In 2009 we got used to seeing a Springboks side that seemed almost unstoppable. They could retain possession until they decided to kick it down your throat and force you to make a mistake. They had a tight 5 that could hold up - or collapse - any scrum they wanted to, flankers that could bully you at the ruck if you were behind the 8 ball and a halfback-first 5 combo that worked effectively to distribute the ball and kick for territory. Arguably their weak links were in the midfield and at fullback.

In contrast the Wallabies side of 2009 was a little bit disjointed. A forward pack which could work together if it had to, too many cooks in the kitchen at halfback and first/second five, but from there on out it was all positives. Personally I think James O'Connor at fullback was their weak link - they worked better with Adam Ashley-Cooper at the back - but the whole team had a disjointed feel to it with occasional flashes of brilliance bringing it all together. Like the Waratahs, Hurricanes or Chiefs.

One year has been enough to change those perceptions.

Make no mistake, the Springboks were outplayed in tonight's match. In the first half they did well to keep up - and throughout the whole game they outplayed the Wallabies at the ruck and the scrum. But as the game wore on it became increasingly obvious this was a South African team without a game plan. Last year everything seemed so structured, so clinical, so formulaic. Tonight every ruck was different. Clearing kicks were made without chasers - in one case Danie Roussow was the only Springbok sprinting after the ball - forwards were caught in midfield, backs were made to pick-and-go from 60m out... The only two players who seemed to have any idea what they were doing were Ruan Pienaar, Morne Steyn and Jacque Fourie, barring his yellow card.

It's already become a Tri Nations campaign of desperation for the South Africans. Schalk Burger will most likely lose a couple of weeks to ruminate on his discipline after getting caught on camera doing something dodgy to Pocock's eye socket in one of their many scuffles. Their carbon credit bill will be enormous with the cost of replacing all these players getting bans.

There's also the issue of the particularly dodgy but seemingly legal tactic bokke was using when chasing kicks, where the chaser would go up with arms and legs akimbo clearly not pursuing the ball but aiming to put off the opposition.

I'm beginning to ask some serious questions of the Boks' plans for this season and why after four games have they still failed to correctly deploy their wingers and fullback on attack. The ball either gets to Fourie too late to pass it, or he holds it, breaks the line and there's no runners there in support.

The Wallabies side wasn't perfect either. They played like the All Blacks last week but in reverse. They started off not looking too flash but ended strongly after getting a bit of confidence.

One thing they definitely need to focus on over the next week is their scrum. The flankers were slipping and sliding and the front rowers were getting pounded almost every time, which led them to resort to some pretty obvious flouting of the laws in an effort to just keep the thing up long enough that they wouldn't be penalised.

There's also the issue of James O'Connor. I've not been a fan of him at fullback and his problems were exacerbated on the wing. I believe he was very lucky that Habana didn't get a chance to run at him with the ball in hand because his defence is poor and his ability under the high ball is limited. Yet when you watch him at a Super 14 level it's like chalk and cheese. Dingo Deans needs to find a way to get that confidence and ability to show on the field.

Personally I'd support giving Kurtley Beale the start at fullback against the blackness and putting Adam Ashley-Cooper on the wing, because O'Connor's struggles against the Boks tonight will be nothing compared to facing a resurgent Mils Muliaina in New Zealand in two weeks - or even in Australia next weekend.

A hat-tip has to go to Pocock and Rocky Elsom for their work around the field tonight. They put the bokke loosies back in their cage in emphatic style and it looks like the Australians have finally realised that when you're first to the ruck you can get away with a lot of rule-bending. All in all it will be interesting to see how Australia's "give it some air, show the crowd some flair" tactics shape up against New Zealand's "let's give it to Dan/Ma'a and see what he does". Ah, who am I kidding. We'll pump the criminals.

Final score:
Australia 31 - South Africa 13.
Australia: Tries to Drew Mitchell and Will Genia. Matt Giteau 5 penalties, James O'Connor 1 penalty, 1 conversion.
South Africa: Tries to Jacque Fourie and Guthro Steenkamp. Morne Steyn 1 penalty.

Sport is always about bringing performances week in and week out. For the two teams involved in the second Tri Nations game tonight, South Africa and New Zealand, one kept the same level as last week and another stepped up marginally.

