RWC QF Day 1; Travelog Day 8; 2 to go home...

After a week off, with nothing to do but have fun, the rugby returns today with the first Quarter Finals. A brief summary of all 4 follows, with my selection after each to see how badly I do. Today is Northern Hemisphere day, while tomorrow sees the Southern Hemisphere chokers back into action.... QF1 - Ireland vs Wales. Ireland occupy the place many thought would be occupied by Australia. Their victory in the crunch pool game still resonates down in the Southern hemisphere. I took an Aussie to task in a cafe yesterday after he berated a watching audience with how he "didn't rate Northern hemisphere rugby". Your lot must be rubbish then, was my diplomatic reply, to which he didn't have a riposte. Ireland have built from rocky foundations against the USA, when they looked likel candidates to lose to Italy and go home. The return of O'Brien, the return to form of O'Connell and the rise to prominence (at last) of Healy have seen them elevated to favourites in this half of the draw. Wales have pushed South Africa close, stuttered somewhat against an out of sorts Samoa, and thrashed Namibia and Fiji. Will the real Wales please stand up? Shane Williams returns at wing, which I'm not convinced about, but there is quality enough to get Ireland thinking. My Prediction: Ireland's tight 5 have too much quality and will dominate from the off. Wales will have their moments, but I take Ireland by 7 to 10 points QF2 - England vs France. If QF1 was totally unexpected, this has gone according to many predictions, though only just. France could hardly have been expected to lose to Tonga, who must be sitting at home wishing they had performed better agains Canada - what might have been.... France's competition has been one of much disagreement. On the one side, the players, ex-players, media, supporters in New Zealand and supporters back home, on the other, Marc Lievremont. He is man things, but he is definitely his own man. His selections continue to baffle, as they have throughout his reign. He has his favourites, his chouchous, and that particular weakness could come to hurt them as a team. England meanwhile have ground out 4 wins. While Georgia and Romania were put to the sword relatively speaking, come from behind victories inspired by substitutions have seen them. Edge past Argentina and Scotlans. They won't be either overlays confident or overly concerned though, as off the field escapades seem to have ham snider the squad, and after 4 weeks of cogs slightly missing, they have to click not gear at some point surely. Martin Johnson has brought out the big artillery for this one. Pretty it won't be. My Prediction: England to be slightly too efficient so I take them to win by 4-7 points QF3 - The other surprise quarter sees South Africa take on Australia. Both sides have had their nervy moments, and while it cost Australia their Pool, South Africa got out of jail and won theirs. Both sides have had injury worries, with prett much every Australian back having some time off in the last few weeks. They all return this weekend though (fit or not?) as Beale and Ioane make the starting line-up. Frans Steyn however misses out for the Boks. He will be sorel missed, but coach De Villiers has picked the most experienced tes side ever, with way over 800 caps between them, and that without Bakkies Botha who is gradually falling apart it would seem. Smit is still, remarkably, preferred to Bismarck du Plessis. Many have him. Performing the role of Captain of the Titanic tomorrow, as they see Australia sneaking this one. My Prediction: South Africa's pack to be too strong for the weak Aussie tight 5, but only just. South Africa by 3, maybe even after extra time QF4 - New Zealand are expected to romp this, and despite injuries to Kahui, Jane and Dagg, I see them having far too much for an Argentina side who have lef a lot of effort and inspiration in the Pool games to edge by Scotland and England. Losing Lobbe is massive for them and despite Figallo's great efforts their pack will be buffeted by Woodcock, Whitelock and co. In the backs, much attention will be on the performance of Weepu at 9 and Lsade at 10. Carter's injury is massive, and while it effectively hands the starting place to Slade, it could be a case of Merry Christmas Everyone else. I can't see this being in. An way tense though, and come half time, I think it would be over. My Prediction: New Zealand by more than 21 points Let's see how I do come Monday morning. The week off has seen me do Waiheke Island nea Auckland n Monday as previously written, then fly to Queenstown on the South Island. To say the. Weather was kind would be an understatement. Glorious sunshine every day mean shorts, t-shirt and sandals. Cable car, chairlift and luge ride on Tuesday followed by a huge plate of ribs (birthday meal). Wednesday morning saw me head off to Shotover River for a 30 minute jet boat ride which was exhilarating and ctainly blew away any cobwebs. Come the afternoon, I wandered around town, did the. Green walk and SA reading my book with an ice cream in the sun which was peace and quiet perfection. An evening meal in the English pub with a beer finished the day off nicely, and the fresh air and activity had me dozing come half past ten! Thursday was White water rafting day. Morning coffee and another walk around town, taking in the scene of the dwarf tossing incident and Tindallgate, which is one of the biggest dives you could ever wish to set foot in, then it was off for a sandwich before heading for check-in. The rafting was fantastic. Exercise, adrenalin and more. My raft seemed to have some reasonably able rafters and the leader of the raft was the head guide, so we did a fair bit of leading the way, and as such we found the way not to go down a rapid called The Toilet, and 4 of our crew were jettisoned including the 6 foot 6, 20 stone ex lox who was sat in front of me. He was spectacularly catapulted to the right, taking his mate out in the process. Pulling him back into the raft seems to have given me a bad shoulder! I had an Indian meal with this pair afterwards and shared a few beers with them too, camaraderie at it's best. Mention has to be made of the hair-raising bus ride, with dinghies strapped to the back, up and down the Skipper's Canon road. "not suitable for trailers" it says as you start going down it in a bus with a trailer on the back. 20 minutes of sheer hell if you hate heights like I still do. The rafting was worth it, even if I did feel like B. A. Baracas waking up in Murdoch's plane for the entire bus ride. Friday saw a stroll, followed by a Fergburger lunch, which is huge burger joint serving huge burgers. Phobia defeated I went back up the cable car and chairlift for some more luging, taking out a couple of Americans through the last tunnel in fine style. The chairlift was easy. I even let go of my grip enough to take some spectacular photos, I don't know what the fuss is all about! An afternoon on the village green, in the sun, with my book and a couple of large bottle of Heineken followed, before an early night yesterday ready for an early morning jaunt to the airport where I write this. That's my lot for toda. Flight will be boarding soon. Enjoy the QFs, even if you are French, and I'll be in touch with my take after the weekend. Anyone down this way HAS to visit Queenstown. Yes it has a touristy feel to it, but you soon see past that to the beautiful surroundings, the vast array of activities to get involved in, the diversity of restaurants on offer (Chinese, India, Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, NZ, I could go on).

