Came. Soared. Kicked Ass.

Really - the picture says it all.

I don't really need to say more - but I will.  Putting it plainly, last night the All Blacks kicked Irelands ass, when they played the third & final test match in the Steinlager Series. 

The team celebrating their awesomeness
... but where the hell are DC and Zaccy????

I presumed the All Blacks would win - because, lets face it - the All Blacks always win, and very very very rarely is an All Blacks loss against a team other than South Africa or Australia.  However last weeks 22-19 scoreline did leave me a little concerned - but deep down I KNEW the AB's would win.  The game in Christchurch can be largely blamed on the weather I think - the cold, slippery ball, the cold, slippery ground, the cold, slippery players (hmmm...).  It came down to who kicked well, and who was in the right place at the right time.  Thank fuck the AB's had been in the right place at the right time (well, Dan Carter had been).   STILL.. the fact the AB's weren't putting forward their 1st string side did leave me a little worried - my guess was that there would be a 35-20 scoreline, in favour of the All Blacks.

Another sublime Smith offload

THAT pass from Cruden to SBW

I did not need to worry one tiny little bit, as it turned out.  From the beginning the All Blacks were the dominant team, particularly in the midfield, where Aaron Smith showed what a little pocket rocket he is - speedy passes, speedy running, an uncanny knack to find spaces...  The two Aaron's played extremely well together... and I do have to say that for the 30? minutes Aaron Cruden was on, he was ON FIRE, and looked as though he had been in the team for a matter of years and years and years - he wasn't quite Dan Carter, but shit.  That kid can play!!!  He had a particularly good connection with SBW - they linked up a lot, and one particular link up - a gorgeous little pass by Cruden, just before he hit the ground, led to SBW getting his first try of the 2012 AB's season.  That leads me to a despressing admission.  SBW also had a great game.  His offloads were sublime, and often led to tries or awesome little runs - infact I believe it was a chip kick by SBW that led to Izzy getting his try.

[try scoring] moves like Dagger

That leaves the perfect opening to talk about Izzy.  WHAT A GAME!  The man kicked and passed and ran like a pro - a mad feat, considering the fact he had a sore foot/ankle (not sure which).  Infact, literally seconds before he got his try, the commentators were saying that Izzy was in a bad way, and wouldn't be sticking around much longer.  NEK MINNIT he was running toward the tryline, then dived over for what was an awesome try.  When he stood up his did get up a little gingerly, but he stayed on for the rest of the game - much to the shock of everyone, I think. 

The only thing that could have made Izzy play any better, was having his right hand (well, right wing) man - Zaccy, on the field with him...

But don't get me started on that.

Ben Smith. *frowns*
That try should have been Zac's.  *frowns more*

Same Cane, try #1

Another player that did uberly well, was Sam Cane!!!!  Sam took the #7 position, whilst Richie moved to the #8 - and I have to say, it was a very good combination, and the way Mr McCaw played in #8, you'd be forgiven for thinking it was his natural position.  But Sam.  Two tries on his run-on debut, a lot of good running and passing...  I have a feeling that one Mr McCaw would have been very proud of how his protégé played... When Sam came off he got a rather loud ovation from the crowd, and rightly so.  He played his 20yo ass off.

Interesting to note as well, that three of the best players of the match were Chiefs boys, and that 5 of the 9 tries scored, were also by Chiefs players (two of them, Cane & SBW, each scoring twice).

Out with the old, in with the new.
Fuck off Piri.  Aaron Smith is here to stay.

Thinking about it, the only union that didn't really have any players making any impact on the game, was the Blues.  But that really isn't a surprise, is it?  Piri made fuck all impact on the game - I personally would have sooner seen Aaron Smith stay on.  Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock were pretty 'meh' as far as the hooking role went... they did their jobs, but were nothing spectacular.  I don't think there were even any other Blues in the team.  Ma'a Nonu was in the squad but was the ONLY player to miss out on a role in any of the games.  I'm wondering if there are some internal politics going on there...  is Ma'a on his way to announcing that he's leaving Aotearoa for Japan or a Euro club?  Part of me hopes not, but part of me - again, is 'meh'...  He hasn't made much of an impact this year.  The All Blacks certainly coped well without him.

I'm not even going to sum up the performance - okay, so admittedly by reviewing the game (in my own way), I have done that - but I think there is someone who can sum it up a lot better than me, without saying a single word...

You can judge how the nation felt about the game
by the demeanour of Captain Fantastic...
and he looks pretty fucking happy!

And hey...  Mr Dagg looks pretty happy too!

Them Rugga Boys & Their Ink... and Proof the World Isn't Perfect.

The All Blacks are awesome - purely because they ARE the All Blacks, who by nature are the kings of the world... but a lot of them also have tattoos - which is just another way in which they are awesome and really should rule the world.

