Photo caption game
reminder !!!!!!!!!!
FSS has a big suprise for the participants!!!!!!!!!
one week left !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
All Blacks: Understudy for McCaw required
4:00AM Monday Sep 15, 2008
By Wynne Gray
By Wynne Gray
Choosing an understudy flanker for inspirational captain Richie McCaw will be a special selection project for the All Black panel before the end-of-year tour.
They have used Rodney So'oialo, Adam Thomson and Daniel Braid this season at openside when the skipper was injured or needed a rest. But assistant coach Steve Hansen admitted there was still a huge void between the captain's talents and any replacement.
"He is in a class of his own and that is what we have to try and close, that gap between him and whomever is next," the forwards coach said.
There were a number of candidates and those would be evaluated in the next month before the touring squad of about 35 was announced for the extra test against the Wallabies in Hong Kong, the Grand Slam trip and midweek game against Munster.
All Black selectors in the past had been confronted with similar issues such as finding someone to succeed five-eighths Grant Fox when he left the game but Andrew Mehrtens, Carlos Spencer then Daniel Carter had made that leap. Stephen Donald, said Hansen, was now showing his ability after a vigorous last half in Brisbane against the Wallabies.
"We have to sit down and really nut out what we want to achieve on this tour other than just winning the tests," Hansen added. "There are some other things that need to be done. We will need to grow some positional people. We have got start finding another seven, those sorts of things."
When the selectors get their feet back under the desk their eyes on the tapes and computer print-outs they will reassess the squad they have used this season and scout the provincial talent for the tour which starts against the Wallabies on November 1.
Meanwhile in the afterglow of their come from behind 28-24 in Brisbane, Hansen said the entire group had been satisfied to have coped with the overseas exodus of many experienced players, twin defeats towards the start of the Tri-Nations before bouncing back to win three straight and claim the titles again.
"To come out and do what we have done ... " he mused yesterday."Three games ago we were at the bottom of the table or close to it and for a young side to come back and show the mettle they did. To win 19-0 in South Africa was pretty special and to come here and be under the pump then come back and win was pretty good. It shows a lot of mental fortitude and the big thing it shows is they believe in themselves and you can't do that as a rugby team unless you trust your teammates."
They had been a bit flat in the first half despite playing an interim test against Samoa. They needed to play more to be razor sharp and that was one of the things the All Black selectors learned at the last World Cup. The game against Samoa was beneficial but nothing like the crunch and demands of Tri-Nations tests.
Once the All Blacks started to control the collisions more and numbered up better they began to make inroads as their supporters in the 52,328 crowd in Brisbane also lifted. Their defence held a series of Wallaby attacks while their rivals leaked several tries they conceded were "soft".
Those to bloodied prop Tony Woodcock and replacement halfback Piri Weepu in a brisk second spell patch gave the All Blacks the lead again with the final quarter to run. That turnaround galvanised the visitors while the home side went through a flat patch and when Daniel Carter bumped off Cross and beat the cover, there was a more comfortable look about the All Blacks.
They had to endure some late heat when Cross scored himself and a subsequent long passage of Wallaby phase play before they ran out of numbers, the All Blacks piled in forced the turnover and cleared for the victory.
****
The blogs updates :
the holiday blog (http://richiemccaw-bis.blogspot.com) will remain open for at least another week (and even more I think).
thank you Chill for the link, Izzy for all the news & FSS for all your work!!!
Bisous everyone,
Mary*L
Mary*L
****
http://richiemccaw-bis.blogspot.com/2008/09/photo-caption-game.html
Wanna play, just check that link and send us your answer!!!
http://richiemccaw-bis.blogspot.com/2008/09/photo-caption-game.html
Wanna play, just check that link and send us your answer!!!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
This is the test to define the season for both teams
I thought Richie McCaw rather summed it up when he spoke of the make-or-break nature of Saturday night's Tri-Nations finale.
The season of both the All Blacks and Wallabies hangs in the balance, just one false move away from failure and possibly one bold one from glory.
"It's one of those games," said McCaw. "When you look back on the season this game will judge how well your season went for both teams."
He's right, too. If the Wallabies get up, and grab that Tri-Nations title, forgotten will be their poor performance in Auckland when they were played off the park by a rampant All Blacks side, and certainly their woeful no-show in Johannesburg where they simply failed to turn up for a match that didn't have a heck of a lot riding on it.
Same goes with the All Blacks. Like the Wallabies they've lost twice already this season and were fairly damn unimpressive through those early rounds when they felt the pinch of losing their inspirational skipper more than most cared to admit.
But now they can complete a fairly dramatic turnaround and you would have to say if they conclude their campaign by knocking off both the Springboks and Wallabies on their home turf, Graham Henry's men will be deserved champions.
So, it's all on the line on Saturday night then. To that end, it's going to be so much about which side handles the occasion better.
I sense the All Blacks have a real advantage here. To me they've seemed to be the more composed side through the week's buildup, their media appearances reflecting a strict focus on what they've got to do, an awareness of the task ahead of them and an innate belief that they have the tools to construct a victory.
Over in Camp Wallaby it's been slightly less fluid.
There's been the disruption caused by having to move Stirling Mortlock in a spot, the whole unease over that Jo'burg fiasco which must weigh on their minds no matter how much it is written off as irrelevant and then a midweek illness to key flanker Rocky Elsom that saw the soon-to-depart big man miss a crucial training session.
There's also been a largely unhealthy focus on McCaw. The Australians have put him on a serious pedestal and seem convinced that all they have to do is take the All Blacks skipper out of the equation to claim victory.
If I was Rodney So'oialo and Jerome Kaino I would be ready to step up with something special. This could be their big chance.