South Africa were totally outplayed last week. This week they performed at a good standard at points in this game - 10 min after half-time, a few patches in the second half - which may be enough to get them over Australia, but not this current All Blacks side.

The story for NZ was the opposite. For the majority of the game we played an outstanding, exciting kind of rugby, but something which has cropped up over the 5 tests we've had this season is that there's been a consistent teething period of 5 - 10 minutes when the bench has rolled on where everything turns a little Yakety Sax.

Passes that are more like 20/80 than 50/50 get thrown, forwards get left to chase down stab-through kicks and players are caught out of position on returns. It's a lucky thing that the All Blacks' coaches have such emphasis on defence or this period of games could have proven costly at this point in the season.

On the whole though, this team is peaking. It's still early in the campaign and I'm reluctant to say it until we play Australia but I really don't see them offering anything in the way of a challenge, so I'll throw it out there.

This is a 2005 standard All Blacks unit. We pantsed the Lions that year and aside from South Africa nobody even looked like touching us. This season it appears that it'll be the same story, except not even SA is near us. Yes, you can feel free to come back here and point out how I was wrong if we lose one.

It's a tough thing to go undefeated - in fact, we haven't done it since 1997 when we won 11 and drew with England - but this is an All Blacks side which isn't demolishing teams in a dominant fashion, it's subtly and slowly piling on pressure and leaving other sides to play catchup.

In terms of tonight's performances, there are a couple of standouts and a couple who deserve a bit of a seeing to. First up is Dan Carter. Much is always made of his 'form slumps' and how he has purple patches but this is a two-way street. He was given a lot of space and time last week as the Boks appeared to focus on Cowan and Nonu, whereas this week he was almost completely nullifed. Even when he managed to get a kick off it was pretty touch-and-go. His goalkicking wasn't up to par but it's something commented on every time he plays in Wellington.

Next was Rene Ranger. He's had to slot in to a semi-established combo, but I'm left to wonder why Zac Guilford didn't get the call up. Ranger's a good player, but he's one of those young Carlos Spencer hit-or-miss players, even on defence. Whenever he has the ball in his hands he's looking to spark something - usually for himself - and when he's tackling he goes in 100% and either knocks someone for 6 or gets beaten. I just think somebody needs to sit him down and remind him he's in a team of outstanding players, not the Blues or Northland.

In terms or praises, I'm gonna wax lyrical about the loose forwards. We've finally got a trio to replace the effectiveness of the So'oialo/Collins/Masoe relationship. One of the massive benefits of musketeers McCaw/Read/Kaino is that all of them can play for 80 minutes, and all of them can play at each position. In a discussion during tonight's game the question 'who is the best player in international rugby at the moment' came up - the usual suspects, McCaw, Bryan Habana, Dan Carter were thrown up but I think Kieran Read is getting near that mix. He's everywhere on defence, he clears the ruck and fetches, he can link with backs and how many times have we seen him throw that last offload 5m from the line to a back to storm over? Mainstream pundits, you can go on and on about Pierre Spies but this year Read is better. And that's coming from a reformed Read hater.

I didn't want to write anything throughout the week in case I jinxed the team again, but here's a bit of a milestone that was missed by those in the media. Remember all those weeks ago when I wrote that the last time the All Blacks didn't score a try was in 2004? [Here it is if you missed it] Well tonight's game was the 75th consecutive game that the ABs have managed to cross the white line.

So from here we turn the evil eye of Mordor to Brisbane for next week's tussle between the under-performing Boks and the baby Wallabies. Can either side step up and offer something that will put a stick in the front wheel of the Kawasaki that is the 2010 All Blacks?

Final score: All Blacks 31, South Africa 17.

All Blacks;
Tries to Ma'a Nonu, Mils Muliana, Rene Ranger, Israel Dagg. Dan Carter 2 penalties, 1 conversion, Piri Weepu 1 penalty.

South Africa;
Tries to Danie Rossouw and Schalk Burger.
Morne Steyn 1 penalty, 2 conversions.

Picture the following scenario:

A large company launches a new product. All goes well until a few months later when technical complications prevent customers from being able to use said product. People from all walks of life are cut off from the service you provide. Some of them made major investments to be early adopters. They get upset and leave your company for a competitor.

But as fate would have it, you're a major sponsor of your country's largest national sport team. That same team has lost a lot of the support it previously almost unquestioningly had due to its apparent 'failure' to be successful.

