land a few big punches in doing so.

I was going to talk about the Black Caps but they are too shit for words.  Pumped again, and no one to blame but themselves.  All batsmen got a start and then threw it away, the bowling was inconsistent and the fielding wasn’t even at it’s normal standard.  Back to the drawing board boys, you’re rubbish.

How come England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland compete in the Olympics as Great Britain?  Is this not a sporting event designed for countries from all over the world to compete in?  Since when was Great Britain a country?  I find it awfully funny how the Scots and Welsh claim they can’t stand the Poms, just like the rest of us, but when it comes to the Olympics they’re all buddy buddy and having a great time together.  Is this simply a way of England pretending they are more successful and better at sport than they really are?  By using two other countries talent and claiming it as their own?  Wales and Scotland should have a bit more respect for themselves and tell England to piss off.  Why if you were Scottish would you let the English claim Andy Murray as their own under the guise of being ‘British’?  Ok bad example if I was Scottish I let any country that wanted to claim Andy Murray do so, he’s a twat, but you get my point yeah?  I suspect all three of these countries are too afraid to fend for themselves in the Olympics as their individual results would be terrible for nations of their size and wealth.  I however have had enough and am calling for an end to this ridiculous notion of competing as Great Britain.  The Olympics are for countries to compete in, if you’re not a country you don’t compete, it’s as simple as that.  Split them up so the rest of the world can laugh and see how rubbish these countries are when they are called upon to fight for themselves and watch them fall well down the medal tally in doing so.

Rebecca Adlington has been copping it, even though she won a bronze.

You’ve gotta love Frankie Boyle.  He is a fantastic Scottish (see earlier paragraph on Great Britain) comedian, albeit a little crude at times.  You have to youtube him, or have a look on the video sidebar if you don’t know who he is, it will be worth it, I promise.  During the week he singled out one of the British swimmers (who last night happened to claim a bronze medal) as having an unfair advantage in her swimming races.  Now how is that possible I hear you ask, well I’ll let the quote speak for itself. "I worry that Rebecca Adlington will have an unfair advantage in the swimming by possessing a dolphin's face”.  Boyle has come under heavy criticism for the comment he made on Twitter, soon after he posted a reaction to comments suggesting he should apologise.  That went as follows: "I have an apology for the people of Britain. Sadly, it’s written on the end of my c**k in a braille you can only read with your tonsils''.  How’s that Britain thing working out for you guys again? 

Anyway I have been loving the Olympics, with the coverage on tv and 12 channels available online for free, I am wall to walling the Olympics.  Fingers crossed the Kiwis and Saffas can win a few more medals in the near future to make it a bit more exciting.

Over and out team, and remember;

Keep you eye on the ball, be it a handball, football, hockey ball, you get he picture.

Dollar Mixture.

What a week!

We’ve had guys peddling around some hills in France wearing clothing that should never be allowed out in public, the last few pre Olympic warm up games in just about every sport as people apply their finishing touches, F1 in Germany.  The Open, the New Zealand Cricket team continue to get thumped in the West Indies, while the Saffas continue to rodger the Poms, and we’ve just had the first round of playoffs in Super Rugby.  And that’s just the stuff that I care about.  Oh and plus the Magic wont the trans-tasman Netball comp, well done ladies.

It's what came up when I googled Olympic village parties,.  Honest!

The athletes are pouring into their private village now in London.  No cameras or reporters are allowed in and it seems to be a pretty special place.  The athletes have been comparing it to Sydney, which is widely recognised as the best all round Olympics thus far.  That is apart from the beds are too short for the sprinters, 4 bedroom apartments seem to generally only have one toilet and the food is pretty average, that’s despite there being about 1500 different dishes available.   And I’m sure that most beds are a bit small when you’re pushing 6ft 6inches tall, but life could be worse.  But I get the toilet thing, that must be a bit of a killer.  15000 odd athletes and 200000 odd condoms, sounds like it will be a pretty good two weeks for all involved.  You can understand these guys and girls letting their hair down after their events.  Chances are they have dedicated their entire life up until this point for the chance to compete in one event, and in some cases it doesn’t even last 10 seconds!  They deserve every bit of partying they can manage; I don’t think anyone can hold that against them.

I have to talk about the rugby in the weekend.  The first playoff games of Super Rugby got underway and they were two intriguing games.  The Bulls Crusaders game had promised so much but never really got going.  Firstly the Crusdaers didn’t really allow the Bulls into the game and secondly the Bulls never turned up.  They didn’t exhibit any of the traits that have made them such a formidable force over the last 4 or 5 years.  They were limp, lifeless and inaccurate in basically everything they did!  Their senior players Morne Steyn and Pierre Spies etc who have always led from the front were nowhere to be seen.    The Crusaders to their credit though refused to sink down to the Bulls level and played with a great deal of composure.  Their muted reaction to their victory surely points to the fact that these lads know what is in front of them and they must now be considered the favourite for the title.  Especially given the fact that the three other teams that are in the semi’s have never gone on and won the trophy before.

The Sharks Reds game was eerily similar in a lot of ways.  It was the Reds though, with the home advantage also, who didn’t turn up to play.  The Sharks completely outplayed and dominated the Reds, particularly in the first half.  The Reds were blown away in every facet of play.  Everything the Sharks threw stuck, every tackle forced the Reds backwards, the scrum buckled them back over their heels and the lineout was towering.  Such was their dominance they must be backing themselves to head back to the Republic, put their feet up for the week and crush the Stormers in Cape Town who don’t possess the all round game that the Sharks can produce.  The problem for the Sharks (aside from the travel) has been the ability to maintain these types of performances week in and week out.  They have definitely improved that in the second half of this season but the question remains whether or not they will be able to deliver when it really counts, at playoff time.

Serious questions have to be asked of Ewen McKenzie, who is normally so tactically sound and probably the best coach in Australia.  Why on earth he shifted Will Genia out to 1^st 5 when Ben Lucas became injured instead of playing Mike Harris (a flyhalf).  In playoff rugby you need your best players playing in their best positions, especially when he happens to be the best in the world in that position.  Genia’s control and influence on the game was severely reduced once he had been shifted out one place and the back up halfback was so slow in his decision-making and delivery it was atrocious.   McKenzie must surely be ruing his decision as the Reds were never really in the contest once this change was made and they only dug themselves deeper and deeper as the game progressed.

