Free Tibet in the Pool
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008Peter Nicholson’s cartoon at The Age, in Melbourne, provides a timely challenge to Olympic competitors preparing for the Olympics in Beijing.
Thanks to Mart the Rev
All Blacks or All Pinks?
Thursday, October 4th, 2007
Stuff.co.nz today published a photograph (by Peter Meecham) of two All Blacks wearing pink as they trained on a northern hemisphere tour in 2006.
The suggestion of pink comes as the All Blacks are required to wear their silver strip in their match against the French this weekend. French captain Raphael Ibanez said that the New Zealand rugby team could play in blue or pink or without any jersey and they would still be the All Blacks.
The poll run by the Fairfax site asks readers to vote on pink, black, silver/grey and topless. There is something about the black and silver that makes the All Blacks who they are. The black and white colours come from the traditional Maori art. What’s missing is red. The All Blacks should be wearing red socks.
Tags: All Blacks, New Zealand, rugby, Sport
All Blacks Take First Two Cups
Saturday, July 21st, 2007New Zealand’s All Blacks were in their element tonight in their game against the Wallabies at Eden Park. Performing the haka in the rain set the scene for 80 minutes of highly competitive rugby, demanding every skill possessed by the New Zealand and Australian teams. The game was decided largely through successful kicks by Daniel Carter.
Despite having signed up as an Australian citizen, I wore all black to the gym this morning as a sign of support for the All Blacks. The gesture was mostly wasted as rugby is only one of several football codes here in Australia. AFL and NRL followers find it confusing to watch rugby. The ruck, a key part of forward tactics, appears to many observers to be a meaningless excuse for a maul. Today’s play showed the ruck as it should be played, providing capacity for up to nine phases of play for the Wallabies at one point. AFL supporters, of course, struggle with the off side principle that leads to so many points in rugby being won through penalties. I remember struggling with the off side principle as a player - the play moves so fast that you can end up in the wrong place very quickly.
The final score of 26-12 leaves the All Blacks with the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations Cup. Roll on now to the World Cup.
Tags: All Blacks, New Zealand, rugby, Sport
