I think that Richie McCaw should be knighted, but anyway on to the blog...
It strikes me that to win things you have to be positive. You have to have an optimistic outlook on life, relationships and sport.
And maybe that's what's wrong with us Scots, perhaps even us Brits - we are just too cynical, too sneering, and too negative. And that permeates into our sport - scared as we are, actually, of even allowing people to take part in sport.
So I am going to skip by some of the more obvious comments about refereeing inconsistencies which can stay on twitter and talk of the tournament instead.
Read the rest of this entry
Right, here it is, what the world has been waiting for: the BBC Sport website's Rugby World Cup team of the tournament. Ten All Blacks, three Welshmen and two Frenchmen - and only one Englishman warrants an 'honourable mention', which tells its own story.
There were two basic provisos: players were picked on performances in the tournament rather than reputation and players could not be picked out of position. Therefore, no inside-centres playing 13 (that means you, Roberts) and no open-sides playing on the opposite flank (that means you, O'Brien). So, having rolled the grenades under the door, it is time to bid a hasty retreat and watch the flak fly from the safety of our office...
NB. While Jeremy Guscott and Kingsley Jones have kindly provided us with player comments, it should be pointed out that this team was not picked by them but by the BBC Sport website rugby team.
Read the rest of this entry
Auckland, North Island
On Sunday night, New Zealand will run out at Eden Park as clear favourites to be crowned world champions for the second time.
Many rational judges cannot see them failing. Even if France do pull off one of the great upsets and deny them the Webb Ellis Cup, the All Blacks can still lay claim to being - historically, consistently - the best team in world rugby by a country mile.
Controversial stuff? Not really. Since the start of Test rugby, the All Blacks have a win percentage of almost 75%. No-one else gets close. Not South Africa at 62%, nor France at 55%. Certainly not England, Australia or Wales with 53%, 52% and 51% respectively.
How has one small nation dominated the sport for so long? What makes New Zealanders so good at rugby? And why, World Cup wins aside, is that supremacy actually growing? Since Graham Henry took charge of the national team in 2004, New Zealand's win percentage has climbed to a staggering 85%.
Read the rest of this entry
© 2011