Rugby & The World Cup Final

It's over for another four years, the springboks outlasted the poms in a snooze fest kickathon, which as far as I'm concerned showed rugby at it's worst, when it was supposed to be the show piece of the sport!!!

Which brings me to something a friend said the other day, "I'm really not liking rugby at the moment, and I'm struggling to remain interested in the games as they are dull and full of kicking"!

I totally agree and would like to see the stellenbosch laws http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellenbosch_Laws given a real chance to free the game up, but it won't really solve the problem. For the main problem lies with the players, as far as sportsmouth is concerned, it looks like they are so scared of losing that they resort to these tactics for if they were to take a chance and mess it up they would not want to be known as the one to have "dropped the world cup"!!

The super rugby and club rugby formats have less pressure on the individual players, where one loss does not end your season until finals time, but by then the players are usually so used to playing their particular style of rugby that they actually play rugby to win. Playing to win and playing not to lose are very different mind sets.

With the sport being professional and the players only having a short time frame to make a living, being dropped from the national side because you took a chance or two and failed, doesn't exactly give you great bargaining power when it comes time for contract renogoiations.

I may be wrong.

Diving Police

Dear Sportsmouth,

I do enjoy the game of football (soccer) and am pleased to see the Australian A-League starting to get to a reasonably competitive level. John Aloisi's return is a great thing for the game here and the influx of Brazilian players makes the game even better to watch. The A-League needs to take one step in my opinion. It's one that FIFA don't have the balls to take at risk of offending the large powers in world football I'm guessing. The step involves the eradication of diving to time waste and procure free kicks and penalties.

It's the single biggest reason I also hate the game. The stakes in football are high. A goal is worth so much as is the game itself these days and players will do whatever they can in order to get a win. You can't blame them. Now of course one can recall the Australia v Italy game at the recent World Cup as an example but it happens in almost every game I watch. I watched bits and pieces of the Women's World Cup and was pleased to see none of it happening at all for some time until I watched Brazil play late in the tournament and the game nose dived for me once again. Quite disgraceful.

So as much as the A-League would like to stay in line with the FIFA rules ans regulations, they should go out on a limb here and introduce the only way of stamping this out of the game: video review. I'm not talking about mid-game video review which sees most traditional football fans jump out of there recliners and scream "sacrilege" (although I wouldn't mind seeing it, but that's another issue), I'm talking about post-game video review. Every game in the A-League is broadcast on Fox Sports and it would not take a lot to review each game and cite players who have taken a dive. If a player is found guilty of diving, a big penalty results. It has to be a big one. Perhaps 4 or 5 games as a base?

It would definitely stop most diving in the league here and would make big headlines in the world of football. Our little league down here doing something that no one else has the courage to do. We may still have a problem of diving in finals which can have a large bearing on the game but perhaps that's when mid-game reviews wouldn't go astray.

Michael

Moto GP

Moto GP is for any motorsport enthusiast, a weekend of bikes, bikes and beer!! The Phillip Island GP takes place a few km's from the town of Cowes, which becomes a hub for the whole event, with many of the stars regulars at the few restaurants that exist in town. As the photo shows, Moto GP star Colin Edwards couldn't wait to be in a photo with sportsmouth and friends at the best pizza joint in town and is a good indication of the relaxed atmosphere that exists around this event and also why the riders love to come to Australia for this round.

As for the results, well Casey Stoner (aussie) continued to dominate with a very popular win in the main category followed by his teammate Loris Capirossi and all time legend Valentino Rossi. The other two Aussies in the event performed well, but were probably dissapointed to not have finished higher at their home GP.

All in all this is an awesome weekend of bikes, bikes and beer and if you're one of those naysayers, who suggest these guys are overpaid for what they do, I suggest that you come and see for yourself, once you see them flying down the main straight at over 300km/h, you may change your mind while thinking to yourself, they couldn't pay me enough to do that!!

And about the only technical knowledge I have is that at anytime, the amount of contact the bike tyre has on the track, is about the same width as your credit card!! At 300km/h I'm sure it feels alot less!!

Big pay checks, yes, bigger balls, you bet!!!!!

A good reason to pick England

This was emailed to me by a friend, please read with all the sarcasm you can muster!!!

Actually I am picking England because:

Jonny Wilkinson is a god.