How can you combine these two negatives to come up with a positive?

Some bright spark at Telecom had the idea of creating BackingBlack, kind of an All Black street team. I'm all for it, great to see someone getting out there and giving some positive energy to the All Blacks after the amount of flack they cop.

But - and I know it's early days - having followed their progress for a wee bit, I'm wondering where it's heading. At the moment it's just a group of people going to matches, giving stuff away and chanting - there are some mid-week activities to be sure - but isn't this just preaching to the converted?

When I heard about the campaign I thought it'd be using social media to connect with the Gen Yers. Instead, it's more of a disconnect. There's a Twitter account that doesn't seem to take any steps to interact with people, a Facebook page with a different name and of course, their own website.

Now, Scott [I thought] did a great job on his Northern Hemisphere tour last year with the insight and footage he was sending back. But do the others behind the social media drive realise that social media is about engagement? Nobody wants to watch you talk amongst yourselves and film yourselves hanging out. Where are the visits to the 80-year-old widow in Cromwell who has a signed jersey from the 1974 team?

A few friends of mine went to the game in Hamilton - and I know others who were at Carisbrook. The running theme seems to be much the same as I feel; it's a great idea with a lot of potential but at the moment that potential isn't being realised. Why are we having marches to the game to amp people up? They will do that themselves. Why are we forcing other fans to chant during the game? The drunken student mob already have that one covered.

Also, is it even needed? The All Blacks get a rough time in the papers and on talkback, there's no mistaking that. But when they get out on Eden Park, Rugby Park or any of the other venues in NZ they look around and see a capacity crowd. Rugby passion isn't dying at the top level, it's dying at the regional level.

The stuff they're doing for the All Blacks is meaningless. New Zealanders are always going to be able to support their rugby team, just like their football, cricket and netball teams. They get the exposure.

What should be the focus is the local base.

How many people, upon hearing Adam Thomson or Jerome Kaino's name in the All Blacks' squad three years ago said "who?" - I did - and on a regional level there are loads of these players who don't get exposure other than among their team base and if they score a try or become a phenom. The disconnection between the punter and the All Blacks starts at a regional level.

It used to be easy to follow a player and their rise through the ranks. You'd go to the games, your mates would talk about them, you'd read the match reports. The MY SKY generation have it even easier. Too easy. The fall in viewership may not be so much in a growing boredom with rugby as an ability to choose. You may not want to watch Wellington play Northland, so you'll record it - or skip it altogether. Then before you've watched it, you might hear the score - rendering the match useless unless you really wanna see it.

It's all well and good to give each other back slaps and feel good after you've gotten to go along and have select seats and camera time but ask yourself, BackingBlack, are you growing rugby support or are you just maintaining it? Get your same network together and put your weight behind some ITM Cup teams instead of wasting energy trying to get people excited about a game they're already willingly shelling out for and while you're at it, re-assess the way you're doing things. Are you going to focus on one age group or all? If you're gonna focus on Gen Y get into high schools, get along to local rugby matches, take some injured ABs or local players with you. Do some skill sessions, go go-karting or something similar. Just because we don't chant doesn't mean we don't have passion.

Disclaimer: I'm not a part of BackingBlack, so I don't know what their plans are. If you've already planned to do something special for the ITM Cup, good on ya. While this may come across as a bitter, jealous post, I genuinely wish the BB crew all the best.

 So the South Africans came to Eden Park to try and overturn a legacy of unbeaten All Black sides and continue their Tri Nations form from last season, but the Blacks stood up and said 'like fuck!'

In the heart of latte country and in front of a capacity* crowd, the New Zealanders were the superlative side and picked apart a bokke carcass that struggled to provide any real answers.

It looked tight for the first quarter with both sides mounting some promising attack and meeting stoic defense and each walking away with 3 points, though the All Blacks' gained a one man advantage when Bakkies Botha was sent off.

Bakkies will probably be seeing the judiciary in the next couple of days after being caught on camera tackling Jimmy Cowan and headbutting him from behind. Bakkies was mistaken if he thought this would affect Jimmy's gameplaying ability, as the Southern man is used to a sore head from years of drinking sessions - if anything it brought back the 2007 era Jimmy, a man unafraid to run straight at the biggest man on the field.

