In comparison, France will only mishandle twice every five minutes.

My Bad, that should be "__once__ every five minutes", but you figured that out already didn't you?

Eeep. That does it. I am *definitely* staying in the kitchen for the match on Sunday. I will fry up everything I can lay my hands on until it's all over

I'm with you, and reading Chris Rattue in todays Herald claiming that France 'pose absolutely no threat to the?

but why oh why do we have a group of sports journalists who seem to oscillate wildly (tm) between two modes

I much prefer them to be defeatist thanks. In 03 they went on about us thrashing?

*What does that mean? Cakewalk?

I think a cakewalk is a bit like a sashay, only more manly.

Nervous about France.?

Unless you have exactly the sames teams playing in each game you are not comparing apples with apples ever.

This means that the history in the tournament doesn't mean?

>>One kind of contest popular in the African-American community in the 19th century was the "cakewalk," in which couples competed strolling arm in arm, with the prize, a cake, being awarded to the most graceful and stylish team.

Since "cakewalking" demanded both?

Oh, and well done guys, another PA thread makes the MSM

Dropkicks definitely deserve more whisky.

Averaging averages is not as conclusive as you would have us believe. In fact there are certain?

I was also thinking of something John Hart said on Campbell Live about forgetting the world cup history and looking to the future.?

__The Italian scrum won 97% of its own put ins (equal with England) and 22% of the opposition's put ins. This awesome scrum power is the reason Italy is also?

That starts now. And I'm still picking us to beat the?

And I'm still picking us to beat the French by a substantial margin.

Russell!!! Why on Earth would you say such a thing? Have you not learned from years gone by?

HUBRIS PEOPLE! WE'RE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

Pipeline is a cakewalk when you know how.

Jerry Lopez.

[[http://www.sportsfreak.co.nz/show-column.asp?ID=384|?

If you optimists need us, Richard and David and I will be over here in the separate superstitious sporting-goth area, frying mushrooms and quietly panicking.

And yes, we'll do over France.?

Also if anyone can get me all of the player stats I would lurve to analyse them.

These are fascinating Hadyn — Dropkicks drop-kick the MSM again! — but irrelevant on a single count: they were not forged in the cauldron of real pressure test rugby

but surely that's the point.

this much poor handling and other assorted bad stats were versus a bunch of minnows.

how?

What does that mean? Cakewalk?

Apparently it has something to do with hoecake.

Great stats. With all those turnovers and tries per minute of possession, all we have to cut down on the unforced errors and hope the lineout still works.

From not-so-sunny CHCH, over and out.

I think that's meant to be trawling the internet as in dragging a net to snare information.

As for the statistical breakdowns; it all means niente if the All Blacks lose when it matters most. And we've all been there and seen that. I bet?

Selections were interesting. Keith Robinson I can understand. He needs some game time if he's going to be worth playing for the rest of?

I can't imagine one million PNG people getting up at 2am to watch the All Blacks.

If the good people of Papua New Guinea are such avid rugby watchers, then wouldn't TV3 be better off selling the ad space in the broadcast to PNG companies rather than the apparently insignificant?

I don't understand the fascination with McAlister over Mauger, who I think is exactly the person you'd want in the backline come crunch time in the big games – reliable, experienced, less likely to make fatal errors.

If McAlister throws just one of those loopy bloody passes, I'm gonna...actually I?

No offence KM, but that is utter, utter rubbish.

If a bloody Twickers crowd can chant ?Allez Bleu? non-stop throughout the 2nd half in 1999, the Welsh shouldn?t find it too much of challenge?

Great stats. With all those turnovers and tries per minute of possession, all we have to cut down on the unforced errors and hope the lineout still works.

Shit. DEFINITE signs of 2003.

I remain an optimist though, and refer back to the first Dropklck World Cup post, which said?

He usually hides out in burning bushes, places like that. Got that on the highest authority.

No offence KM, but that is utter, utter rubbish.
If a bloody Twickers crowd can chant ?Allez Bleu? non-stop throughout the 2nd half in 1999, the Welsh shouldn?t find it too much of challenge following suit.
When will people realise the All Blacks can come across as arrogant to northern?

Sure, there will be a lot of black Adidas tracksuit trousers there, but they will be in the minority, and were also there at Twickers in 99.

But the majority will be Welsh locals (they didn?t wangle their way to co-hosting rights just to flick off all their tickets?

I remain an optimist though, and refer back to the first Dropklck World Cup post, which said of the Argentine-France match "this has upset written all over it" and also picked an NZ – SA final. Holden' ya to that.

heh, is this a bad time to mention that we?