So we are guaranteed a SA vs NZ final.  Which is fitting if we are honest.  The Aussie Conference has been a joke all season, and whilst their administrators and anybody connected with the game can’t publicly say so, deep down they must have concerns about the success and state of the game in Australia.  Realistically NZ and South Africa deserved to have three teams in the finals each and not one team from Australia should have made it.  But hey, they only lasted 80 minutes anyway I guess.  Sharks vs Crusaders for the final and Crusaders to win it overall?

The F1 in Germany today, and how good is it to see Ferrari at the top of the charts and old mate Schumacher there or thereabouts again as well, even if it is in a Mercedes.  In his third season back at the top he has yet to record a win, but this season he looks as though he is getting back into his groove.  It would be a big call to rule out the 41 year old getting back on top of the podium this season, especially given the roating door policy of race winners this year.  My fingers are definitely crossed.  As for this afternoon Alonso held off spirited challenges from both Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel but in the end he and his prancing horse proved to good for the rest of the field.  Button was controversially overtaken by Vettel in the closing laps, with Vettel having his car completely off the track as he passed Button.  Post race; and Button was clearly upset and an appeal had been lodged with the FIA.  The rules clearly state that you cannot pass a car with all four wheels off the track so hopefully Vettel is punished harshly.  Drivers using more of the tarmac than they are supposed to have become a blight on the sport and measures need to be taken to discourage such antics.  Perhaps a return to corner markers that do damage to the cars when struck are called for.  Let the pace continue to be set by Alonso and his Ferrari team, please can it continue.

It’s been a cracker weekend for the Saffas given their complete dominance over England in the cricket and it has been topped off just moments ago by ‘The Big Easy’ closing out The Open, the British Golf major for those of you who weren’t sure.  Ernie Els held his nerve with a birdie on the 18^th while the Aussie Adam Scott capitulated with four consecutive bogeys in his final round.  Well done Sir, it’s been a long time since Ernie was in the winners circle and it’ s nice to see one of the elder statesmen get another shot in the limelight at the oldest event in Golf.

That’s all from me team, keep your eye on the ball. 

Congratulations, Consternation and Commiseration's.

It’s been an interesting week in sport that has just passed.  There are/were to be congratulations, commiserations and consternation at what has happened.

Dave Taylor (background) flicking the bird to the NSW players.

Firstly to the congratulations.  What a series this years State of Origin was. All three matches were as tight as ever and all three seemed to have an added sense of physicality compared to passed years as well.  Perhaps due to the New South Welshman actually believing they had a shot this year.  Again the Queenslanders got it done when it counted and won with a dropped goal with only a few minutes left in the final match, thanks to Cooper Cronk.  Nate Myles was a questionable Man of the Series, an award that probably should have gone to Jonathan Thurston, but there’s some of that consternation creeping in.  Pleasing to see also, was the passion that the players in the extended squad had for the game as well.  Big Dave Taylor was caught on camera flicking the bird to the Cockroaches after the final hooter.  He has since been sanctioned for doing so, even though he was in the crowd.  It seems a bit sad that a player can be sited and punished for doing something that perhaps more than half the crowd had done at some stage during the game.  How is the crowd to be punished for their behavior?  It’s all a bit harmless isn’t it?  Was anyone really offended by it?

A massive congrats has to go out to The Fed Express.  He was back and playing at his most glorious best.  What a site he was in the midst of breaking down that filthy ginger, whinging, Scots Man.  How desperate are England for a hero?  He's the great British hope when he's winning, then, as soon as he loses he's back to being a Scot.  FYI he’s not from your country and weather you like it or not the term Great Britain is so outdated it’s not funny.  He is the epitome of a sore loser, shows little to no modesty in victory and is like a spoiled child when he loses. Grow up you wanker!  Sorry about the rant.  I did find it a bit funny how the roof wasn’t closed before the match started.  This is the biggest game of the year on grass in the world, the whether looks unsurprisingly average in London, but hold on, “No no no, let’s leave the roof open, it might help the sour kid that we are all cheering on”.  How’d that work out for you noble Wimbledon folk? But congratulations Roger, my fingers are crossed you can win an unbelievable 20 Majors before your time is up.

I must have another whinge about the Aussies here while I’m on the job as well.  Kurtley Beale has been officially charged with assault and is still allowed to continue to be available to play.  How many times must the ‘3 Musketeers’ of he, Quade Cooper and James O’Connor set a bad example for every other professional sportsman and child before they are taken aside and given a damn good slapping.  As mentioned earlier, Dave Taylor got sanctioned for pulling the fingers from the crowd, Kurtley Beale is in trouble with the law for not the first time and nothing happens.  You’re a disgrace ARU and the sooner you grow some balls the better.  I know you’ve got bigger concerns than your current players behavior, but maybe if you sort your players out know, kids growing up might actually strive to be in the Wallabies, rather than have their parents looking at them with disgust and convincing their children to play one of the many other sports that Rugby competes with in a crowded sporting market.  The only people who are going to lose out are yourselves as everybody switches allegiance to another code once and for all.

How bad does this year get for the Blues?  Even with a convincing 32-9 win over the Force, who were robbed of their two best players in Nathan Sharpe and David Pocock just before kick off, every player and the coaches must be praying for the final whistle of the year next weekend.  They are so desperate they even bought back Orene Ai’i for the last couple of games.  Ai’i, I’m unreliably told is turning 63 next month and is still going to be turning out for the Blues.  New Zealand’s largest player base in Auckland must be cringing at the fact that they can’t find anybody better to draft into the Blues for a couple of games.   Is there seriously that little talent available? At least they are playing hardball with Rudi Wulf, who wants to break a contract for a third time in almost as many years.  Grow up Mr Wulf, you have made a commitment to two years in NZ, you have only served one of those.  At 28 there is still plenty of time for you to head away to France again and cash in after next season.  The Blues and Auckland Rugby in general need a total revamp of the Office and Boardroom staff and to review all structures involved from grassroots rugby for 5 year olds through to Super Rugby.  The question is; Will the Aussie Rugby Union or Auckland Rugby Union be first to realize they have massive problems than run right through every orifice of their organisations.