The only concern I'd like to raise is with regard to the tactical kicking. There wasn't much and when it was attempted it wasn't pretty. The ABs have gained Mils Muliana back from injury, but it's worth throwing up for discussion that Israel Dagg's tactical abilities, at the moment at least, appear to have the edge.

The return from injury of Mils and Ma'a Nonu was superb with both players performing as though they'd been in the team and getting minutes for the entire Steinlager Series. Mils' first touch of the ball made people in pubs up and down the country throw their hands in the air as he went up to field a kick and landed awkwardly, coughing up the pill. From then on he atoned for his sins, setting Dan Carter, Cory Jane and Joe Rokocoko alight as he split through the South African defense on the counter-attack like the Russian forces against Napolean.

Ma'a had a standout game as far as I'm concerned, working the draw-and-pass with great effect and putting up a few kicks [?!] which wouldn't have been the preferred option but were very successful. And one which wasn't.

Piri Weepu came off the bench with 25m left and once again showed why he's an explosive bench player - he comes off and injects a sense of pace in the backline, getting to the ruck and spreading the ball faster than the tired opposition defense can react.

In terms of set piece, both the lineout and scrum have progressed since last season. The All Black scrum, in my opinion, hasn't been a concern since 2008 - since then we've managed to hold our own. But how fantastic was it to not only see them hold their own, but the green-booted South African loosies backpedalling and slipping as the All Black pack put the heat on in several scrums.

Every team's lineout should be judged against the South African side as long as Victor Matfield is on the field and I'd say ours is at the same level, which it arguably hasn't been since 2006 when the Ali Williams/Matfield rivalry was at its fiercest. Keven Mealamu, Brad Thorn and Tom Donnelly were in sync throughout the whole game and once the Springboks sent on their bench their lineout fell to pieces.

The most noteable thing to walk away with though is penalties. This is what lost us the games against the republic last season. Morne Steyn can kick almost anything within a range of 50m of the posts so it was fantastic to see him only get a few chances and have to look for two drop goals - once as a last resort and once on an offensive drive that would have left a few South African players unimpressed with his decision. That's something to be applauded.

Final score: All Blacks 32, South Africa 12.

All Blacks;
Tries to Conrad Smith [16th international try], Ma'a Nonu [15th international try], Kieran Read [2nd international try], Tony Woodcock [6th international try]. Dan Carter 2 penalties, 3 conversions.

South Africa;
Morne Steyn 4 penalties.

The vuvuzela seems to be limited (so far) to South African football fans. South African rugby has (so far) managed to avoid its monotonous tones. But just imagine...

[via Collegehumour]

As long term readers will be aware, last year I wrote a post about the declining number of tries being scored in international rugby. I think I went deep enough into the trend there and my reasoning behind it, but today I got to thinking:

What about specific teams?

Everyone knows 'oh we last beat those guys in xxxx' but what about tries? The Welsh test on the weekend made me wonder, because we didn't concede a try on that tour of course and 2008 was a great NH trip too.

The answer? November 19, 2006. And that was dotted down by a flanker. That's one hell of a drought, no wonder they had a winger taking a penalty on Saturday; he just wanted to be able to say he scored against the mighty All Blacks!

This dubious record is only exceeded by Scotland, who haven't scored against us since 2005. There's obviously a large discrepancy in the stats though - for example we've only played the Scots twice since 2005 but we've had four matches against Wales in the same period - but it's still an interesting stat-line to look at and may be helpful in seeing where some teams are going wrong later in the year. So here're the stats for 3N teams v 6N;

New Zealand:

v England - Last try was 21 June 2008 in Christchurch. They lost that match 44-12 and scored two tries to the All Blacks' 5. The two sides have met twice since.

v France - Last try was on June 20, 2009 in Wellington. They lost that match 14-10, with both sides scoring one try each - to Ma'a Nonu and Cedric Heymans respectively - but France ultimately lost due to NZ slotting 3 penalties. The two sides have met once since, in Marseille, where the All Blacks romped to a 39-12 victory.

v Italy - Last try was on 08 September 2007 in Marseille. The two sides met in pool play at the Rugby World Cup with Italy being throughly outplayed in the All Blacks' 76-14 win. The two sides have met twice since, both in 2009.

v Ireland - Last try was 12 June 2010 in New Plymouth. A match which will probably be remembered more for Ireland's lack of discipline than the dominant performance put forward by the All Blacks, Ireland went down 66-28. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - Last try was 26 Nov 2005. The All Blacks would emerge on top 29-10 scoring four tries to Scotland's one. The two sides have met twice since, but not since Nov 2008.

v Wales - Last try was almost a year after Scotland to the day, 25 Nov 2006. The All Blacks won that game 45-10. The two sides have played each other three times since at the time of writing, with a fourth match to be held this weekend.