If a bloody Twickers crowd can chant ?Allez Bleu? non-stop throughout the 2nd half in 1999, the Welsh shouldn?t find it too much of challenge following suit.
When will people realise the All Blacks can come across as arrogant to northern hemisphere audiences?

But any fool could have seen months?

BTW, I went to an All Black / Wales test at the old Cardiff Arms Park in the 1980s; ?respect? is probably the last word I?d use to describe the crowd?s view of the?

I was, unfortunately, surrounding by a bunch of old Welsh...people and I haven't had any respect for them?

When will people realise the All Blacks can come across as arrogant to northern hemisphere audiences?

Even living there I couldn't (and can't) understand the bee in English bonnets over All Black arrogance, however it goes both ways. An English mate of mine once said he couldn't see any arrogance?

Shit. DEFINITE signs of 2003.

Heh. Yep. Still, I tend to think we will beat the French. This team does not have the defensive and tactical frailties of our 1999 side.

IMO the Mitchell/Henry All Blacks have been and remain the best rugby team in the world, as assessed by?

From not-so-sunny CHCH, over and out.

Oh, quit your whinging, it stopped sleeting.

Removing my tongue from my cheek for a while, what I found really embarrassing was Hamish McKay describing the All Blacks/France match requiring a coin toss to decide who wore which jersey as 'French shenanigans'. FFS, France?

the crowd chanting Allez Bleus

That could backfire, I mean the All Blacks don't know French (apart from Anton) and so would hear a two syllable chant that sounds a lot like "All Blacks, All Blacks"

Pretty awful I?d imagine.

The Australians looked pretty impressive in those statistics, especially their defensive lineout (We should totally get us one of those. Who cares about our scrum if we keep dropping the ball and can't kick it out?)

Or don't kick it out. There's no stat for it, but I think the?

That said, I'm committed to not doubting this time... last time, well last time I didn't doubt despite having my doubts. Particularly, doubts that is not times, about players?

Besides, not insides, I'm going to bravely go to the same pub as last time – the Dolphin on Crown St – stand where I did last time – alone – and cheer like I did last time

Heh – I admire your fortitude. I watched same game at the?

Brilliant breakdown dropkicks – Ms Nelson must be anxious about her well deserved spot at the top of the empirical pile.

Not a chance. We "interviewed" Tracey last year for the podcast and I really do mean "interviewed". I just said "hello" and she went and rattled off hundreds of?

I think there's a lot more respect between NZ and Wales (both in, and outside of rugby), than NZ and England.

Not to mention than between Wales & England.

I suspect the Welsh will back the ABs over France. But we'll see.

She's expecting there to be a lot of NZ supporters at the game — much more so than French.

Also:

Some hilarious stories about Welsh?

Or don't kick it out

Yeah, I might rephrase that. In the years after our 50-21 win in 2003, the Australians stopped kicking the ball to our back three so much and tried to put the ball out in our 22, backing themselves to disrupt our lineout.

With a 34%?

Our front row is excellent, and due props for that

Boom boom!

and there are also lots of stories about the "minnows roaring"

Which also translates to a unified support for the underdog throughout the tournament. It?s been very evident in France too.

Which is another reason why only those wearing Adidas will be cheering for the All Blacks in Cardiff.

That French team: They're going to play a conservative game against us, by shifting a 2nd-5 to fullback and playing a 21yo in his first season of international rugby at 1st-5, on the basis of?

Our front row is excellent, and due props for that, but I'd rather have an excellent lineout and an adequate scrum than the other way around.

Especially in this tournament, where scrum superiority doesn't appear to be bringing much benefit.

Maybe it's time for Ali Williams to start stealing some?

Oh, quit your whinging, it stopped sleeting.

indeed. you can imagine my surprise to leave a windless wellington morning to arrive in hailstorm in chch.

ndeed. you can imagine my surprise to leave a windless wellington morning to arrive in hailstorm in chch.

We had three hailstorms yesterday. The one that hammered down on the marquee being used for the Triangle Stratos launch was a cracker.

Party pill millionaire Logan Millar has died at the age of 31
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10467762

That French team: They're going to play a conservative game against us, by shifting a 2nd-5 to fullback and playing a 21yo in his first season of international rugby at 1st-5, on the basis of his game against, um, Georgia. Exxxcellent ...

I don't understand the French selection. Surely the?

nice here in nelson but.

and... if the french selection is insane. c'est la vie.

heh. stoopid french.

But think back to the Buck Shelford testicle game in Nantes 1986; it didn?t get past their #10 that day.