Sonny Bill you coward.  Why are you so scared of making a real commitment to one sport and building your legacy to ensure that you will go down as a legend?  Instead you have turned yourself into a mercenary of the truest sense.  Leave NZ Rugby, take a brief contract in Japan for one season, throw in a couple of Boxing Bouts and then back to Rugby League, all in the space of 6 months!  Presumably only for a couple of years though, perhaps include playing in the League World Cup for the Kiwis and then try and comeback for the All Blacks 2015 defence in England.  Part of me thinks, fair enough he does only have a limited time in top-level sport and I’m not sure I wouldn’t chase the money as he does.  But the other half can’t help but think about what talent is being wasted by a player manager who is driving one year contracts, leaving a trail of destruction most places they go all the while building the bank balance as much as possible.  Sonny Bill you are dangerously close to out-marketing yourself.  You could be a super star in any sport, but you have to stay in one for long enough to do so.  The more you chop and change the more you risk that never happening, as people will begin to resent you for doing so. 

Finally, congratulations to Jimmy Cowan on playing your last game for the Highlanders.  You endured many tough years in the deep south but always stuck it out and dug in.  The last couple of seasons have been more befitting of a player who has given so much and has always possessed a never say die attitude.  Enjoy your time playing overseas, you have deserved it after completing 10 seasons back home.

That’s all this week team.

As always; Keep your eye on the ball.

Spain, Pain and Usain.

Spain, you dirty little b%^((£ds!  Italy was supposed to win that competition.  Euro 2012 came to a close last night with Spain absolutely smashing Italy 4-0 in a game where at times it looked like Spain had twice as many players on the pitch as Italy did.  Italy were chasing shadows while Spain poured through with numbers in both attack and defence.  It was embarrassing, and you got the feeling that Italy had played their final 3 days earlier in a brilliant performance against Germany.  Mario Balotelli was nowhere, and clearly not in the mood to hang around.  After the match he pushed and shoved his way past officials to pack a paddy by himself in the changing rooms, it did look more than a little Tigeresque, the way he threw his toys.  But hats off to Spain, they thoroughly deserved the win and maintained their stranglehold on world football which they have had over the last 4 or so years.  They were so good last night I think they would have even beaten Brazil 4-0 and that’s saying something.  Perhaps it was a good example for the rest of the world.  See how good your national team can be when all of your best players are playing alongside each other week in and week out instead of having your club sides filled with foreign players.

I know it’s a bit random to begin with football, but hey, I’m stuck in Turkey and watching anything else is tough!

Old mate Rog, hopefully cruising to another title at Wimbledon.

Apparently Wimbledon is on again and is starting to warm up.  Does anyone really watch the early rounds of Grand Slams?  Although I must admit I did take a large amount of pleasure in seeing Rafa Nadal being kicked out nice and early in the 3^rd Round.  Let’s hope Roger can get up and finally win another major or two.  I would love to see him take this one out, although it is not going to be easy having to get passed both Murray and Djockovic in order to get to the top.  Fingers crossed.  I was reading the other night about Marin Cillic played out the 2^nd longest game ever two nights ago and managed to crawl over the line after a 5 and a half hour marathon game of tennis.  Unbelievably the longest ever match at Wimbledon was in 2010 and went for an incredible 11 hours and 5 mins.  Bugger that.

Good to see the NZ Cricket team has picked up where it left off by getting pumped by the West Indies.  The ‘Windies’ are ranked 5 places below the Kiwi’s in T20, and let’s be honest 5 places is a lot in Cricket.  That pretty much leaves powerhouse cricket nations such as The Netherlands, Bermuda and Canada below them, yet they cruised passed the BlackCaps with a 50 run win!  There’s hardly even enough time in 20/20 to win by 50.  It looks like it might be a long tour of the Caribbean for the Kiwi’s with their Captain and arguably best player Ross Taylor likely to be heading home after injuring his shoulder in the field in the first match.  Not an ideal beginning when you are coming off three months holiday boys.

Super Rugby kicked back into gear this weekend and there were some games that were as close to Test Match intensity as you will ever see.  The Chiefs and Highlanders game, the Crusaders – Hurricanes and the Bulls and Cheetahs played out a cracker as well.  The Chiefs, Stormers and Brumbies look to have the top 3 spots all sewn up, but with only two more rounds of round robin left it will be interesting to see who can manage to pull it together and claim the last 3 wild card spots which are basically all still up for grabs.  There are 5 maybe 6 teams at a push looking to claim those last three places.  If the Sharks can get up over the Bulls things will become even more cramped, although I don’t see this happening as the Bulls have been putting better performances in as the season has progressed and the Sharks have run so hot and cold all year they could be taking too much advice from their resident Frenchman in Freddie Michalak. 

The hard luck story of the week has to go to Andre Pistorious who has missed out on qualifying for the Olympics by the slimmest of margins.  ‘The Blade Runner’ as he is known was .22 of a second away from qualifying for the 400m at the able bodied Olympics.  Not a bad effort for someone who is missing both his legs from above the knee.  Usain Bolt just lost to the man who claimed his World Champion title last year as well.  Bolt was disqualified from the 100m at the World Champs for too many false starts on that occasion.  However this time round he didn’t blow the start but the race.  Yohan Blake beat Usain again in the 200m at the Jamaica Nationals.  So fast was the 100m that even third placed Asafa Powell qualified for the Olympics as well.  It definitely makes for an interesting 100m final, could it be a Jamaica 1,2,3?  I wouldn’t be betting against it, that’s for sure.

P.S. C’mon Queensland!

Keep your eye on the ball team.

Well Done Bokke.

The Baby Boks en route to winning the Junior World Cup 2012.

Well done to the ‘Baby Boks’ team that took out the Under 20 World Cup over the weekend.  They deservedly won the game and outplayed New Zealand for large periods of play.  Perhaps next year the New Zealand Rugby Union won’t be so arrogant.  After having been undefeated in the tournaments history up until edition 2012 a very inexperienced team was sent over to South Africa and lost two games, one to Wales in pool play, which they avenged in the semi finals and then to the host nation in the final.  It will be an interesting twelve months to see the development of the next generation of players come through from all these young sides and to see how they shape up come this time next year.

Whilst the Junior World Cup was taking place in Cape Town there were a few other things going on over the weekend.  Internationals in South Africa, Australia, Samoa, New Zealand and Argentina, not to mention a little tournament called Euro 2012 which gloriously saw Italy send the Poms packing last night.

