Lift your game fellas!

Watching the game on Fox between England and Australia on Saturday night left the impression that the Wallabies aren't the only ones that need to lift their game.

The Fox commentators were not at their best and given the way the men in gold were playing it might have had something to do with it.

Phil Kearns in particular, calling the French referee, Mr Romain Poite, “POITE!” over and over was the icing on the cake. It may have been funny the first time but not throughout the whole game.

Going a bit deep here but we are living in times where people are becoming more sensitive (rightly or wrongly) to these types of things and everyone has to adjust accordingly. In other words, if you are not willing to move with the times, you may be left high and dry.

If you were having a chat down at the local club, then fair enough but you are commentating to a global audience and with that comes an added responsibility. At times, you guys don’t appear to have recognised this and/or made the necessary adjustments.

Personally, I don’t mind a bit of bias commentating and your team is quite humorous generally (at Super 14 level anyway) but at International level it probably requires a little more tact.

The referee actually had a good game and I'm not sure what your issue was Mr Kearns but Mr Poite made you look a bit foolish in the end. Let's hope you learn from it.

Neemia Tialata Signs Cop Car

After originally declaring on Twitter that he 'just got pulled up by a cop to sign the bonnet of his car' regular twitterer and the incumbent All Black front rower, Neemia Tialata (twitter.com/neyza3), had to later admit to his concerned followers that 'he didn't pull me over it's my Cop/Trainer mate that wanted me to sign his car.'

Not entirely sure of the facts but it looks like the NZ Herald is now running a story on Sunday about this picture of him signing his mates car. Apparently Jerry Collins did something similiar a few years ago. Tialata wasn't particulary happy and said 'no more pics because some people like to take it too seriously & waste news paper/news space! Booo #media, a big thumbs down..!'

Looks like I have managed to waste a bit more space but let's see what happens.

Bring Back Buck?

The All Blacks don't seem to have a specialist number 8 of any great quality at the moment and I have an idea.

Many may argue that converted number 8, Kerian Read is the answer but I am not convinced. Don't get me wrong he is a handy player and is obviously well respected by his peers but just don't think he is the long term answer at 8 for the All Blacks.

There just doesn't seem to be anyone else putting their hand up at the moment. Short of making a comeback myself maybe it's time to bring back Buck? Fit or not just get him on the field. His presence alone might be enough to strike fear into the opposition.

If Wayne 'Buck' Shelford was playing you could rest easy because it was almost inevitable that the All Blacks would win. In fact, apart from being a member of NZ's first and only World Cup winning side, he captained the All Blacks undefeated from 1987 to 1990.

He encompassed everything that was great about Rugby. He showed great leadership, respect, toughness and most of all, was humble. Qualities that may elude some of the players running around these days.

However, it got me thinking, is there anything else you would like to bring back from the good old days or Rugby that's perhaps missing in the modern era?

Rugby Terminology Is Becoming Americanised

With the embers, from the recently completed Super 14, still smouldering it might be a good time to reflect on a subtle change that appears to be taking place. Is it me or is there a hint of ‘Americanism’s’ or ‘Americanisation’ associated with Super Rugby these days?

Perhaps it’s stating the obvious, and to quote Jerry Seinfield, “not that there’s anything wrong with that”. It just seems to be more obvious of late.

Many might argue that it’s just part and parcel of the professional era and modelling a successful formula is a no-brainer. But since when did we start using words traditionally associated with American sport to describe rugby?

The following are just a few examples that seem to becoming more noticeable of late, and there are most likely others that have surfaced also.

‘Franchise‘ has replaced province or State; semi-finals are now considered ‘playoffs‘; and the word ‘conference‘ is now used to describe the three competing countries.

Just wondering if this is a deliberate ploy, or like ‘creeping moss’, has crept into the game over time – or is that ‘ball game’ over time?

Culturally, it seems to be a shift in the way rugby is now described, and those that still prefer a meat pie smothered in tomato sauce over a hotdog with ketchup may become an endangered species at this rate.