RWC Day Something; Travelog Day 5; Happy Birthday To Me

Where was I? 

Auckland I seem to remember. I think it was Monday. England had just beaten Scotland, no that was the day before, the Quarter Final line-up had been decided, that sounds more like it. I'll recap:

Carter-less New Zealand vs Lobbe-less Argentina

Steyn-less South Africa vs (Insert any back's name)-less Australia

Fearless Ireland vs Nothing-to-lose Wales

Friend-less England vs France

France's squad have been so bad, and put so little in, they didn't deserve an adjective. 

Every day seems to bring another story involving England players. We've had Tindall's blond, Dwarf-throwing drunks, Haskell, Hartley and Ashton and the barmaid, Ballgate and now Tuilagi and his sponsored gum shield. What next? Wilkinson found drunk at the bottom of Queen Street? Simon Shaw found trying to ride a Pedalo to Waiheke Island? Ironic then that they play the only side in more turmoil in France. Lievremont is as popular as Dominic Strauss-Kahn at the moment. The players seem to have no team-spirit. The side has no specialist number 10. The pack seem dynamo-less. The captain has always been a weakness. Eden Park won't know what has hit it this Saturday.

Contrary to this, Ireland and Wales are both on a high. Declan Kidney could pick his side with his eyes closed, such has been the smooth passage since their nervy opener against the USA. Wales's progress hasn't been without hiccoughs, but they have got to the QFs, something many thought may not happen, and as such everything from here on in is a bonus. They will feel that Ireland in the Quarters rather than Australia is a definite plus. The question now is, with most of these guys knowing each other from the Celtic League, European Cup and 6 Nations, will familiarity play a role and turn this into a tight edgy affair?