In looking into these I also checked out the All Blacks try-scoring stats. Incredibly, the last time we didn't score a try in an international was 07 Aug 2004 against Australia who beat us 23-18 - their sole try making all the difference. That's a 61-match streak the All Blacks sit on where they have scored a try in which they have lost 11 matches - seven to South Africa and two each to France and Australia. That's insane!

Conversely, the last time Australia were held tryless was last year at the 3N match at the Caketin which the All Blacks won 33-6 [you know, the one against the All Blacks that James O'Connor looked real out of his depth in. What do you mean that doesn't narrow it down?] Their record against the 6N is as follows:

Australia:

v England - Last scored a try on June 19 2010. The English won this match 21-20 in Sydney, their first win over Australia since the 2007 Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v France - France last crossed the chalkline on 22 Nov 2008. They lost that match 18-13. They have met once since, in 2009.

v Italy - Last try was June 13 2009. Australia won that game 31-8. The two sides have met once since, a week later.

v Ireland - Last scored 15 Nov 2009. That match ended in a 20 all draw. As much as the All Blacks appear to have the wood on Ireland, they seem to be Australia's bogey team. Since the last time Australia held Ireland tryless - 09 Nov 2002 - they've met seven times with the shamrock men always able to get across no matter what the score difference is. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - 25 Nov 2006 is actually a bad day for both the Welsh and Scottish, as it's the last time the Scottish scored a try against Australia. They played last year - 21 Nov 2009 - and won 9-8 despite being held tryless. Last year's match was the only one which has been contested between the two sides since 2006.

v Wales - Last try scored on Nov 29 2008. Wales won that match 21-18, equalling Australia's two tries and getting an extra penalty. The teams have met once since, on Nov 28 2009.

The mighty imperial empire of South Africa is actually, on paper, a bit odd. For example, they're the 3N team most recently held tryless as they failed to take a five pointer against the Wallabies on September 05 2009.

South Africa:

v England - England last scored a try against the bokke in the leadup to the 2007 World Cup on June 02. The Boks seemed to learn from that match which they won 55-22 anyway, holding the English tryless in both pool play and the final at the RWC. The two sides have met three times since the last time England scored a try.

v France - Les Blues managed to get across the line twice on 12 Jun 2010, despite being thoroughly pantsed by the Saffers. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Italy - Italy followed France and played SA this past weekend, managing to score one try. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Ireland - Last scored a try on 28 Nov 2009. Like Australia v Scotland, SA have only played Ireland once since 2006. Almost unbelievably, Ireland have won their last three games against SA - in 2009, 2006 and 2004. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Scotland - Last scored 15 Nov 2008 in their 14-10 loss to SA. This is the most recent time the two sides have played.

v Wales - Last scored on 05 Jun 2010. This math was even on the try ledger with both sides scoring three tries. SA ultimately grabbed the W with the final score being 34-31.

So while logistically we can't take much from these stats there are some interesting stats - for example South Africa appears unable to hold teams out from their tryline, but end up winning through a superior penalty count. The All Blacks have bucked the SH trend against Ireland and Australia seems to be like South Africa in struggling to maintain a stoic defense.

So what I posit is that we are too harsh on the All Blacks' defense at times. While it is relatively common to concede a match at 3N level, can't we put it in the perspective that we are playing Australia and South Africa more frequently than the 6N teams so of course we will figure out each other's differences.

In other words, we have a wall of blackness to celebrate, not lambast.

How on earth can we judge the merits of this All Blacks performance when a test match effectively became a mismatch before even quarter of an hour had passed? We can't, that's the simple answer.

Excuse me, Marc Hinton, but I'm going to disagree with that. We can analyse last night's 66-28 win. STOP. Hammertime:

Lineouts:

 We had a lineout which operated well, keeping all of our throws and competed with the Irish - winning one of theirs and in two other Irish throws we looked like almost skimming it off the top too. Boric, Thorn and Whitelock worked well for their respective stints. Mealamu's throws looked to be hitting the correct tempo and while he only threw [I think] one in, Aled de Malmanche had it sailing right down the middle like a silver arrow.