Except Sonny Bill.
He can rule Australia.
Piss off, SBW.

I now present, 'Them Rugga Boys & Their Ink'...

Victor Vito

Piri Weepu

Liam Messam

Jerome Kaino

Hosea Gear

Aaron Smith

Ma'a Nonu - who also has an impressive
tat on his back, but I couldn't find a good
enough photo of it!!!!!

Keven Mealamu

Keven Mealamu and Owen Franks in the background

Israel Dagg

And naturally... my favourite tattoo clad arms.... belonging to one Zachary Guildford...

Left arm...

Right arm...

And now in a little more detail... courtesy of whoever it was who posted these photos on another blog...

In a perfect world, there would also be a photo of CJ showing off his tattoos... but the man has none......

Proof the world is NOT perfect.

Came... Soared... Conquered (just)

This past Saturday the BIG DAY finally arrived, and Lauriel and I attended our first All Blacks game together.  As a couple.  We actually both attended the same game a few years ago - sitting in the same stand, but of course neither of us had any idea of what was to come!

Mister Guildford & Mister McCaw
... warming up, TOGETHER

It was cold.  So bloody cold.  But I didn't really feel the cold, as such - I was much too excited to even notice the weather, although the ice on the seats was very hard to ignore (and no - I'm not exaggerating!)...  We got there in time to watch the men warming up - even if they were down the opposite end of the field from us...  We played a game of 'guess that All Black', for the most part... however there were two players who were VERY obvious to us - and naturally those players were Mr Guildford and Mr McCaw.  We both did little squeeeeee's of joy when they came out, and I think it's fair to say our focus was very much on the two of them, for the entirety of the warm up session.  Especially when they were running together.  It was like it was meant to be.

When it came time for the national anthems, I sang along to both - the Irish anthem because I think it's the coolest anthem out there (only the Irish would have a national anthem, that sounds like a pub song!), and the New Zealand anthem because... well, I'm a Kiwi, and I was surrounded by my fellow Kiwi's... so singing along seemed the appropriate thing to do.  And really, you couldn't have stopped me from singing along.  Nick Afoa sang the NZ anthem, and did a fantastic job.  A few tears did come to the eyes as the anthem finished, and an enormous roar erupted from the stadium - but the tears were soon a thing of the past, as the men All in Black took their positions on the field, to perform the haka...  An amazing sight, and amazing sound to behold.

Ireland taking a kick at goal..

After the haka, of course it was time for kick off - and from the beginning you could tell the game was going to consist of penalties, and maybe a try or two - the type of game that isn't exciting to watch and contains a lot of 'stop-start', but is usually very close - which in turn DOES create some excitement.  The boys didn't get off to a great start and were 10-0 down at one point..  After that they clawed their way back into it...  As I'd presumed, the points were scored mostly by the boots of the goal kickers - and when it was 19-19 with a few minutes to go, it was obvious that the game could be won or lost - by either team, by a drop kick that actually hit the mark.

LUCKILY this is precisely what Mr Daniel Carter did - you could hear all the All Blacks supporters breathe a huge sigh of relief, although being bluntly honest, the Irish deserved the win - of the two teams on the field, they played the hardest... in my opinion.  That said.  I'm bloody glad the AB's won.  New Zealand is not a fun place to be after an All Blacks loss, particularly when it is to a [supposedly] lesser-team.  Ireland certainly gave them a run for their money, and although I'm an AB's supporter through & through, I was proud of the men in green!

Steaming man pile

One of the most fascinating aspects of the game for me, was the cold temperature - and all the steam it created...  The game was FULL of what I referred to as 'steaming man piles' - and I would love to know how much of the cold the players actually felt... whether they noticed it as much as the crowd, or if they didn't notice it so much because they were hot from running around.  I loved when there was a scrum or a ruck - and all you could see was a big billowing cloud of steam coming from the players, which would stay even when the players were on their way to the other side of the field.  Fascinating really....

The biggest down side to the game was about 8 minutes from the end, when Izzy got yellow carded for a supposed aerial shoulder charge.  You could see there was absolutely NOTHING malicious in it, and it was plain to see that all that had happened was Izzy jumped when the dude kicked the ball - Izzy crashed into the guy, the guy then fell to the ground and did a big Hollywood.  NEK MINNIT Izzy is being sent to the rugby equivalent of the naughty chair, and the All Blacks are down to 14 players.  Not that it made much difference.  Another down side was Ali Williams and his fondness for fisty cuffs...  Richie gave him a good telling off for that.  And damn straight too!

A natural upside to the game, was the fact that Zaccy played the full 80 minutes.  AND looked fierce doing the haka.

But the biggggggest upside to the game, is quite simply that I was there with the love of my life, and we were able to experience it together.

some women would bitch about
being taken to the rugby, on a date
... but not us! 
best. date. night. ever.