I sense the Wallabies are playing a desperate game of catchup on the All Blacks.
They know they start well behind them on the form front, and are going to have to come up with something out of the bag to prevail.
It's why Robbie Deans, normally the most calculating of coaches, has rolled the dice with his 5-2 forwards-backs split on the bench. Clearly he's aiming to swamp McCaw with a relentless wave of loose forwards coming at him, and he wants fresh legs to sustain that attack.
But Deans has also left himself vulnerable with just two backs reserves. It's a risky move that could net a dramatic result, either way.
The Wallabies are probably going to miss Berrick Barnes more that they'd care to admit. They're a team that like to play the percentages and build pressure through field position. Without Barnes' strong kicking game, they're going to rely heavily on Matt Giteau to pull the right strings in that department.
The All Blacks have also learnt their lessons on that front. They're a much more calculating, disciplined outfit now than the headless chooks who ran around Sydney's ANZ Stadium gifting victory to the delighted Wallabies.
In fact, since then the New Zealanders have knuckled down into what appears to be a bloody good rugby side.
Their set-piece work has been fabulous, their defence tight and disciplined and their attacking game much more calculating. They have finally seemed to have come to grips with the mix of kick-and-chase and tap-and-go required under the hurly-burly of these ELVs.
And in McCaw, Dan Carter, Ali Williams, Tony Woodcock, Mils Muliaina, Andrew Hore, So'oialo and Ma'a Nonu they've got men who have stepped their games up when it's been needed.
It will be a fabulous occasion at Suncorp, too, with the atmosphere really building around Brisbane as the enormity of the occasion kicks in. This, remember, is an area populated with a good many Kiwis, many of whom I'm sure will find their way into the vast stadium to break up those pockets of gold.
The All Blacks will pick up on that. They will see those black-clad fans in the stands, and they'll realise that they have to deliver for them.
It's a pressure Graham Henry's men are used to playing under. They are expected to win every time they run out on to a rugby paddock. Invariably, with the obvious exception of the World Cups, they deliver.
The Wallabies, on the other hand, do not have such expectation weighing them down on a weekly basis. Clearly they're in rebuilding mode under their new Kiwi coach and as much of a fillip victory would be, honourable defeat would not present anything too destabilising.
Rome wasn't built in a day, in other words.
Hasn't it also been good to see the personality politics of the two coaches largely left out of the buildup hype this week.
The Dingo Deans v Ted Henry story has had more than its fair share of coverage during this campaign. I like the fact that for this, the decisive match, the concentration has been on the players. It is them, after all, who have to deliver out there on Saturday night.
MAIN MEN: The forcus has been on All Blacks captain Richie McCaw this week rather than coach Graham Henry and that sums up the fact that the defining Tri-Nations test against the Wallabies comes down to the players rather than the well documented rivalry between the coaches.
All Blacks stay grounded till kick-off
Yahoo!Xtra Sport
Neil Reid in Brisbane
September 12, 2008, 6:09 pm
Richie McCaw says the All Blacks have kept their emotions in check this week to ensure they don't peak ahead of the Tri Nations decider in Brisbane.
The clash at Suncorp Stadium is the culmination of a three-month campaign for both the All Blacks and Wallabies.
And for the second successive season, the result of an All Black/Wallaby clash will decide who claims the Tri Nations silverware.
McCaw said there was no lack of desire or hunger in the squad.
But he said just as important was his belief that that was being channeled in the right direction, and even controlled, to ensure the All Blacks didn't play the game out in their heads well before kick-off.
"There is definitely some excitement there. But you are right, you can't play the game before you get on the track on Saturday night," McCaw said."That is something we have stressed. Guys have to individually keep an eye on that. The way the week has gone, we have built really well. But never know what is going to happen, but you just hope that guys turn up and do their bit to make sure we get a good performance."
Head coach Graham Henry added: "They had to stay alive for the last three games.
"If we had lost against Australia in Auckland or South Africa in Cape Town we were history. So the boys have gone through that experience for the last two test matches which have been big tests and they haven't played the game prior to the game. They have had that experience and hopefully they will go through the same process for this test match. I am thinking they have experienced enough and well lead enough to keep their feet on the floor and make sure we build for the right time."
The decider is the first time the Wallabies will be able to regain some pride as a team after last month's record loss inflicted on them by the Springboks.
McCaw said it was a result which would add extra sting to the Wallabies.
He said it would also have made the job of getting the Wallabies 'up' mentally "easier" for Robbie Deans.
Despite the All Blacks being scheduled for a season-ending Grand Slam tour, Saturday's Suncorp Stadium decider has been billed as the side's biggest test of the season.
McCaw said when considering what was up for grabs, it was a test that epitomised why he played test rugby.
"That is why we play the game," he said."That is why we play the five previous tests, to have a crack at that. That is what motivates all of the guys, to perform well and then you get something at the end of it. Our hunger has to be there as well. This series has shown when it is not at the peak, then you will come second. And the guys realise that. From our point of view, from within the group the desire to go out and perform and play well in the All Black team is high. And I am sure the Wallabies are the same."
The make-up of the playing staffs of both sides is massively different from those involved in the 2007 Tri Nations finale at Eden Park. Half of the current All Black squad was not required for last year's World Cup. Deans too has brought in a rash of new faces due to overseas defections, retirements and a change of direction.
"They are always a threat," McCaw said of the new-look Wallabies. "They still have some quality players right through the team, a fair few players have been around for a while. Whether it is more or less than last year, it means whoever turns out there we are going to have to perform to our very best. The Wallabies always are a threat. And the first game we played this year showed when you get it wrong you come second pretty easily."
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
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