I think England will bounce back a bit from their thrashing by the Springboks. Obviously I do not think they will win but I cannot see them losing by 36 points again (as much as I would like them to.) It's a big test for Martin Johnson's ability to motivate his players; to have to play the All Blacks after suffering last week's hammering is pretty tough. I don't think any of them will expect they can win the game so if he can encourage them sufficiently to work hard and keep the margin within 20 points he will have done well. The All Blacks are yet to concede a try on tour so far and I see nothing in the England attack to suggest this will change. England will stay in the hunt early with a few penalty goals but the All Blacks will run away with it like they always do; 34-9
The Wallabies have their toughest task of the tour against Wales. For me, Wales are the strongest Northern Hemisphere side at the moment. They showed a tremendous amount of determination against the All Blacks and they are always fired up in front of their home crowd. I always knew the All Blacks would come back in the second half last week, Wales were never going to be able to keep up the intensity for the full 80 minutes but they really played some good rugby throughout the match (the Haka stand off was pretty good too.) Before this round of tests, Wales will have backed themselves to win at least one of their matches against the tri-nations sides and they will definitely fancy their chances against Australia. The France v Australia game was not televised here so I did not get to see it but from what I read the Wallabies were a little fortunate to win with Skrela missing so many shots at goal. Having said that I also believe they put on a solid performance in the second half which is not something they managed to do when it counted in the Bledisloe tests this year. They seem to have managed to keep the momentum up for the full 80 on this tour and that will be essential to a victory against Wales. The Welsh pack are not as daunting as some of the other northern hemisphere packs so I think the Wallabies should really look to impose themselves in the forwards to further prove they are a pack of substance. Phil Waugh will be looking for a big game to show he is still a world class openside. Both sides like to play open rugby so look for the backs to get plenty of ball. I really think Wales can win a close encounter but if Australia defend the way they have on tour so far then I can see them still being in it with 20 to go and if they are, they will win. Wallabies by 7
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Put that in the papers
Well what a fantastic day Saturday turned out to be. There really is nothing quite like beating the English and the Wallabies really put on a fine display of test match rugby to do so comprehensively. As you know, certain members of the rugby press over here spent the entire week building up to the match vilifying the Australian scrum and Al Baxter in particular. Baxter and his pack can leave England with their heads held high after not just competing with the England scrum, but outplaying them entirely. They won 2 tightheads and forced 3 scrum penalties; Andrew Sheridan was forced off injured and Phil Vickery was pedestrian.
The rugby press in England should be eating up large slices of humble pie this week but have largely shown no contrition for their pathetic pre-game attacks on the Australian forwards. The one-eyed monster that is Times columnist Stephen Jones, who was the author of the worst comments during the week, could barely bring himself to credit the Wallabies with the win. Even in one of the 2 sentences he devoted to acknowledging Australia’s win, he prefixed it by saying the Wallabies were the weakest of the 3 teams in this year’s tri-nations. Given that South Africa secured the wooden spoon with still 2 games to play, and Australia were only 4 points short in the final test match of winning the competition, the comment is inaccurate to say the least. While he begrudgingly states that by the end, Australia were comfortable up front, he spends more time suggesting the officials didn’t have a clue about refereeing the scrum and goes on to say that Australia actually had a “scrummaging escape.”
None of this really comes as any real surprise. All the column inches printed pre game just made the win even more satisfying. The continued petulance of Stephen Jones since then just shows what a narrow-minded fool he really is.
The articles in the English papers obviously focus on England’s performance rather than Australia’s, which is to be expected; but not all of the writers feel the need to make things personal. David Hands, who is also a Times rugby correspondent, offers a good analogy of the match without the petty comments about the Wallaby team. Robert Kitson in The Guardian does the same. Kitson does however suggest that the England front row were due to be served “a colossal helping of humble pie,” which I feel is a poor comment to make. Andrew Sheridan had actually stated during the week that he respected the Australian scrum and knew they had improved from the World Cup quarter final loss and he didn’t expect to dominate in the same way. It’s the journos that should be eating their words Robert, not Sheridan.
Of course it doesn’t really matter to me what the journalists say about the game over here. There are some who will never give Australia credit for their rugby exploits, no matter what they did. The Wallabies could win the next world cup without conceding a single point along the way and it still wouldn’t be good enough. All that matters is what happens on the pitch and what happened on the pitch on Saturday was fantastic. We’ve suffered at the hands of the English plenty of times, especially at Twickenham, which is one of the reasons to savour victory even more. 5th time lucky for Dad; it make the whole trip worthwhile I’m sure.
The rugby press in England should be eating up large slices of humble pie this week but have largely shown no contrition for their pathetic pre-game attacks on the Australian forwards. The one-eyed monster that is Times columnist Stephen Jones, who was the author of the worst comments during the week, could barely bring himself to credit the Wallabies with the win. Even in one of the 2 sentences he devoted to acknowledging Australia’s win, he prefixed it by saying the Wallabies were the weakest of the 3 teams in this year’s tri-nations. Given that South Africa secured the wooden spoon with still 2 games to play, and Australia were only 4 points short in the final test match of winning the competition, the comment is inaccurate to say the least. While he begrudgingly states that by the end, Australia were comfortable up front, he spends more time suggesting the officials didn’t have a clue about refereeing the scrum and goes on to say that Australia actually had a “scrummaging escape.”