Big call to try that against this?

1999: Our best fullback is switched to centre.?

Of the players at the RWC, Mils is our best fullback, then Evans, followed by Howlett. Carter?s probably at #4.

I?ll give you Calamity McDonald is next.

I?ll give you Calamity McDonald is next.

That's a bit harsh. McDonald isn't a massive linebreaker, but he's very reliable, defends very well, and has vision, and kicks well. Sets up his outside man when he hits the line. Very good under the high ball, and I think he hardly?

Not as often as Sivi does of course, but still..

I'd be bloody surprised if he's not starting for the rest of the tournament ahead of one of Joe or Sivi.

Assuming there is a "rest of the tournament" of course....

The jitteriness is palpable.

I agree with Kyle's summary. McDonald is almost never out of position and kicks well. He doesn't pose as much of a threat in lose play himself but is just as good at putting people in space as Mils if not better.

I think so. He returns the ball very?

After the dire season that was 1998 and the 5 consecutive losses I developed an approach that I call happiness insurance.

Put simply I started to bet against the All Blacks. the reasoning being?

You, Sir, are a Cad and a Bounder, and I hope the Sydenham boys hurt you good.

I'd be bloody surprised if he's not starting for the rest of the tournament ahead of one of Joe or Sivi.

Assuming there is a "rest of the tournament" of course....

If there is a game after Sunday this will prove to have been a "horses for courses" selection. Mauger?

If it makes you feel any better there's a little post-script to the story that I'm sure you'll appreciate.

If there is a God I am now convinced he?

Rob,
I'm given to understand that cad-ish and bounder-ish qualities are to be expected in those of the journalistic persuasion ;-)

Yeah.

But in a GOOD way.

God is definitely an ABs fan, even if he is hiding out in the numbers at the moment.

Oh, and Free Sione!

Done.

Paul Rowe's selection for the game against the Wallabies will provide a great basis for comparison. I also think Mauger (not because McAlister missed Mortlock's inside break – has anyone ever seen him beat a man on?

McDonald isn't a massive linebreaker

In the 2006 Super 14 Leon MacDonald finished the regular season with the most linebreaks. I know, we weren't expecting it either.

Un excellent blogueur néo-zélandais a réalisé une étude statistique assez poussée qui concerne les 8 équipes encore en lice. On se croirait à la grande époque de la palette de Canal. En plus, visiblement, la France a toutes les chances de gagner si l'on en croit les?

And guess which excellent blogueur they're talking about?

It's not that bloody Kiwiblog is it?

Un excellent blogueur néo-zélandais

C'est tres choice!

I really like the word blogueur. It's just a little bit more elegant than blogger. I guess that makes me une blogueuse.

I guess that makes me une blogueuse.

Better than being a bloguette.

Graham Henry got everything he asked for. Rotation has been a total, abject failure – our high tech jet fighters have turned out to be hanger queens and the players who were not kept in cotton wool, like Hoare and Williams, were the best on?

I think McAlister went for the dropgoal because the ref had his arm out for advantage. We should've just dropped the ball and given Evans the chance to slot it over.

Agree on both points. I'm not sure what advantage accrued to and expected the ABs to have the option?

--I think McAlister went for the dropgoal because the ref had his arm out for advantage. We should've just dropped the ball and given Evans the chance to slot it over.--

Agree on both points. I'm not sure what advantage accrued to and expected the ABs to have the option?

As was said earlier, I'm sure we'll all be over come Tuesday

The NZRFU has to now sit down and work out if we want to be the?

More to the point was the infringing at the breakdown hands etc in the last quarter. Not spotted by the touchies or if it was spotted not acted on.

Yup. This was a doozy. WTF?

But, we lost. We lost because we weren't good enough. We lost because the french?

The NZRFU has to now sit down and work out if we want to be the Harlem Globetrotters of international rugby or if we want to be the RWC champions. We can't be both. Personally, I would like the All Blacks to be world champions not world clowns.

And yet?

I guess its inevitable that knives will come out for the players and coaches, but do we really have to sh*t on our team after every World Cup? Will we do to Carter and McCaw what we did to Carlos Spencer and Andrew Mehrtens?

Barnes didn't have a great?

Will we do to Carter and McCaw what we did to Carlos Spencer and Andrew Mehrtens?

short answer: yes

We wheeled one and Richie McCaw was pinged for not binding properly (marginal but that's cool, Grant Fox muttered "I thought you were still allowed to turn the scrum in rugby"). We then wheeled the next one and it was only called when all the All?