Having a quick look over the rugby there were definitely a few surprises over the weekend.  Not many people would have picked the Argentina – France score line or that of the Boks and Poms or the Irish registering a duck against an imposing looking All Blacks side.

The Wallabies, as they have all series, struggled their way past a valiant Welsh side who will be fuming they didn’t manage to get a single win on their three week tour.  I predicted they would win the series with a two – one ledger, shows how much I know.  The Boks battled to a 14 all draw with England.  One got the feeling that they had let their foot off the throat somewhat after a couple of very good wins against an opponent who can make life more difficult than most others.  I went with a 2–1 to the Boks and almost got my way if it wasn’t for some wayward kicking and a few poor options.  The Scots pipped the Samoans in what was another tight affair, taking it out 17-16.  The Pacific Islanders have definitely not disgraced themselves and have must have proved that they are worthy of more meaningful test matches against the major Tier One nations.

The All Blacks were almost untouchable in what has been described as one of the most complete performances ever.  This might be stretching it a bit too far as the Irish looked like they had pitched up to the match with a sizeable hangover from an amazing effort the weekend earlier and a week spent in Queenstown, just ask Mike Tindall and the English squad what a week in Queenstown does.  Perhaps New Zealand should ensure all teams stay there before every Test Match from now on.  60–0 was something that no one saw coming, least of all the Irish, it appeared that they had all but given up hope after being down 26-nil after 25 minutes with Aaron Cruden putting in a virtuoso performance until he had to leave the field with an Achilles problem.  After beating the French up last weekend the Puma’s couldn’t back it up unfortunately and went down by 49-10.  Whilst their performance in the first test was a positive step for the upcoming Four Nations, one hopes that this spanking hasn’t ruined their headspace too badly.  It certainly looks like they will be in for a pretty tough time of things come the middle of August.

So it’s back to Super Rugby they, and we, all go to count the injury toll and see what happens over an intriguing final three weeks before the playoffs begin.  Some teams will be hoping that the injuries to come out of the new International window don’t cost them as badly as it looks like it could.  Only time will tell.

Oh and by the way, it's interesting to see John Mitchell has been suspended by the Lions after complaints being laid against him by a large group of players.  It's intriguing it's taken this long for something to blowup around 'Mitch' again.  After all this is one of the major reasons he got kicked out of the NZ Rugby system, he can't relate to all of his players.  As good as his Rugby brain is, if you can't bring the people around you onboard then you're in trouble and unfortunately for Mitchell it's happened again.  Let's see if 'King Carlos' can do any better with the embattled Lions.

I have to give a mention to Euro 2012.  Being in Turkey currently Football is much easier to find than Rugby so I have kept a lazy eye on things.  I actually enjoyed the game last night between England and Italy, not just as Italy won but also because there was actually a lot of drama.  Italy owned every aspect of the game but were still held to 0-0 after a 120 minutes.  It amazed me how one team can have 25 odd shots at goal and the other about 5 and they are still tied at the end of it.  Surely this is a flaw in the game of Football.  Yes it’s great to be able to say that you can never tell who is going to win, it’s exciting blah blah blah, but surely if one team is that dominant they deserve it.  Thankfully the Penalty Gods smiled on Italy and crushed the English, AGAIN!

A quick congrats must go out to all those that are finally being confirmed to represent their country in the Olympics coming up in a months time.  Well done and I can’t wait for the games to begin, I’ll be watching those of you I know with pride, and if you know any yourselves make sure they and everyone else know that you’re behind them!

Keep your eye on the ball team.

Later.

Aussie Aussie Aussie......

Aussie are managing to further disgrace themselves and prove that they are a bigger bunch of w^&*(rs than we already thought.  Kurtley Beale, after having been charged with assault during a night out with known knob head Quade Cooper, the Wallabies have come out and said that he will be available for selection still until such time as the official Police and court process has been completed.  Only after then will the Wallabies investigate the issue and go through their own judicial process.  What a crock!

He’s a dick.  He’s got history of behaving like one, not only with the Wallabies but within the Melbourne Rebels setup as well.  He, Danny Cipriani and James O’Connor have gotten themselves into hot water on a number of occasions, not to mention with Quade Cooper again last year when he was recovering from an injury and wasn’t supposed to be drinking, only to end up in a car accident where alcohol was a factor.

Kurtley's a W!@£$r!

So what is the ARU to do then?  They have two options.  One, err on the side of caution and suspend Beale until the completion of both the official police investigation is over and they have completed their own investigation.  Upon both of these being completed the ARU could then make a decision based on the evidence that both investigations turned up.  Secondly they could take the relaxed approach, allow Beale to play on with a cloud over his head and have the potential to look like a laughing stock if further details and charges come to light post the investigations. 

Looking at the options there is really only one sensible way to go; suspend him until he is cleared.  If his is not and is charged then further sanctions must then be placed upon him, for example banning him for a season for bringing the game into disrepute for example. 

But NO.  What message does the ARU send to all youngsters playing the game and their parents?  Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter how badly you behave in your spare time, you will be able to lead your charmed life living the dream that every young schoolboy playing Rugby can only imagine.  Why has the ARU become such a toothless organisation?  Why has it allowed such a culture to grow out of control and become acceptable?

Last year James O’Connor over slept after a night out on the piss and missed the Wallabies World Cup team announcement thanks to a hangover, he was subsequently banned for one match.  Again is this sending the right message to the next generation?

As I said last week, Australia need to re-evaluate their organisation right from the bottom level to the top.  John O’Neill seems to have lost the skills that made him the most in demand office boy in world rugby, and has instead become solely focussed on ensuring the bottom line is as rosey as possible.  A loss to Scotland was a terrible start to the season, but they do seem to have regained some lost ground by winning two tests against Wales, albeit very close matches and with another kiwi kicking the match winning points after the buzzer in Melbourne, but hey, that’s another story.

When it comes down to it, Australia need to grow some balls, start putting some stern structures in place and making players and administrators accountable for their behaviour, no matter if it’s in their own time or the rugby unions.  After all they are all supposed to be doing what is in the best interest of Australian Rugby (and therefore world rugby) in the long term, not forget these principles in aid of giving themselves a short term pat on the back.  Don’t simply let a player get back on the field just because your under fire coach needs him to help save his job by helping win a few games.  It’s a joke and sooner or later Australia are going to be the only ones NOT laughing.