Iz That Time!

Time to take a closer look at the facials that Mr Dagg makes, whilst running with the ball!!!!

I call this the "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Smashing through those dirty French!

Another variant of the "AHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Levitating "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Tonguing it

OWWW YOU GOT ME!

I think perhaps he just looked in a mirror
and realised how creepy that moustache is

Back in Black!

*huge, enormous, gargantuan sigh of relief*

The All Blacks are back!

Last night 22 men pulled on the All Black jumper again, for the first time in about 7 1/2 months - and at 7.35pm, the whistle blew and the 2012 All Blacks season was officially underway.  Again - huge, enromous, gargantuan sigh of relief.

After the intense 4 year long  build up to the RWC2011 - and the resulting 7 (or was it 8?) All Blacks games, one got VERY used to see the 'men in black' playing - and one day, suddenly, it was all over.  Poof.  Gone.  Just like that.  Admittedly it was poof-gone-just like that, with the addition of the William Webb Ellis cup, and the title of 'rugby world champions', to wear for the next 3 or 4 years.  Still.  The rugby was over.

There were 4 months between the end of the RWC2011 and the start of the SuperXV - and as awesome as SuperXV rugby is (go the mighty Highl.. CRUSADERS!), it's not the same as watching the All Blacks play - the creme de la creme of New Zealand rugby talent, all playing on the one team, at the same time... a veritable feast of immense talent - and one would be lying to pretend that in some cases, there wasn't also immense hotness.

The game reiterated for me, exactly WHY I love rugby - and particularly the All Blacks....

Man-love moments!  The fellas congratulating
Julian Savea after one of his 3 tries last night

Captain Fan-fucking-tastic!  Really, do I need to say more?

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS GETTING SMASHED!
.. this is the only capacity in which you'll see SBW
mentioned, or pictured, on this blog.

The Haka!  This time they went old school & did Ka Mate...

Izzy's face while running with the ball

Dan Carter!  The man is most definitely
back to his goal kicking best!

PYROTECHNICS?  Not usually seen at rugby games, but hey..
who doesn't like a nice little fireworks display??!

Last, but by no means least
Zachary Robert Guildford

Trio Triple Twitter Threat

(how the hell is that for awesome alliteration??)

Someone in the Twitterverse must have done something very right, because this evening the Twitter gods were sure smiling down on.. well, Twitter, and all our Twitter prayers were answered...

CJ is known as the Twitter-king, amongst All Blacks fans and the general NZ public - using Twitter as a way to connect with his fans, make announcements, give his opinion, get in trouble with his wife for missing her birthday dinner #dogboxmuch.  Mr Guildford also started using Twitter - and whilst he is nowhere near the Twitter king that CJ is, he has lifted his game as of late - and is certainly the Twitter-prince to CJ's Twitter-king.

Forever now (well..... for about 8 months) there has been a very public campaign to get Izzy Dagg on Twitter.. but he refused.. and refused.. and refused.... UNTIL TONIGHT!  Mister Israel Dagg is now on Twitter, and already he is tweeting up a storm - and is developing quite the following.

According to Twitter, his first tweet was at 6.26pm - it is now 8.18pm, so in that 1 hour and 52 minutes he has gained 1612 followers, which works out to be an average of 14.3 followers per minute.  Compare that to Zaccy who has 6555 followers and CJ who has 57,597 followers.  Still a way to go on both of them - but I have a feeling he'll take Zaccy's Twitter-prince title in the coming days.

The proof is in the pudding... well, in the Twitter profile...

By the way.  It's now 8.24pm and Izzy is up to 1657 followers.

McCaw Rocks...

Lauriel tells me Richie is perfect, but she's completely biased. While I doubt he actually IS perfect (the man must have ONE flaw??), he sure does rock, a lot... particularly when it comes to clothing and  facial scruff...  So here is a little look at the ways in which Mr McCaw rocks....

The All Blacks jersey.  Well.. duh! 
and the tear just adds a whollllle lotta grrrowl factor

Crusaders jersey.  The man IS the face of the Crusaders

Swimming trunks.  Nom.  Simply, nom

Polo shirts.  Best Richie choice EVER

The black coat.  Even the Boss Man needs to be warm

2012 training jersey.  The man does red, very well

The suit.  Class, class & more class

Polo AND shorts.  Double Richie threat

1. Parka.  Simply CANNOT let Captain Fantastic get wet!
2. Scruff.  Need I say more

Skin.  Very self explanatory

1.  White
2.  Tight sleeves

THE jumper.  So perfect in so many ways

Blood.  He even makes blood look sexy

Dead Fish.  Something so hunter/gatherer about it...

Crutches.  Still looks sexy, even in pain

The William Webb Ellis Cup.
Wiremu.
Webber.
That man is so damn proud of his team!