Scrums:

Some concerns came out of this. The two Franks boys and Mealamu had a respectable night up the front but there wasn't much communication with the rest of the pack - we got pinged for pushing early on one feed and it had happened a few other times throughout the night. Kaino and McCaw got caught on the back foot detaching a couple of times and allowed an Irish scrum without a number 8 to get some metres off the set piece.

Forwards:

In general the A unit combined well. It was clear, however, that we weren't competing at the ruck in our half. Not that we were getting dominated but we weren't going for it. There were several times when the Irish would have a ruck with one defender - in one case there was no-one there - and the forwards didn't go for it. So, it didn't come as a surprise to me when the Irish counter-ruck attack had some initial success in the second half. It seemed to be a clear tactic from the team though, perhaps in an effort to minimise penalties - I remember the Blues using a similar tactic in the Super 14.

I was surprised to learn that Kieran Read hadn't scored a try before because he's often been a linking player. Kaino had a bruising night around the ruck and there'll be a few Irish players who struggled to sleep last night with the image of him sprinting at them emblazoned on their eyelids. Owen and Ben Franks got around the field well - as you'd expect from two brothers - and Mealamu had an exceptional night. He's not the bruising battering ram that Andrew Hore and de Malmanche are, but he's stoic and I didn't seem him make any mistakes. Richie was Richie, I don't know if I need to elaborate. A lot of positive factors from last night's match.

Backs:

I'm going to start off with a negative, though I don't want to. It was his first match and he's in there because of injuries, but Benson Stanley didn't have the abilities of an international second-five. His distribution was great and his running ability was fine, but it was clear that he wasn't physical enough. He got beaten on the inside on defence a fair few times, and brushed off on others. Perhaps it's because I'm used to seeing physical players in the mold of Ma'a Nonu, Stirling Mortlock and Mathieu Bastareud but he didn't come across as a Jaque Fourie or Berrick Barnes.

I'm being harsh but the reason those players succeed and Stanley got shown up a bit is that when you're defending a 12, you need to do two things - shut him down and limit his passing ability. Stanley would do one or the other and it led to the d-line getting burned a lot. But this isn't me calling for him to be dropped - he worked VERY well with Dan and Conrad and this is something that will be picked up on and highlighted in tape sessions no doubt.

To the rest of the back-line, Jimmy Cowan didn't have his best night I didn't think, but it wasn't too bad either. Dan Carter was Dan Carter [see Richie McCaw] and should be commended on his fantastic goal kicking. Conrad Smith atoned for that awful match he played for the Hurricanes against the Waratahs. He was well set on defense and the amount of times he broke the backline and set Cory, Israel or Joe up with open space was great. It was also good to see a player who doesn't often get highlighted get rewarded for his work with a well-deserved try. Cory Jane had an interesting night. He was fine with the ball in hand but there were a few times where he was caught drifting off his man. Israel Dagg had one glaring mistake which almost cost a try when he misjudged a kick and couldn't pick it up, but he definitely didn't look like a youngster on debut, and nor did he, Joe and Cory look like a back 3 who'd never played together. Joe Rokocoko had a Joe Rokocoko kind of night. No major mistakes, was positionally aware, but with the ball in hand couldn't spark that x factor to get across the line and for that reason seemed a bit invisible.

Another thing worth looking at is the restarts - and there were a lot of them - there were two times I saw when the man fielding the kickoff was set and had his lifters with him, only to be dropped. There was also a lineout where Sam Whitelock [I think] got dropped.

The four tries scored against us is a yard-stick that many are using to judge last night's performance but I think a better measure would be the amount of time the Irish spent in our 22 and the ease they seemed to have getting there. It's commendable that we didn't concede a penalty in that situation until late in the game, but it needs to be highlighted that the Irish would get the ball from their territory to ours with relative ease until we manned up. Remember that before Heaslip got sent off they were camped on our line and had been in the 5m line for 8 phases or so.

As to that knee, I think it deserves the same treatment as a gouge. It was deliberate, there was intent and if McCaw hadn't had the fortune to have his head between some Irish thighs it could have had nasty consequences had it connected with his nose or a temple.