Keep enjoying the June Internationals team and always; Keep your eye on the ball.

Georgie Boy's Off His Head.

 Last week I read a story about how the Wallabies have all but closed the gap between themselves and the All Backs.  The main piece of evidence that George Gregan was using to back up his theory was the fact that the Wallabies won their first Tri-nations for 11 years and in doing so beat the All Blacks in Brisbane last year.  They also reached the semi finals of the World Cup, although Georgie neglects to mention the fact that in that game the Wallabies were comprehensively beaten in every facet of the game, including on the scoreboard where the result was 20-6 and not to the men in gold.  He also spoke of how the struggling Australian Conference in this years Super Rugby competition was of little concern to the Wallaby camp and should be seen as positive.

The man everyone loved to hate.  I think this photo explains why.

What’s George been smoking?  The Wallabies are no closer than they ever have been.  Winning the Tri-Nations again (finally) didn’t amount to anything.  With an 11 year hiatus of having done so you could quite rightly claim that they were well overdue in doing so.  And as for the fact that the Australian Conference is a sadder state of affairs than Jesse Ryder’s personal life, simply cannot and should not be seen as a positive.  How can having one competitive team in the form of the Brumbies and having the semi resurgent Reds be a good thing for Australian Rugby?  The Force have always been crap and unsurprisingly they are again, the Rebels are full of journeymen at best with a few superstars thrown in the mix to falsely give people hope and the Waratahs have again let down the only real stronghold of Australian Rugby, Sydney!  Sorry George, where are those positives again?

None of the Australian stars are in any real kind of form that would have anyone shaking in their boots, in fact if I was part of the Scotland setup preparing to play Australia tomorrow night Aussie time I’d be looking at this match with real anticipation of being able to knock them over for a second time in a row.  The state of affairs is so bad in some cases,  that Nathan Sharpe who is retiring at years end is now the most prominent lock and can quite rightly claim to being the most in form Aussie of the lot.

But I’m sure Aussie has plenty of depth I can hear you saying.  WRONG!  They’re a disgrace.  Five New Zealander’s along with another handful of Pacific Island players help make up their latest squad for their June International window.  Where is the development of local players?  Serious questions need to be asked about the pathway to the Wallabies for promising young talent, because clearly, at the moment, they are not getting anywhere near the top level.  Perhaps after the highs of winning the World Cup twice in the 90’s and being one of the most dominant sides in the first years of the 2000’s no one bothered to ask any questions as things seemed to be trucking along swimmingly in the early years of professionalism.  Sadly now for Australia, the burying of one’s head in the sand technique has worked out exactly like it has for anyone else in history who has attempted such a manoeuvre.  Pull it together John O’Neill, you are supposed to be a messiah at getting things done, one can’t help but think you have left it far too late!

Having a quick glance at the June Internationals for the major Southern Hemisphere sides, things look like they will go as follows:

Australia to lose to Wales 2-1, after they have narrowly avoided losing to a valiant effort from a courageous if uncreative Scotland.  South Africa will beat England 2-1 in their series in the Republic.  England will push the Saffa’s for most of the way in all games but one can see a blowout for the English in one game before claiming the last Test as the Springboks ring in the changes with some experimentation for the last and dead rubber Test.  The All Blacks should cruise to a 3- nil victory over the Irish.  The Irish will be brave in defeat and even go close in a couple of games after the All Blacks have thumped them once and start to introduce some of the new boys.  Argentina will welcome France for two tests for their warm up for the newly formed Four Nations or stupidly named Rugby Championship.  It’s a tricky one to call this, as it is whenever France play, but the fact Argentina are at home means they will grow an extra leg.  I’ll sit on the fence and call it one all.

That’s it for this edition written in the air above Europe, wish me luck in trying to find a pub in Turkey to watch the Tests this weekend.

Keep your eye on the ball team.

Who's the Biggest Clown in the Circus?

It was a fairly predictable round so far as results go this weekend in Super Rugby.  There were no real upsets at all.  Aside from the fact that the Rebels pushed the Bulls a hell of a lot further than most expected, as did the Lions to the Chiefs and the Reds for the Crusaders.  But in the end the class of the aforementioned teams prevailed and we now have a more cemented looking locked in top 8 now.  A few questions to be answered over the next few weeks are, will the Highlanders be able to hang on to a playoff berth, even with their horrific injury toll, especially in the loosies?  Can the Hurricanes, against everybody’s predictions at the start of the season, string together a few more wins and challenge for a playoff berth, or will it be the Sharks who can shake off their inconsistency and attempt to shoot for the playoffs for another year?

There were a few side stories going on during the last week of Super Rugby.  The first, and most important for New Zealanders and anybody else that hopes to see England continue to underperform over the next few years, is that Wayne Smith turned down what was going to be a very lucrative offer to help coach England.  The RFU were so keen for Smith to be involved that they were willing to allow their newly appointed Head Coach to step aside somewhat and let Wayne Smith run the show more or less how he wanted.  This would definitely have appealed to Smith as he has said on many occasions that that is the type of role he relishes the most, ‘the tracksuit’ coach as he puts it.  But thank God it hasn’t happened and the pull of being closer to his elderly parents and the fact that the Chiefs are thriving under Dave Rennie and his environment has been enough keep him out of England’s grasp.  The last thing anybody wants is for England to have a quality Coach so they can become a threat in world rugby.  Let’s be honest, the more England lose, in anything really, the better and more satisfying it is for everyone else on earth.

Will Genia thinking back to those quiet special nights alone with Quade Cooper.

The Circus of the Week Award must go to Will Genia.  Announcing on Thursday that he is leaving his beloved Queensland to head to Perth for a lazy $600k a year, then confirming it with his coach Ewen McKenzie after the Reds beat the Blues on Friday night.  Then sometime on Saturday he realises that he loves the team song, the boys and environment in the Reds too much to leave and backs out of his deal with the Force.  One word, Gay.  What the hell was all that about?  The real question is, which one of the boys did he share some special alone time with in the hotel on Friday night after the game who changed his mind?  If he had in fact committed to the deal with the Force he should have had the balls to stick by it, it’s not as if he was doing it for any other reason than money.  Maybe one of the Reds’ boys has struck a deal with him to deliver other ‘favours’ to make up for the $200k a year he is missing out on.  Unfortunately, it only looks like getting worse for the Force as well.  Not only have the Reds stolen their Head Coach for next year but they have kept Genia and now the negotiations with David Pocock seem to stalling somewhat as the Force are struggling to attract any other marquee players no matter how much cash they are willing to throw their way.  The Force aren’t competitive enough as it is at the moment, let alone potentially losing their one star player for next year and not having a coaching staff locked in yet.  Looks like another long and disappointing year for the lads out West next year, again.