Mike Catt is one of the greatest players of all time

Brian Ashtons magnificent game plan against Australia was just pure genius – I mean who would have thought that England would play aggressive, forward driven 10 man rugby. I didn’t see it coming. Clive Woodward was knighted for his services to rugby, they will have to marry this guru to one of the Royal Family.

They beat us without the pace and grace of Andy Farrell. Really, when this amazing athlete is fit who will be able stop the English Juggernaut.

I cant stand Bernard Laporte. He looks like the evil German out of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

The English management cleverly got Steve Harmisson to give the Wallabies a speech on how to perform in pressure situations in sport.

The fact that the English front row were able to just hold their own against the murderous Australian front row. Phil Vickery must have been having nightmares all week about facing Dunning.

They showed extreme composure and excellent sportsmanship by not falling about in laughter when Stephen Moore attempted to clear the ball from off the wallabies line.

So, time to pack away the Wallabies Jersey and pull out my old white rash vest and get behind the English.

Can someone e-mail we the words to God Save the Queen?

Brent Berrick

Mmm....whoops!

I think they may have been the words uttered by both the New Zealand and Australian coaching staff, after watching their respective teams go down in the quarter finals of the rugby world cup!

The Wallabies, to say they were terrible would be talking them up and I'm not saying that because I'm a one eyed (I really have two eyes!) Aussie, but their game plan seemed to consist of trying to make England believe they were playing against inept school boys and thus lull them into also making school boy errors like we did, then bam, smash 'em!!!

So our scrum got smashed, but we knew it would, but it just had to hold on long enough to get the ball in and out, but Gregan continually took an age to get the ball in, which didn't help. The forwards as a whole were disgraceful, never really competing in any area, all in all terrible. The back line struggled, as any backline will that doesn't have a reasonable forward platform, buth they also were well below par, kicking with no apparent purpose and when they did hit the line and look to offload.....nothing, not one support player!

I believe that the wallabies are the most overcoached team in the world, but in all the wrong areas, i'm sure they could all to a man tell you about an oppositon teams strengths and weaknesses and so forth, but I've yet to see a top tier nation produce so many basic errors with ball in hand and at the breakdown!!!

Try this for the first few sessions next year, catch and pass, catch and pass!!!

As for the All Blacks, as much as their supporters complain about a forward pass that went unnoticed, what also seems to have gone unnoticed is the fact that the so called best team in the world led twice, once by 13 points and again later by 5!! So they couldn't close it out and lost to the French again when it really counts!!

As for the other two matches, I cheered on Fiji and thought just maybe when they had fought back to 20 apiece, but they were done in the end, and Argentina have made their first semi final and a just reward for that first up win against France.

France to beat the Poms and Boks to beat Pumas!

RWC Qtr Finals

It's getting towards the business end of the world cup and after a couple of upsets in the group stage, this has left us with some juicy quarter final match ups.

Aust v England

The first game of the quarters and will be closer then most people think, as the poms still have a reasonable pack of forwards and a front row which could really upset the wallabies, and of course they have Johnny Drop goal (although he's had more different injuries then he's played tests since the last world cup)

Although the wallabies will be missing Stephen Larkham, I believe that the combination of Berrick Barnes and Mat Giteau looks the goods, with Giteau receiving more ball and taking more responsibility, which makes him more dangerous.

Wallabies by 12

France v New Zealand

Meeting earlier then everyone expected, this game could throw the whole cup wide open, if as has happened before the Les Bleus find their game, they could take the All Blacks out of the tournament. The french have made some changes replacing their normal first choice number 10 Federic Michelak, who generally stands with one foot either side of the line between genius and basket case, his replacement is known as a more traditional stand off, who will kick long before thinking of chancing his hand!

Another curious selection is of "The Beast" Chabal being picked to come off the bench, if I was picking this team I would start him to hand some of the physical staff back to Jerry Collins and his merry men.

I would love to see the cheese eating surrender monkeys (these are not my words, thanks Tim) win, but the Blacks should come through.

South Africa v Fiji

Go Fiji!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Argentina v Scotland

The only thing to worry about is if Argentina lose their composure and give away to many penalties, then the Scots will literally kick them out, they beat Italy without scoring a try!!!!!

Grand Final Wash Up

Well that's it for the local footy codes, Geelong absolutely smashed Port, in what must've been one of the most lopsided GF in history.

Melb. Storm then did something similar to Manly in the NRL, so the bookies were right by having Storm short to win by 13+

So next up is the Rugby World Cup quarter finals.