South Africa would be hot favourites against the Aussies, but the injury to Francois Steyn is hurting them, and some would say as much as the multitude of Aussie back injuries. Mitchell was the latest to limp out against Russia, another "Hammie" victim as they call them over here. The Boks pack will have too much for the Aussies for me though. The Aussie media make out that their front row is the best in the world. Best in Australia maybe. 

New Zealand are lucky that they have the Argentinians to play next. Were they to play another side, hungry for the semis and capable of imposing their game against Slade at 10, then I would be a little less bullish, but the Argentinians have struggled since that opener against England, and the Georgians really pushed them in the last Pool game. So Slade should get another sighter, and Weepu will probably get another 20 to see what he can do, as I can't see this one being within 20 points.

The IRB have been busy this week, with Tuilagi's fine for gumshieldgate being nothing compared to the rest of the goings-on. Samoa's Eliota Sapolu has been banned from all forms of rugby indefinitely following his tweets after the game against referee Nigel Owens. He accused him of racism in his decision-making, and then was absent from 2 disciplinary hearings. In addition, both England and France lost a player this week, with Armitage suspended for 1 game for a high tackle on Patterson, and Estebanez banned for three games (the tournament effectively) for a similar, though worse, incident against Tonga. Finally, they have told the host broadcaster, Sky, that repeats of the scenes of England vs Scotland are not to be tolerated... What scenes you may ask? A bloke asking his girlfriend to marry him via a board he held up.... Concentrate on the Rugby. Ridiculous really isn't it? 

France have picked their side for the big game, and at last they have moved away from Traille in any position. Pace increases as a result, as England's pace will decrease with the departure of Armitage as discussed above. They have still plumped for Parra at 10 outside Yachvili at 9, which I struggle to comprehend. Trinh-Duc, critical though I have been of him, must surely be a better option than someone who rarely plays at 10? England will decide between Cueto and Banahan as replacement for Armitage (I'd suggest Cueto) and are awaiting fitness reports on Wilkinson and Tindall, who has certainly experienced more problems in the past four weeks than he has caused.

Final rugby comment comes from criticism of the tournament from a non-Union following friend. 40 games and the Top 8 seeds are in the QFs, he argues; Waste of time. I feel he is being a little harsh. This is the first time in a good while that that has been the case, and as the rugby league which he is happy to offer as a better game, has only three sides at the top level of the game, yet it still throws up a World Cup of 8 teams, with no tension whatsoever in the early days. 

So, to New Zealand itself. I'm getting to understand the locals now, and have come up with my own rule of understanding the vowel sounds. Basically, forget about the Os as they are the same, but you need to take every other vowel, and move the pronunciation back 1 vowel in the alphabet, so A becomes E, E becomes I, I becomes U and U becomes A. Following me? Probably not, so here's a demonstration.

A cricket bat becomes a cruckit bet

A doorbell becomes a doorbill

A little bit becomes a luttle but

And a duck becomes a dack

So wuth thet lisson you'll niver heve a problem anderstendung a New Zealender egin ay?

Monday was the first day without rugby, and I had a lie-in intending to stroll around Auckland, do a little shopping maybe, and just chilling. I got down to the ferry terminal though and there was a ferry leaving for Waiheke Island. While the day looked grim, there was a little chance the cloud would lift so I headed over the 45 minute trip and took a 90 minute guided tour which took in the history, the views and the different elements of life on the island. The guide Glen, or was it Glyn - he had a vowel problem - was full of useful information, and useless information too it must be said as he regaled us with tales of what you can by from a hardware store amongst other things. I jumped off 75 minutes in and went to the Stonyridge vineyards, where I had a little private tasting. A chardonnay, a merlot, 3 cab savs, and a syrah later I wandered back down the lane to the bus and headed back to the Terminal. The ferry back was, how can I put this, rough. Waves breaking over the bridge, an alternative route taken, according to the bloke opposite me, for the second time in the ten years he'd been a regular traveller. An interesting 45 minutes. From there a stroll back up to the hotel, via Starbucks to check various e-mails, twitter, blog comments (none again, miserable buggers), status updates and the like. Having ordered a cup of tea and installed myself, the rain started. It was only heavy to start with, but it got worse, and worse and ultimately worse still to such a point that it was coming down horizontally, in huge raindrops, and the road down Queen Street resembled the World's Biggest Log Flume. 90 minutes later and the weather finally broke long enough for me to take the ten minute walk up the hill, where a burger and glass of wine in the hotel bar saw me through to a relatively early night.