Stepping aside from Rugby for a bit.  The news during the week that John Wright has stepped down as New Zealand Cricket Coach is yet another massive setback for NZC.  Yet another massive blunder from the management and backroom staff of an organisation who continue to shame themselves and everybody else involved in Cricket from players to supporters.  It seems like there is no limit to the boards’ incompetence and that no matter how bad their decisions are, there are no repercussions.  Instead of doing anything to resign the best coach NZC has had since Steve Rixon they allow two Aussies who are over-rated at best to keep their positions because they have huge four year contracts that are too expensive to payout.  The Coach on the other hand only had a two-year deal initially and was not consulted about the Aussie pratt that was bought in over his head.  Needless to say they didn’t get on and now NZC is stuck with a clown that nobody seems to have any respect for being in charge of overseeing the Cricket Operations.  Try finding a decent coach who is willing to be told what to do by him.  Good Luck NZC, you’ll need it.

Getting back to the Rugby, the June Internationals are almost upon us.  The invasion from the North will be an interesting one for all of the Sanzar countries.  England, after their second place in the recently completed 6 Nations will pose quite a threat to the Springboks, especially with some mixed form from their senior players and a new coach who is yet to name is his captain.  The Aussies too will be under a huge amount of pressure.   Their Super Rugby season is in pieces and they have the 6 Nations Champions in the Welsh coming to beat the Wallabies in their own backyard.  They will be backing themselves heavily as well, given the Scots are coming for a one off Test just four days before the First Test.  The All Blacks have probably the easiest challenge out of the three with the Irish coming to play, and they are coming off a poor 6 Nations where they lacked any consistency and sustained potency in attack.  In saying this however the Heineken Cup Final will be contested by two Irish Club Sides, so there is clearly some depth in the Emerald Isles.  It will be interesting to see how the All Blacks manage to go with the tag of World Champions to weigh on their shoulders and minds for the first time in 24 odd years.  Traditionally no team has played well having just won the World Cup, the question is, Are the All Blacks able to continue their impressive form over the last 2-3 years or will they suffer the same fate as most before them?

That’s a wrap for this week team and to mix it up for a change;

Keep your eye on the ball.

Tell em He's Dreamin.......

A bit of a different idea this week team. 

We’re going to focus on the bumbling fools that are known as SARU, or for those of you out there that don’t know what that stands for, the South African Rugby Union.

Now a few months back, around the same time that this years Super Rugby tournament was due to kick off SARU announced that the Southern Kings would be playing in next years competition, no ifs or buts. 

What's going on at SARU?  Does anybody know?

But (that didn’t take long did it), problem is they forgot to ask if any one of the existing five franchises doesn’t mind just shuffling off in to no mans land never to be seen or heard from again.  That was their first problem, and to be fair I’m not quite sure what old mate Oregan Hoskins and Jurie Roux were thinking making the statement without thinking about it’s consequences.  Secondly they forgot to mention to SANZAR the conglomerate of NZ, SA and Aus that runs the Super Rugby competition, that they want an extra team, oopps.

What lead them to come out with the statement and as a result stick by it, even though they must realise that maybe they overcommitted slightly?  I’m only speaking from an outsiders perspective so obviously I know very little about the powers that be that must be placing pressure on SARU to give Black and Coloured rugby a leg up, but I think most of us with half a brain can put two and two together and see what is happening here.

The Southern Kings will be based out of Port Elizabeth, a hotbed of black and coloured rugby where the All Blacks get as much if not more respect from the locals compared to the Springboks, not only due to their rugby ability but because of the way New Zealand has for the most part never excluded players because of colour.

How happy would you be if you were operating one of the existing franchises and now you will potentially be axed from the competition and as a result a job by the conclusion of this years tournament, and with the speed of bureaucracy you might not even find out until you have done half of you planning for the next season.  What are the sponsors going to do who have invested millions into these franchises who now might not be playing next year?  Who is going to subsidise them, the players, the coaches the managers, the grounds?  The list is endless.  That’s a lot of compensation for a union to pay that I was reading the other day is trying to hold back on paying out Springbok subsidies to the franchises in an attempt to save some cash.

So SARU sent a ‘team’ of smooth talkers around Australia and NZ to convince them to support their hair-brain idea that the competition should be expanded to 16 teams and go back to the old format of playing each other team once, instead of the current conference format which is only into it’s second season and is locked into a broadcasting deal until 2015 anyway.  Good idea lads, how’d that work out for ya?  Funnily enough both Australia and NZ told them to go and shove it and sort out their own problems rather than try to drag everyone else down with them by breaking a few more contracts and paying a bit more compensation that no one can afford given the state of the world economy.  Big sponsorship deals are hardly easy to come by at the moment, especially if you are seen to be screwing around with your current deal.  No thanks.

So what do they do?  Do they go back to the Government and say “sorry boys we tried but no one else wants to get involved in our problems, we tried, honestly”.  Or do they kick out an existing franchise and effectively kill off one of the traditional strongholds of South African Rugby? 

I don’t know want the answer is and I’m sure as hell glad I’m not the one making the decision.  One thing I do know though is, if I was involved with the Cheetahs in any way, shape or form I would be sweating on whatever decision is made, as the ramifications could be huge.

On that note, I had better say quickly how bizarre the Highlanders v Cheetahs game was on Saturday evening.   The highlanders, outplayed for 60 minutes by Johan Goosen, come back with a stellar three tries in seven minutes, only for Sias Ebersohn to miss a penalty to win it from right in front with 3 minutes to go, and then Chris Noakes nails a tricky penalty from 45m out and on an angle to win it 36-33 in the last minute.  The heart has to go out to Naka Drotske and Os Du Randt.  They must have thought it was in the bag with ¾ of the game gone.  Jamie Joseph on the other hand must have been wondering why they Highlanders didn’t play like they did in the last 20 minutes for the whole game; they couldn’t catch a shadow in the beginning only to turn untouchable themselves.  Who’s want to be a coach?!