None of this really comes as any real surprise. All the column inches printed pre game just made the win even more satisfying. The continued petulance of Stephen Jones since then just shows what a narrow-minded fool he really is.
The articles in the English papers obviously focus on England’s performance rather than Australia’s, which is to be expected; but not all of the writers feel the need to make things personal. David Hands, who is also a Times rugby correspondent, offers a good analogy of the match without the petty comments about the Wallaby team. Robert Kitson in The Guardian does the same. Kitson does however suggest that the England front row were due to be served “a colossal helping of humble pie,” which I feel is a poor comment to make. Andrew Sheridan had actually stated during the week that he respected the Australian scrum and knew they had improved from the World Cup quarter final loss and he didn’t expect to dominate in the same way. It’s the journos that should be eating their words Robert, not Sheridan.
Of course it doesn’t really matter to me what the journalists say about the game over here. There are some who will never give Australia credit for their rugby exploits, no matter what they did. The Wallabies could win the next world cup without conceding a single point along the way and it still wouldn’t be good enough. All that matters is what happens on the pitch and what happened on the pitch on Saturday was fantastic. We’ve suffered at the hands of the English plenty of times, especially at Twickenham, which is one of the reasons to savour victory even more. 5th time lucky for Dad; it make the whole trip worthwhile I’m sure.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Carling Cup fourth round.
Off to The Lane tonight to see defending Carling Cup champions Tottenham Hotspur take on Liverpool, who are currently second in the Premier League on goal difference.
Liverpool came to White Hart Lane last Sunday and left with no points after Spurs came from a goal down to win 2-1 in stoppage time. It will be a different story tonight as I think both managers will rest some first teamers though I think Rafa will rest more than Harry. Liverpool think they are chasing a title and so this is one cup they aren't all that interested in. Spurs on the other hand probably won't be qualifying for Europe through the league again this season and so will see the Carling Cup as their best opportunity to do so. Plus, they will be keen to defend the trophy they won this year in February.
Gerrard and Keane won't play for Liverpool but Torres will and he is always dangerous. Spurs are on a great run since Harry came on board but it has to end eventually. I'm not saying it's going to be tonight but it wouldn't surprise me if it does. I'm still going to tip Spurs but I'm going to say 2-1 after extra time.
Come on you Spurs
Liverpool came to White Hart Lane last Sunday and left with no points after Spurs came from a goal down to win 2-1 in stoppage time. It will be a different story tonight as I think both managers will rest some first teamers though I think Rafa will rest more than Harry. Liverpool think they are chasing a title and so this is one cup they aren't all that interested in. Spurs on the other hand probably won't be qualifying for Europe through the league again this season and so will see the Carling Cup as their best opportunity to do so. Plus, they will be keen to defend the trophy they won this year in February.
Gerrard and Keane won't play for Liverpool but Torres will and he is always dangerous. Spurs are on a great run since Harry came on board but it has to end eventually. I'm not saying it's going to be tonight but it wouldn't surprise me if it does. I'm still going to tip Spurs but I'm going to say 2-1 after extra time.
Come on you Spurs
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Communication Breakdown
I'm leaving London in a month's time so there is little time left for me to complain about the tube. I have said once before on this blog that it shouldn't really be used to rant about how bad the tube is and that hasn't been the case. I actually think that once you have lived in London for long enough, you stop bothering to complain about the tube. I have come to regard it as actually quite reliable of late; I don't know whether that is because it is reliable or whether my standards have just fallen. But really it's not that bad and one doesn't bother to complain about it any more because it's not going to achieve anything and will essentially just be a waste of energy.
What does bother me enough to have once complained, but now just to be bothered by and not complain; is the trivial things that seem to wreak havoc on the system. I appreciate that things go wrong and things break down, especially with such ageing infrastructure; but it's the lacklustre response by London Underground staff to many of these situtions that annoys.
Yesterday morning (Monday, everyone's favourite day) the station nearest my office was completely shut because of 'faulty communications equipment.' So essentially the station staffs' walkie-talkies had flat batteries and this is enough to shut down an entire station serving 3 of the busiest lines on the network. What on earth did they do before they had radios?
Like I said though, I'm not complaining.
What does bother me enough to have once complained, but now just to be bothered by and not complain; is the trivial things that seem to wreak havoc on the system. I appreciate that things go wrong and things break down, especially with such ageing infrastructure; but it's the lacklustre response by London Underground staff to many of these situtions that annoys.
Yesterday morning (Monday, everyone's favourite day) the station nearest my office was completely shut because of 'faulty communications equipment.' So essentially the station staffs' walkie-talkies had flat batteries and this is enough to shut down an entire station serving 3 of the busiest lines on the network. What on earth did they do before they had radios?
Like I said though, I'm not complaining.
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