Happy Birthday to me

Happy Birthday to me

Happy birthday dear Mark

Happy Birthday to me

Such did I greet myself yesterday morning as I woke early to get to the airport and fly to Queenstown on the day of my 39th birthday. I know, I know. Those of you who know me refuse to believe I am 39, but the youthful good looks are misleading. Bus to airport having left behind my cell, sorry room. Air New Zealand have a novel bag check-in process. You check your bag in and if it is overweight, they don't put it on the plane. That meant I had to get 4.5kg of stuff out of my case and into my already densely packed hand-luggage. 5 rugby shirts were crammed in, and with rucksack bursting at the seams, the case went in to the hold. A nice 90 minute flight, which became a little wobbly as we approached the descent into the mountainous Queenstown area. The views were incredible. The views at the airport itself were even better. When I got off the bus at Queenstown itself, words failed me. Surrounded by snow-covered peaks, the lakes stretched into the distance and glinted in the glorious sunshine. The town has an old-style feel to it, with nice cafes, outward bound shops, bars and restaurants mixing easily with shops selling tickets for the various adventures on offer.

A soup and sandwich lunch, followed by an ice cream treat for the birthday boy, and I decided to grasp the nettle and approach a couple of phobias. I'm not good with heights. Never have been. Cable cars are as such an absolute no-no. I've been on one before (Table Mountain, coming back down and that only because the fog was so thick it was not advised to walk down). Still, I paid my money and boarded the gondola up to the top of the Sklyline, 465m above Queenstown and home of splendid views across the lake, and on such a clear day, stunning. I had also bought tickets for the Skyluge, a kind of downhill go kart. What I hadn't realised was that involved a chairlift even further up the mountain. So, phobia number 2 was beaten. Twice. The luge was fun too, and my body weight clearly served as an advantage, as momentum took me down quicker than everyone in front of me. A few photos afterwards and I braved the gondola down again. All-in-all a fabulous start to my 4 days in Queenstown and a great way to spend a birthday.

I checked into the hotel finally and after the first cell, this is more like it. 2 beds, a balcony and a TV. A proper room at last. The view from the balcony takes the breath away too..... much more like it. 

Queenstown has currently more Irish than locals I think. All ages, all counties, they seem to have invaded in coaches, camper vans and cars. Another name to add to the list of players seen so far. Trevor Brennan, ex Ireland forward and still, I believe, banned after a vicious attack on a French supporter while playing in France. He seemed like a lovely fellow when I bumped into him in the street yesterday, though to be fair given his size and reputation, I wouldn't have said otherwise!!.

There are plenty of French too, sitting in a local French restaurant, telling the owner where he was going wrong.... Just like with their rugby team, everyone seems to have an opinion... "We're in a rush", they say, "can you serve us quickly?". "How quick is quick?". "We only have an hour and a half". Aha, French lunch!!

The birthday dinner was a rack of ribs at Flame, overlooking the lake. Delicious, washed down with a nice red wine. Relatively well-behaved, I had a couple of nightcaps before heading back, setting the alarm fro 9am and getting ready for the morning's activity - Shotover Jet at 1030am. The short bus ride to the Shotover Canyon amid stunning scenery (what else?) was the entree, and the 30 minute ride at up to 50mph, within inches of rocks and including 360 degree turns. The dozen or so spins, in either direction, meant you got wet whichever side of the 14 man boat you were on. The windburn from the speed was also something to behold, and the glorious sunshine down here means a little colour returning to the face for the first time in a while (will be hard to experience the UK in November after the last 24 hours). The jet experience was good, but not as good as all that, or maybe I just became accustomed to travelling at high speeds within inches of certain death. Tomorrow's rafting has been upgraded from Beginner to Adventurer, due to lack of interest in the basic trip, which means a long and wet experience for me down the same river (different section) as today on the jet boat. Looks like fun....