Over and Out.

Keep going balls to the wall.

A Traitor, a Disgrace and the Rise of the Southerners and Saffas.

Let’s get down to it and be honest right from the get go, James Tamou is a traitor.  He might claim to be a Kiwi and a proud Maori blah blah blah.  What a crock.  If he was, he wouldn’t be wearing green and gold come Friday night.  What a joke the Aussies have made International League………. Again.  Just when it seemed the dubious poaching of players was beginning to fade into the dishonest and disgraceful past of league, the Aussies prove they don’t want to let go of it just yet by the looks.  Born and raised in Palmerston North and now a Kanagroo, c’mon!  One can only hope that the Kiwi boys remind master Tamou of a damn good Six60 song with the lyrics, “Don’t forget your roots my friends yeah, don’t forget your family”!  In saying that though, if he doesn’t want to play for New Zealand, fine, he wouldn’t have been any good anyway if his heart wasn’t in it.  Let’s hope that’s the case when he lines up against his friends and family this weekend in the Anzac Test.  Whilst I could never and would never condone Issac Luke’s behaviour against his own traitor cousin when playing against England last year, let’s hope a few of the Kiwi’s boys teach him a damn good lesson for being a turncoat and Tamou leaves the ground as battered and bruised as is possible (within the rules of the game of course).

Well done the Breakers on getting through to the Grand Final series of the ANBL.  Another stellar year and the boys are trying their best to replicate last season as best they can by cutting it fine in the semi’s before going on to take out the big one.  Let’s hope they complete a successful trifecta on Friday night with the Highlanders getting up, then the Kiwi’s and finally the Breakers by overcoming Perth and lifting the trophy for the second year in a row. 

Jimmy Cowan is heading overseas after 12 seasons in NZ

Well done to Jimmy Cowan who over the last couple of days has confirmed at the end of the year he will be moving to Gloucester.  Cowan with 51 Tests and counting, 100 Super Rugby Caps so far and 94 Southland Caps will go overseas with good wishes and everybody’s blessing.  Cowan’s competitive spirit and combativeness could never be questioned, he has always been a battler, even with the bottle at various stages in his career, and to his credit his has always risen above these challenges and comeback not only a better player but better man, if only Jesse Ryder would take a look at how Jimmy Cowan has managed this and started putting a system in place to stop him from becoming the latest joke in world Cricket.   So hats off to Cowan, unlike Kaino you have given it your all, achieved everything that you could have and now that you are probably slipping down the pecking order in NZ, through no fault of your own, you have decided to head overseas and gain a fresh environment and perspective.  Good Luck.

The Blues saga has drawn out for another week longer than it should have with Pat Lam suggesting that he could be interested in reapplying for his position for next season.  This coming at the same time that he has been linked to a move with the Sale Sharks in the Aviva Premiership.  Pat, the time has come pal, do everyone a favour including yourself and bow out with some respect will you.  Just leave now and try and leave the Blues with some hope for next year before you make everything around them crumble as well.  And as for the breaking down in tears due to racist remarks made about you on twitter and talkback radio shows, really?  Are you that soft all of a sudden?  No wonder the Blues are in trouble, if you’re allowing anonymous comments from a couple of ignorant bigots to get to you.  How do you react if someone disagrees with you face to face or you have a debate about what the best tactics to employ are?  Be a man, man. It’s time Andy Dalton stood up as CEO of the Blues and earned his large pay-cheque instead of simply paying lip service to the NZRU procedures when it come to the hiring and reviewing of staff, their performance and their positions and proves to everyone that he does have a pair of kahuna’s and fires the coach of the most underwhelming season a New Zealand team has ever had in Super Rugby.  Don’t forget the fact that the Blues have the largest player base, fan base and sponsorship market to answer to in New Zealand also, I bet more than a few people are wondering why they are paying so much money for so little leadership from either their Coach or their CEO.

But enough of the off field stuff.  What a round of Super Rugby it was!  As mentioned earlier the Blues managed to disgrace themselves further by losing to the Sharks at home and after the bye.  Not sure what game Pat Lam was watching when after the match he said he was proud of the effort.  The Sharks need to decide if they are going to use all their Springbok power and actually challenge for the title this year or not.  One week solid, the next week a disaster.  John Plumtree needs to figure out how to make this lot consistent, and soon if they are to be the real deal.  The Force and Waratahs played out an underwhelming battle as one would expect from an Australian Conference Derby.  The Waratahs came out on top, as expected, but didn’t set the world alight in doing so, as expected.  The Crusaders for a second week in a row fought out a battle of epic proportions, this time coming out on top of the ledger against the Stormers.  Both of these teams must be considered finals material after their displays in the last couple of rounds.  Congratulations to Tom Taylor who broke a Crusaders record points haul and equalled the number of penalties in a match on his way to scoring all 31 points for the Crusaders, if Dan Carter wasn’t already looking over his shoulder at the growing list of five eighths in New Zealand, I’m sure Taylor’s performance would have reminded him he needs to start doing so a bit more from now on.  The Brumbies smashed the Rebels at home in Canberra and were as dominant as any team could be against yet another of the Aussie no-hopers, to confirm that they really do look like the best of the rag tag Australian Conference.  The Cheetahs went down fighting to the Chiefs but what a game!  Both teams played entertaining running rugby as was expected with the Chiefs managing to finish off the match with a bit more puff in their sails than the Cheetahs.  Surely though the Cheetahs are putting their best foot forward this year in their case to not be ‘culled’ (did you get it?) for next season.  And last but not least the injury ravaged Lions went down to the Bulls who are looking ever more confident and like the title contenders they have been over the last four to five years.

Based on the last couple of weeks there have been a few changes in the pecking order for the Super Rugby title for 2012.  The Chiefs confirmed that they are a real threat but I think most of us had already suspected that was the case after what we have seen from them so far this season.  However the rise of the Bulls and Crusaders has been impressive over the last few weeks, as has the Stormers ability to hang in their and prove that they are there or thereabouts after having had the easiest life of anybody so far by playing weaker teams each week and generally at Newlands.  If I were a betting man I would say the top six on merit come the end of the season will be the Chiefs, Stormers, Crusaders, Bulls, Highlanders and Brumbies.