Here's a replay [also, I love the Irish call "If there's gonna be a fight you can be pretty sure that Jimmy Cowan will be in the centre of it somewhere... and there he is"]

As always, leave your thoughts in the comments - and here are highlights for those with hazy memories thanks to Rugbydump, as always.

Asylum list their "6 Sports So Manly They Make Brett Favre Look Like a Little Girl", and, course, rugby is in there. But not just rugby, no no, Antarctic rugby...

Just taking off the armor and deciding not to stop for naptime twice a minute instantly turns American Football into one of the manliest sports in the world: rugby, where throwing the ball forward is for p*ssies. But to truly turbo-charge the testicular factor, you need to play in a place that kills people. Like Antarctica.

That's the annual Antarctic rugby match, where the staff of an American research base leave the "building that keeps them alive" to play, in ascending order of danger:

1. Rugby in Antarctica
2. At the base of an active volcano
3. Against New Zealanders, aka "the rugby equivalent of an army of Robo-Vaders"

The McMurdo research station team has lost 26-0, and that's not the score -- that's their win-loss record over a quarter-century. And they keep going back for more. That's tough.

Robo-vaders. Nice.

Details on other 'manly' sports (according to Asylum, and including Octopus Wrestling and The Eskimo Ear Pull) can be found here.

On Monday I took a look at the All Blacks' team for the Steinlager Series, so now it's on to the NZ Maori.

The team has been brought back into existence for its centenary season after not playing in 2009 due to economic reasons. The decision was roundly [and rightly] criticised, but the NZRU had always promised they'd be back in 2009.

They've delivered on that promise - did they have a choice? And announced a while back that the Maori will play the NZ Barbarians, Ireland and England in one-off matches this month. As well as that, they've given them a pretty kick-ass uni [which has sold out already!].

An interesting thing about this jersey, and the series, is one that hasn't really been talked about - sponsorship. The NZ Sevens team has had Air NZ and Telecom as jersey sponsors recently, but I can't remember the NZ Maori having one. I know that nobody agrees with me, but I truly believe that the Maori and Juniors and any other teams should be opened up to commercial sponsorship - not the All Blacks or Black Ferns though. Because essentially what is happening is the NZRU has incoming revenue streams from adidas and individual series sponsors, and that's it. Then when the NZRU tries to save money by cutting teams they're vilified, but the next season when they announce a loss they're attacked again. This upcoming series is sponsored by Sealord, but how much money do you think they'll be paying to their logo on the pitch and printed on the ticket, as opposed to the jersey?

Anyway. I'll commend the NZRU for bringing the team back and getting them games against two strong opposition sides. I have just one teeny-tiny little question though. Why aren't they in the Pacific Nations Cup?

This is the first year in recent history that NZ haven't fielded a team in the PNC, and Aussie haven't been involved since last year. And surely playing against Tonga, Fiji and Samoa would be a great way for the Maori to celebrate their history?

But enough of that. The squad has some very, very good players. The loose forwards will play the perfect NZ Maori style of rugby - big hits and lots of running - but I do wonder what the Waldrom brothers have done wrong since 2008 to not even get a look in.

They've got a few nice combos there, with Piri having already worked alongside McAlister [and that should be a duo who compliment each other well] and Ripia, while Gear and Maitland on the wings with I'm guessing either Brett or Robinson at fullback will provide both outside pace and up-the-guts crash and bash.

Kia Kaha e Tama ma! Kei a koutou te kaha, te mana, te aheitanga hei eke panuku.

Ben Afeaki * North Harbour Ngati Awa
Colin Bourke * Bay of Plenty Ngati Wairere
Stephen Brett Canterbury Ngapuhi
Dane Coles * Wellington Ngati Porou
Jacob Ellison Wellington Ngati Porou
Corey Flynn Canterbury Kai Tahu
Hosea Gear Wellington Ngati Porou
Romana Graham * Waikato Ngati Awa
Jarrad Hoeata Taranaki Ngati Kahungunu
Tanerau Latimer Bay of Plenty Tapuika
Karl Lowe * Hawke’s Bay Ngati Kahungunu
Sean Maitland * Canterbury Ngapuhi
Luke McAlister North Harbour Te Atiawa
Liam Messam ( c ) Waikato Ngai Tuhoe
Bronson Murray Northland Ngapuhi
Clint Newland Hawke’s Bay Ngati Kahungunu
Daniel Ramsey * Wellington Kai Tahu
Willie Ripia* Taranaki Ngai Tuhoe
Robbie Robinson * Southland Ngati Tuwharetoa
Isaac Ross Canterbury Ngati Kahungunu
Aaron Smith * Manawatu Ngati Kahungunu
Chris Smylie North Harbour Ngati Mutunga
Dwayne Sweeney Waikato Ngati Mahanga
Andre Taylor* Manawatu Ngati Tuwharetoa
Hayden Triggs Otago Ngati Kahungunu
Jackson Willison* Waikato Ngati Mahuta

The sum of the whole is greater than its parts.