I've only been here a day, but I love Queenstown. I'm off for lunch now, alcohol free as I try desperately to be relatively good while I can.

That's all from me for now. 

RWC Day 23; Travelog Day 3: A Nation Hamstrung

Sunday was an awful day here in Auckland, with higher winds than Saturday and permanent heavy squally rain which made me glad that, (a) I spent most of it indoors watching rugby in the company of Sean, an English expat living in Australia, Tom, a Scottish expat dairy farmer from the Hunter Valley, and Alan, another Scot who had been left behind by his touring colleagues who had left 2 days before him and (b) that England v Scotland had been played the night before. Bad though the conditions had been, this would have truly made it a lottery. Discussion of the previous day was hot on the agenda of course, with the general view being that the Scots did as much as they could, but that 3 games without tries was ultimately the death of their bid. We all felt a little surprised by the awfulness of Wilkinson's kicking, and digested the news of Carter's injury as the day went on. 

Does anyone want to grasp this tournament by the scruff of the neck? New Zealand have come as near as anyone to doing this, but even they, with the Carter injury taking over the Nation's thoughts, are going to struggle to keep the grip they have established thus far. NZ now stands officially for Nervous Zealand. The confidence of the weeks pre-Carter injury has been dissipated and now, when you ask a local if they are going to win the tournament, there is a moment of doubt before an affirmative answer, and the hollow-ish look in the eyes tells you that there is less certainty in their words. When coach Graham Henry says "We will muddle through" it can hardly fill Colin Slade, Carter's replacement, with belief. Slade performed OK yesterday, though admittedly only against Canada. Bigger tests will come quickly, with the Quarter Final draw now known, and he limped off with a sore ankle at the end of yesterday's victory. How Henry must wish he had the option of calling on Donald, who is at Bath and therefore ineligible for selection due to Internal All Black rules.

The All Blacks face Argentina in the Quarter Finals, after the latter eventually came past a dogged Georgia. Scotland are therefore on their way home before the Quarter FInals for the first time. Georgia needed to beat Argentina by 8 points to send the Scots through. At half time they were 2 points to the good, and another surprise looked on the cards, but Argentina eventually got their act together and ran out comfortable winners, dashing Scottish hopes and determining Argentina as the Quarter Final opponents of the All Blacks. New Zealand's front row won't be looking forward to that one, but I don't expect the 4-yearly All Black choke to come in that one. 

The other game in that half of the draw sees South Africa take on Australia, after Ireland confirmed their Group win by beating Italy, who stuck with it for half an hour before eventually succumbing. Australia's backs have been dropping like lead balloons in this tournament, and with Quade Cooper still sporadic at best, I can't see them overcoming a Springbok side who are improving with every game. They have though lost Frans Steyn, who had been their best player till now.

So, a year before it officially comes into existence, we have a knock-out version of the 4 Nations tournament to decide one finalist. South Africa vs New Zealand in the semis would be my guess, with that game being the one that the All Blacks will fear. They don't "win ugly" well, and with South Africa the experts at that, it could be the day that the Nation needs to have the Heimlich Manoeuvre ready.

The other half of the draw sees a reduced version of the Northern Hemisphere's tournament, with the 4 powers of the 6 Nations battling for a place in the final. It would be a 4th appearance for England, a 3rd for France and a first for either Ireland or Wales. Quarter Final 1 sees the expected battle between England and France at the knock-out stages for the 3rd consecutive tournament, though this time a round early. England have the best defence i9n the tournament having conceded just the one try against Georgia and they have the leading scorer in 6-try Ashton. France have been woeful. Defeats against the All Blacks and Tonga left them lucky to progress. Tonga will be ruing their defeat against Canada as they take the relatively short trip home. France vs England is always tricky to call, and there's no change today as both sides have a lot of improvement to find to dream of winning the tournament. Both have the potential though, so it is just a question of who will be the one to find their feet first.

