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Having watched the Ireland game and the first English test on TV here in Europe, my thoughts are with you all back in New Zealand. I feel somewhat guilty given the conditions in Wellington and the temperatures in Auckland since I'm sitting here in blazing June sunshine in the South of France. I'm just down the road from the new second home of the All Blacks, Toulon. Most of the advertising world is at Cannes for the 55th Advertising Festival where Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand did extremely well winning a handful of Lions. I'm in St. Tropez. I've been coming here since the late 60's and 5 years ago bought a place in a brand new golf complex. I don't play golf but I do play a lot of tennis and we're fortunate enough to have 3 beautiful traditional clay courts in the complex. I know every inch of these courts since for the last two days I've been locked in mortal combat with a rugby loving Argentinean mate of mine, Pablo del Campo. A 2-1/2 hour 3 setter earlier in the week saw me scrape home in the cool of the evening. On the following day we played in the heat of the midday sun for 3 hours involving 3 tie break sets which Pablo finally won after having covered every inch of the court with top spin lob, after lob, after lob breaking up his monotonous top spin forehand and sliced backhand learned while growing up on clay in Buenos Aires. Still it all came right when Argentina went down to Scotland and New Zealand put the Poms away. And the epic decider is this Saturday (me vs. Pablo I mean). Next month Toulon starts pre-season training and I'm looking forward to catching up with Tana and the boys. It will be home from home with Merts, Jerry Collins, Anton Oliver and co all playing down the road. Their arrival in Toulon has set the whole region on fire and Tana has already become a local personality and cult hero. It will be interesting to see how some of the precious French first division teams fancy taking on these veteran All Blacks in the southern French sun. The boys will certainly love the lifestyle here since it's all about the ocean, sunshine, outdoor sports, families, and great food. Not difficult to figure out why they are here!! The week before the first English Test I was in Saatchi & Saatchi's offices in London. The Poms were up to their usual tricks. Talking up this England team, how the front row was going to demolish us, how they had too much pace in the backs and how Hodgson would command the game at ten. The media got on the same bandwagon and listening to Rob Andrew you'd think he came from a different planet. My elder son Ben also works at Saatchi in London and both of us were getting lots of stick from all and sundry before the game. It all went very quiet on Monday and at the time of writing we haven't heard a peep from any of our distinguished English colleagues on the topic. |
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I thought the performances against Ireland and England were both gutsy, controlled and capable. Like all New Zealand I was excited by the Carter, Smith, Nonu midfield and if you add Muliaina, Rokocoko, and Sivivatu to the mix then it looks like we're in for more excitement. The Tri Series, for once, is looming up full of interest and intrigue. Robbie Deans vs. Graham Henry is worth crossing continents for. And South Africa as world champions will not be in a hurry for a repeat of 1996 when Fitzy took the boys to the Republic and gave them a stuffing. It's going to be a big ask, particularly without Hayman, Jack, Collins, Evans, Maugher and Co but with McCaw and Carter in the mix you can never say never. I hope we'll see Ali Williams step up and become the dominant player he can be. He has the talent and the skill; he just needs to put it together and perhaps the added responsibility in the absence of Chris Jack will be the making of him. If he can dominate Mattfield then we can beat the world Cup holders. Whilst all this has been going on, I've been watching some of the most entertaining football I've seen in years. Euro 2008 is well underway as I write without the spoiled brats of English Football even qualifying. We're seeing a fascinating competition between the defensive, traditional older teams and the new, modern, attacking youthful sides. Epitomized best by the World Cup Finalists France and Italy representing the old and Holland, Portugal, and Crotia representing the new. France were in a group of death and have already gone home. Portugal played brilliant football and made it through to the quarters where they came up against a resurgent Germany who have again showed resilience, strength and power built around a great player Michael Ballack and a strong belief in attack. The game has moved on from the defensive mindedness of the previous Euro Championships won by Greece (of all people akin to Scotland winning the Rugby World Cup - sorry, Gregor) in the 2006 World Cup. The new coaches and new players are full of verve, belief, enthusiasm and vigor. In fact, Holland are playing as if they were the new All Blacks. I hope Graham Henry, Wayne Smith and Steve Hanson watch a couple of these games because it will bolster their belief that the way we're playing in New Zealand is the way to go. In the midst of all this good news, there was one disappointment which was the USA Eagles performance in the Churchill Cup. We were competitive for half a game vs. England A and the same against Ireland A. Then professional fitness and rigor told. We took a hammering which has left Scott Johnson and his new coaching team with no where to go but up. We have some real talent and with professionalism, more preparation, and better fixtures, I'm optimistic that Scott will get the Eagles on track for a successful 2011 Rugby World Cup. We'll be enlisting the help of Murray Mexted and his IRANZ coaching academy either later this year or in 2009. We've had a number of players and coaches go through IRANZ with considerable success and we are trying now to persuade IRANZ to bring a couple of sessions to the US. Murray's specialist coaching team include Sean Fitzpatrick, Craig Dowd, Keith Robinson, Scott Robinson, Aaron Penne, Jon Preston, Grant Fox, Jeff Wilson and Kieran Crowley. A handy bunch of blokes that could really make a difference in the U.S. Let's hope we can get them over and benefit from their experience.
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