The report card, and indeed the history books will show one thing: New Zealand won their second World Cup in 2011 and there won’t be an asterisk beside that fact. The rest of us will remember that New Zealand basically didn’t lose the World Cup, a World Cup that was theirs to win, played at home with a final where the referee lacked the bottle to spoil the party. Continue reading
And then they went and spoiled it all by doing something stupid like sticking their fingers in to someone’s “eye area.” Continue reading
Last Week’s Legacy
If we were to draw conclusions from the quarter finals, its that “out-and-out groundhogs” playing at seven proved hugely important in getting the right result. This was due in part to the interpretation of the referees and in particular the games on the bottom half of the draw. Continue reading
Well done New Zealand: It’s a relatively small country a long way from anywhere else and the weather hasn’t been the best but the atmosphere and organisation, bar some opening night nerves, seem to have been very good. Beating the French will have cheered up the Kiwis and put some ghosts to rest, while seeing the Aussies lose has been very well received. The Ireland v Russia game sounded like it had been organised by the best hostel in the world and the crowd were suitably lubricated. Continue reading
Couldn't pick his nose
This was a poor, disjointed and very disappointing match. As unlikely as it may have seemed, everything that Peter Bilge blustered about came to pass. Continue reading
There have been suggestions from a few quarters, including Clouseau himself, that France wouldn’t try too hard against New Zealand in their pool game. Lievremont’s assertion that France could probably only hope to beat New Zealand once intimated that they would hope to pull some kind of West Germany 1954 rope-a-dope* on the best team in the world to deny them the World Cup for which they seem destined. Continue reading
Digging Like a Demented Mole 