Enjoy the next week of sports team and remember, C’mon the Kiwis!!!!!

Til next weeks wrap, Keep Going Balls to the Wall people.

Episode II

Ok so I have to start with the Warriors.  How bad are they?  Brian McClennan is doing way to good of an impression of Pat Lam.  Bluey, I’d hate to say it mate, but it’s not good enough.  The Warriors (Grand Finalists last year) have the player depth and the development coming through but they are missing one thing.  Now a lot of people will disagree with this but they are missing Aussies.  Where are the grafters?  There are loads of ball players and yes there is Michael Luck and Simon Mannering to get things done, but the Warriors can’t rely on two people alone to make the metres.  The reality is they need more and Rusty Packer and Sam Ripira etc aren’t getting the job done.  Add to that the fact that they are still missing a quality attacking Hooker since the departure of Nathan Fien, and it’s easy to see why the Warriors are struggling.  Yes Bluey had a squad he was dealt with, but let’s hope he can make the finals at a minimum, after all the final wasn’t that long ago and it’s hard to see a dip in form that goes from Grand Finalist to nowheresville in one season.

A quick side note has to go out here to George.  Yes the Protea’s beat the BlackCaps convincingly but that’s enough now, our ego is damaged enough now and we don’t need to be dragged through the mud again.  By us I mean my, although I’m sure you’ll never let me forget about it.  By the way, rumour has it you are still a filthy cheat in 30 Seconds. 

Dare I say we need to talk about the Rugby.   What a disgrace I was in the picking comps this weekend.  Definitely the worst round I have ever had in Virtual Sports Comps.  1 win in 7 games.  Don’t worry I’m appalled enough in myself for everyone.  Both the Highlanders and the Crusaders (who I thought as potential winners would win) lost, two games I picked the other way around.  And then there was the Aussie round from hell to pick followed by the Lions getting pumped by the Cheetahs.  Dammit!!!!!!!!!!  The Hurricanes much to my amazement smashed the Sharks, on both the scoreboard and in the all-in brawl they had.  Jannie du Plessis, not your finest moment pal, a hard open hand slap, really?!  I must apologise to the Bulls too.  The game against the Crusaders was of finals quality and you now must be considered genuine contenders, as must the Stormers after their brutal dismantling of the Highlanders.  Things weren’t pretty but you got it done when it counted, and fortunately for you Chris Noakes had the games from his nightmares to hand you every bit of possession you could have dreamed for. 

Whilst watching the Heineken Cup over the weekend I couldn’t help but notice one thing.  How much better at Rugby New Zealanders are than anybody in Europe.  I don’t mean any disrespect to some great European players (although nobody instantly springs to mind) I can’t help but feel you’re all just a bit crap.  During the Lienster Vs Cardiff Blues games the only thing the commentators could talk about was how good Brad Thorn was.  Don’t get me wrong I too think he is amazing as an athlete but if we are being brutal lets be honest.  He is 37, yes he has won a World Cup and yes he probably would have made the All Blacks this year, but next year?  I doubt it.  He is an ageing talent and yet he was head and shoulders above anybody else in a Heineken Cup Quarter Final, involving some of the best players that Europe has.  I predict as young and bright as the future of both Wales and England look, the Southern Hemisphere as usual will well and truly have the measure of their opponents from up north and dispatch them at will again and again as they have done so for the last 50-100 years.  Another couple of things have stuck out from this game that I watched.  The first being that the crowd was amazing.  55 000 people in Landsdowne Road (as it should always be known) for a club match.  And isn’t it eerie when they are all silent for kicks at goal, it is something that is surely off putting for those who kick goals from the Southern Hemisphere as it is something that is totally foreign to us.  The second interesting point for me was that the two Kiwi coaches of Leinster (Joe Schmidt & Jonno Gibbes) seem to be doing an awfully good job.  If I was Pat Lam, a) I would be hoping to be put out of my misery and fired before the end of the season, and, b) I would be looking over my shoulder at the number of New Zealand coaches coaching in Europe and excelling.  Not only is the list getting longer but more qualified to not only lead a Super Rugby franchise to glory but to use that as a stepping stone to the All Blacks, something that dear old Pat will never come within cooee of.  Fingers crossed anyway, we all thought the same could be said about Ian Foster, yet somehow he has managed to become an All Blacks assistant.  Let’s hope Pat Lam never finds himself as out of depth as ‘Fozzie’ is about to for the sake of all New Zealanders and world Rugby alike. 

Tigers' a prat, and we all know it.

I have to finish with the Masters today.  An American tradition that excludes well, pretty much everybody apart from the rich white males that have CEO after their name.  So a Swede leads a Yank and there are a few other guys playing.  One of them happens to be a former magician of his game who had a massive blowout a year or two ago in life and now couldn’t sink a drink properly let a lone a put or win a tournament let alone a ‘Grand Slam’.  So what has happened to Tiger, the once poster image of professional sport?  Watching him play at the Masters over the weekend I can’t help but compare him to a childish, spoiled brat.  Whenever something doesn’t go his way he is often recorded cursing and making a fool out of himself.  I am aware Golf can be frustrating, one only needs to follow me around the course for an example of that, but when you are cursing about being a foot further to the left that you wanted to be on the green, let’s be realistic, times could be tougher.  Tiger needs to grow up is what I’m saying, and I don’t think he will be any good again until he does.  He needs to bring some perspective and maturity to his game, after all he isn’t the 20-year-old protégée that he once was.  You’re in your mid 30’s man, grow up!  Personally I think Tiger is the greatest golfer that this world has ever seen, even better than the great Jack Nicklaus but I don’t think he will be remembered as that until he cleans his act up, grows up and starts winning tournaments again.  He his heading his way to being just another good golfer instead of the ‘Master’ he is and the legend that help grow and progress his sport to being a truly professional competitive organisation of real athletes rather than a comp full of old fat retired white dudes with too much money and time on their hands. 

So there we have it, aren’t you proud of me, two episodes in one weekend!  Oh and c’mon Bubba Watson!!  I’m backing you to win the Masters, after all it’s probably time someone loved you, you’re parents can’t of with that name if we’re being honest.

Til next week folks, Keep Going Balls to the Wall.