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.