Ireland vs Wales is the final quarter final. Wales finished their group yesterday with a heavy defeat of Fiji, by far the most disappointing side of the tournament for me. From the moment Roberts scored an early try, it became a procession for the Welsh. They will be looking to book a first semi final place since 1987, while Ireland will be after their first ever semi final. Many people believed that Ireland's chance had been and gone. Last time out they were a promising side in the Northern Hemisphere, but went out at the group stage to Argentina and France. This time, the belief was that they were a little too long in the tooth, but with O'Connell back in the form that made him Lions captain 2 years ago, and with O'Brien rampaging in the number 7 shirt, they have proved they are possibly the best of the Northern hemisphere sides. A Final place could well be beckoning them if they continue to perform, though Wales followed by England or France is in no way a walk in the park.

It will be interesting to see the outcome of these 4 games next week. I will be at the games at Eden Park (Saturday: England vs France, Sunday: New Zealand vs Argentina) and will report back on those in due course.

This week sees me travelling to Queenstown, the beautiful fjord-like landscape promising some stunning scenery and potential for mischief! Bungee Jumping, Jet-boating, Huge swings, the list goes on slightly longer than my nerve will hold. There will be a much more touristy look to this blog over the week though, as there will be no rugby to report on, so you have been warned. I leave Queenstown on Saturday morning, heading back to Auckland for the Quarter Finals, which will be a whistle-stop weekend, given I fly to Wellington first thing on Monday for another week of touristy stuff. I'm still undecided on the last week I spend here, and am leaning towards the Bay of Islands, but will see in due course as I gradually read the various bits and bobs on possible locations.

The hotel continues to impress by the way. Their sign saying "All Matches shown live" was conspicuous by its absence yesterday evening, as it had suddenly not got Sky and was consequently showing only "The big games". I'm sure those words could be used as motivation to Ireland, who obviously aren't classed as a big draw, if they get to the Final. The location of the hotel is the top of Queen Street, and the last kilometre is up a steep hill, the legs are getting a good work-out as a result. Technical issues mean the picture upload will have to wait, but there will be a link later in the week.

I was back in the hotel to watch the Ireland vs Italy game, as I had been out watching the first three games in the pub. Said pub was full to bursting come the second half of the Wales vs Fiji game, but this was due to the local Rugby League side (the NZ Warriors) playing in the Grand Final of the ARL in Sydney. Wales was relegated to one screen and I decided that discretion was the better part of valour and that I would go back to the hotel to see Ireland. The best laid plans.... NZ Warriors were 12-2 down at half-time and I haven't been bothered to look for the result this morning. New Zealanders really are sport-mad, and tonight's live attraction is the Silver Fearns versus England. Live netball... could be interesting.

A quick look out of the window sees a grey Auckland morning greeting me again. You don't come here for a suntan, well not at this time of year. Queenstown being a lot further South (110 minute flight to give you an idea), towards the end of the South Island, I am expecting much colder weather still this week, though hopefully drier too. Today's plan is to wander the streets of Auckland some more, maybe visit a couple of museums too, avoid alcohol at all costs after a heavy weekend, and find and eat a salad, which I have been dodging somewhat so far, unless you count the grilled tomato on yesterday's breakfast.

One final thought. The New Zealand press are truly pillocks. They slate the Northern hemisphere game at every opportunity, and really do have this holier than thou attitude to everything that rugby is. The man on the street here is as nice as pie, friendly as anything and always interested in you, your thoughts and ensuring you have a great time. The same cannot be said about the media, who seem solely to exist to put down the European game. Here's hoping that the Webb Ellis Trophy heads back Europe-way come the end of the month, to leave them to choke on their comments.

So, until I next write, from Queenstown unless anything ridiculously exciting happens (like I get called up to replace Jonny Wilkinson in the England squad), goodbye for now.

RWC Day 22; Travelog Day 2: Europe's Star Rising?

If ever there was any doubt about my rapid adaptation to the time here in New Zealand, it was smashed when I wandered home at 4am this morning after doing the rounds of half a dozen bars with the lads (and lass) of Lochaber RFC and their associated hangers-on.

I left you in Starbucks yesterday (official sponsors of this blog from here on in) and I rejoin you in the same place but at a different table. A lot has happened since then. A morning stroll round the fan zone and freshening air take-in down by the harbour, where the spitting rain and high breeze started to concern me ahead of the big game. Back to the hotel to get changed into the war gear, England shirt for those that wondered, and it was back to the Fan Zone to feel the atmosphere build. A couple of beers with another lone Englishman while watching the repeat of South Africa vs Samoa through less jetlagged eyes, and learning of Frans Steyn's cruel injury - he was critical to their chances I believe, and now will have to rely on the ageing De Villiers at centre.