Particularly succinct this year, when none of the NZ Super 14 teams looked like holding it together to go the distance. The 'shaky at the start before we lose our best players to injury' Chiefs had appeared to get rid of that apron only to find it was replaced with 'win at the start then lose all our best players to injury'.

Then the 'we'll lose all our games until we have to win them all to have a shot and stage a late-season rally' Blues blew it about half-way through.

The 'mathematical chance' Hurricanes were replaced by the 'You what? The game's 60 minutes through and we're down by 3 tries? Oh well we better start trying then' 2010 squad and the 'MC Hammer' Crusaders became all about 'well we're a young team, in a rebuilding phase'.

Meanwhile the perennial 'young team, in a rebuilding phase' Highlanders shouted their mantra from the rooftops: 'lose our best players to injury, lose all our games before a late season rally, the game's 60 minutes through and we're down by 3 tries? Oh well we may as well give up'.

Let's be honest here. The Bulls and Stormers looked brilliant from the first whistle in 2010, yes? Seconded? Right. Motion carried.

Let's move on. The Tri-Nations is just about a month away and you can bet your bottom dollar that that means an exponential increase in the number of 'the All Blacks are crap, there's no direction, look at South Africa it's like the People's Army marching forward to slaughter our poor All Blacks' articles.

Wasn't last year's team the worst ever? So surely with the number of new players [four] and players out injured this is the absolute bottom-of-the-barrel scraping effort that should convince us all that Robbie Deans was the man for the job, we've been led astray by the NZRTEW and we deserve all we get?

Or maybe - just maybe - we do still have the best team in the world, gathered from five provinces - not two [cough South Africa and to a lesser extent Australia]. We've managed to slot in four new caps and many who haven't cracked double digits yet. We've got a winger coming back after proving himself through the Super 14 [cough toldyouso] and the world's first and second best fullbacks. We have a forward pack that can out-play any in the world on their day, and with their referee.

We have the best loosehead prop in the world [Tialata], the second-best lock combo in the world [Thorn and Donnelly], the best loose forward rotation in the world, the best first-five in the world [Carter], the best centre in the world [Smith] and I've already mentioned the fullbacks.

You know the only thing the 'worst team ever' was missing last year? A first-five who could kick insanely long penalties and dropgoals that no human being should be able to make. That's it. You take Morne out of the Boks side and Donald out of ours and we woulda beasted them.

So maybe this bottom-of-the-barrel 2010 unit isn't gonna be so bad after all.

PS: I could talk about Ireland and Wales, since this team is playing them first - but what's the point? They're not those cheating Frenchies so they won't beat us. Also, no-one in the UK will be talking about them either 'cause there's something more meaningful going on.

2010 All Blacks Squad: [June Internationals]

Anthony Boric North Harbour (13)
Aled de Malmanche Waikato (2)
Tom Donnelly Otago (6)
Ben Franks Tasman (uncapped)
Owen Franks Canterbury (9)
Jerome Kaino Auckland (25)
Richie McCaw (capt) Canterbury (80)
Keven Mealamu Auckland (71)
Kieran Read Canterbury (16)
Adam Thomson Otago (15)
Brad Thorn Canterbury (37)
Neemia Tialata Wellington (41)
Victor Vito * Wellington
Tony Woodcock North Harbour (61)

Backs:

Daniel Carter Canterbury (66)
Jimmy Cowan Southland (33)
Aaron Cruden * Manawatu
Israel Dagg * Hawke’s Bay
Zac Guildford Hawke’s Bay (2)
Cory Jane Wellington (12)
Richard Kahui Waikato (8)
Mils Muliaina Waikato (82)
Josevata Rokocoko Auckland (60)
Conrad Smith Wellington (33)
Benson Stanley * Auckland
Piri Weepu Wellington (35)