Rugby World Cup 2011 is over for another 4 years and even with the IRB trying to ruin it in every way possible. Samoan players lead a revolt with Fuimaono Sapolu leading the charge via twitter where he has not been afraid to voice his concerns. His first post that got the attention of the world was when he compared the World Cup scheduling for minnow nations to the Holocaust. If you are on twitter follow him @eliota_sapolu he is worth following. I have to agree with him, not with the holocaust comparison but the scheduling for the minnow nations needs to be addressed. Namibia played 4 games in 16 days while New Zealand had at least 7 days break between each game. Not fair at all.
Four Nations Rugby League will start early tomorrow morning in England with Australia heavily favoured to win back the trophy. They might have flogged the Kiwi's on a really dry track in Newcastle but the English conditions play into the hands of the Kiwi's. A team full of Warriors who play every second week in similar conditions will surely make it a more playing field. We cant forget that New Zealand is a great tournament team, they improve with every game they play. We will all get a better track of how things will pan out by about 8:30 tomorrow morning.
England can seriously challenge New Zealand but not Australia. That being said they are on their own turf and the games in the northern hemisphere are refereed by a different rule book in terms of a short defence and quick ruck. That will help them out and minor miracles will help the cause of Wales.
Todd Carney back in the NRL a good thing? I will say yes. On this site not that long ago I implied that Carney may be an alcoholic. Looking back it was a foolish thing to say and here's why. He's 25 years old and entitled to a drink and since coming to Sydney he has really done nothing wrong. Yes he got caught for DUI but his blood alcohol content was .05 which is the legal limit of a fully licensed driver. Carney being on his P-Plates was the thing that got him in trouble. I dont know how many times we have all run the gauntlet driving home after a night on the drink. You'd be lying if you said you hadn't done it. He has also said before that if he is asked by his new club to stop he will. The newspapers use the phrase 'boozy night out' so much to the point it has become a cliche and if I have learnt anything its lazy journalism.
International Rules in Melbourne. Who really gives a crap. AFL is the one football code in Australia that doesnt really have an international presence and thats the way it should be kept. I think the first game is in Melbourne tonight and they have only pre-sold 10,000 tickets. Great Response from the sporting capital of the world.
The Aussie cricket team is in South Africa and will play the 3rd ODI tonight. The find of the tour so far has been young Pat Cummins. When I say young he is the same age as this blogger but his pace and variation has the experts saying he should be playing test cricket during the Australia Summer against India. Why not give him a game in South Africa where he can learn the conditions. South Africa is the only place in the world with conditions similar to Australia hence being the reason why we haven't lost a test series in 42 years. If the selectors do give him the chance they must make him the long term solution. In 6 or 7 years this guy has the ability to be spearheading the bowling attack and if the selectors believe this why wait getting him into the team.
Damage out.