On the O'Hagans at the Viaduct, a kind of harbour-side collection of bars, and this one full to bursting with Scottish and English fans. Greeted by the ever welcoming Nodge and Lorraine of Lochaber and their friends, we proceeded to watch Australia run rampant against Russia in the first half before the Russians showed the promise they have by coming back and scoring three tries. The day was well set-up as we went on our merry way to Eden Park, relying on updates for the France game from France.... the swear words which accompanied the text messages said everything. They had been proudly boasting how they would be eating roast beef this afternoon in the build-up to the Calcutta Cup game, but the Tongan's, who have a formidable size, left no frogs' legs anywhere and came out surprise (?) winners.

Eden Park was a swirl of water as the teams came out, and having bizarrely found myself, completely by chance, 12 seats away from the aforementioned Nodge and Lorraine, I manoeuvred my way across the row of seats and ended up accompanying them through the game. Scotland started with an injury to Jackson, which meant Parks, for whom this situation was made, came into the action early. A turgid first half ensued, with both sides relying on penalties and drop goals to move the scoreboard. However, the once metronomic Wilkinson was far from it, and missed 4 kicks and a drop goal, while Parks nurdled Scotland forward and saw them enter the half-time interval 9-3 leaders.

I must say that, while I could see us losing the game, the 8 point margin never really worried me as I could see enough promise in Foden, Armitage and Ashton when they got the ball to make a difference. Martin Johnson will take stick for the unenterprising way the side played at times, but his selection of Armitage ahead of Cueto was a masterstroke and his pace and additional security under the high ball (he and Foden never made a mistake) were key. He almost escaped at the start of the second half but was nudged into touch by desperate Scottish defenders. When Scotland finally breached the 8 point gap, the noise from Celtic corners was deafening, and England needed to react. React they did with Mr Dropgoal. Wilkinson finally striking one sweetly, to haul the deficit back instantly. A penalty followed, and at 12-9 the stage was set. The next score was always going to be critical, as it would either see Scotland back over the margin, or a drop goal away, or England effectively kill things. Kill things they did. A kick to touch from Flood from a penalty (note to Jonny, if you can't reach, kick to touch). England lost the line-out to the impressive Gray (of whom more later) but turned over the ball and spread it wide where that man Ashton, the finisher supreme, went over in the corner. Flood, with perfect timing, slotted the conversion, and the impending shadows of the All Blacks were obscured as England went 4 points clear, a margin they held until the Final whistle, which was greeted by some incredible relief in most England quarters, and immense deception from the Scots.

Back to Auckland and the party started. 3 beers in a first place where the pretty, and witty barmaid regaled the three of us at the bar with the immortal lines:

"Are you some kind of joke?"

"Sorry?"

"Well, look at yourselves"

So I did... An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman.... Point taken.

A stroll around Auckland streets saw us in some trendy 80s bar for a couple, along with the Scottish second row Richie Gray. 20 years old, 20 feet tall, 20 inches of blond locks. Seemingly nice guy too as he partied away with his mates. Good on him. If you can't let your hair down before you go home, what can you do?

One final bar, with live Merseyside derby at 3am, and live music from a female vocalist who divided opinion, and that was that. A rip-roaring 15 hours in Auckland.

Then you wake up to find that, the one thing the All Blacks couldn't afford has happened. Carter out for the tournament. There will be an ever-growing feeling in England and France that, in spite of everything, maybe, just maybe, this could be the year....

More later folks, I'm off to take solace in the skinny latte before heading somewhere to watch today's marathon of rugby, which involves a mouth-watering Ireland vs Italy later.

PS On the accommodation front, a picture will accompany the next entry, but I have a new premise. Never ever have 100% confidence in an establishment which has the hot tap with cold water coming out and vice versa. As I typed that I got attacked by a tiny bird. I'm sure there's an omen in that, but I'll be buggered if I can work that out.