Richie McCaw senses positive vibe over rugby...

Richie McCaw senses positive vibe over rugby:

Signs of increased enthusiam for rugby with big crowds turning up for pre-season games ahead of the Super 14 starting next week.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw senses a fresh enthusiasm for rugby, just over a week out from the start of the Super 14 competition.

After years of declining crowd numbers, there are signs of renewed interest. Big crowds have turned up at pre-season games in the provinces with 10,000 set to pack the ground in Motueka for tomorrow's hit out between the Blues and Crusaders.

McCaw says there is a positive feel especially with the way the Air New Zealand Cup was played last year and the way the All Blacks played in the last test against France.

Meanwhile, McCaw is relishing changes in interpretations at the breakdown heading into the Super 14 season. The breakdown area has been tweaked yet again with the emphasis on the tackler releasing the ball and the ball carrier, after hitting the ground in the tackle.

McCaw says it is quite different to last year when players made a tackle and then tied the ball up as they were getting to their feet. He says that was what was causing turnovers and slow ball.

The All Blacks skipper will not be donning the Crusaders jersey until round three of the competition at the earliest.




Acknowledgements: © 2010 NZCity, NewsTalkZB

Dan Carter back for red and blacks...

Dan Carter back for red and blacks...

All Black first five-eighth Dan Carter will make his return to top-level rugby this weekend.

Carter has been named to start for Canterbury in their Air New Zealand Cup opening round clash against North Harbour on Saturday.

Carter has not played a top-level game since injuring his Achilles while playing for Perpignan in France six months ago.

It will be Carter's first game for Canterbury since October 6, 2006, when he played against Wellington in an NPC quarter-final.

He played 80 minutes for Southbridge against Hornby in the Ellesmere sub-union competition last weekend, scoring a try and kicking two conversions in his team's 34-13 victory.

Canterbury
Colin Slade, James Paterson, Tim Bateman, Ryan Crotty, Sean Maitland, Dan Carter, Tyson Keats, Nasi Manu, George Whitelock (captain), Michael Paterson, James Broadhurst, Sam Whitelock, Peter Borlase, Ti'i Paulo, Wyatt Crockett.

Reserves: Will Catherwood, Andrew Olorenshaw, Luke Romano, Matt Todd, Willi Heinz, Stephen Brett, Adam Whitelock.


Acknowledgements: NZ HERALD STAFF

All Blacks 22-16 - Wallabies blew it - lack of discipline...

The Wallabies blew it - big time. This was their best chance in ages to end the 23-year Eden Park hoodoo and once again they suffered from stage fright, squandering an early 10-point lead and wasting several massive opportunities to put the All Blacks away.


The Wallabies cannot blame anyone but themselves for once again leaving Auckland with nothing when they had many chances to get well ahead of a committed but far from impressive New Zealand outfit, only to constantly lose possession in the opposition quarter.

Gift tries were missed through wrong back-line options and nearly every time they found themselves with the upper hand in the All Blacks' quarter someone in the Australian team would lose the ball at the breakdown. Good lead-up work was over and over again ruined by the Wallabies' inability to maintain the pressure.

For the upteenth time since 1986, the Wallabies showed they are not yet mentally up to beating the All Blacks on home soil. They are too easily intimidated. The skills and fitness have improved in the past year but the killer instinct is not there.

And, most importantly, the Wallabies cannot match the All Blacks in keeping their composure or momentum, especially in the second half when the home team picked up the pace. As usual, the Wallabies had great moments but then fluffed their lines at the crucial time.

One of the few Wallabies who did stand up to the tension was fullback Adam Ashley-Cooper, but too many others in the green and gold didn't.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and his players tried to remain upbeat after the game, but the pain was obvious.

"We didn't take the opportunities and we enabled the All Blacks to play conservative and grind it out," Deans said. "It is frustrating to finish short."

Adding to the pain was that the Wallabies began the Test in spectacular fashion when inside-centre Berrick Barnes showed his deft skills by bluffing the All Blacks defence with a smart weave and a sneaky dummy pass, which opened the way for him to score the opening try in just the fourth minute.

Sadly, the Wallabies were unable to take full advantage of the excellent start. A critical moment occurred in the 17th minute when Barnes had the chance to put Stirling Mortlock into a gap - the captain was charging in on an acute angle - or to throw wide to winger Drew Mitchell, who had no one in front of him.

An Australian try appeared certain, and with it a 14-point lead, but Barnes took the wrong option of going himself and was swamped before throwing a high pass to George Smith, which crashed into his head. The moment was lost. And moments like these win Test matches.

As Barnes said last night: "If I had my time again, I would have passed it."

Another bad moment for Australia came just before half-time when they were unable to sustain the pressure and - after finding themselves perched on the All Blacks' line - lost possession. Again another try-scoring opportunity was wasted.

Nonetheless, the Wallabies kept their composure for most of the first half and were deserving 13-10 leaders at the break after a fast, entertaining and dramatic session.

All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen admitted it took time for his side to adjust to the wet and windy weather.

"I think the slow start came down to the conditions," Hansen said. "We didn't really master the conditions that well and we allowed ourselves to be put under pressure at lineout time."

As expected, the breakdown tussle was intense, with Australia having the early ascendancy until All Blacks captain Richie McCaw, who was not sighted in the opening quarter, found his legs and broke the Wallabies defence in the 23rd minute, scoring from a precise pass from outside-centre Conrad Smith.

The South African referee, Craig Joubert, was - as expected - extremely jittery and appeared obsessed in keeping control by repeatedly penalising both sides.

For much of the the second half, Joubert continued to irritate both teams by finding fault with them and the the game degenerated into a penalty goal shoot-out between Giteau and Stephen Donald. At times the Wallabies had no idea why Joubert found fault with tight-head prop Al Baxter at scrum time. But they were also their own worst enemies, repeatedly losing possession in the All Blacks quarter.

NEW ZEALAND 22 (Richard McCaw try Stephen Donald con 5 pens)

AUSTRALIA 16 (Berrick Barnes try Matt Giteau con 3 pens)

A less powerful Super 14 Rugby crusade moves to South Africa...

This Crusaders side does not have the firepower of those predecessors - men like Daniel Carter, Aaron Mauger, Greg Somerville, Reuben Thorne, Mose Tuiali'i - but it carries the same conviction and drive which have marked almost every crusade.

They have also reclaimed lock Brad Thorn after his recent hamstring troubles to combat abrasive Bulls forwards like Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Pierre Spies and Deon Stegmann.

That combat will be brutal though Botha and combative centre JP Nel have to survive disciplinary hearings to be involved after they were cited for foul play in their final round victory against the Sharks. Botha has already been suspended for three weeks this season while midfielder Wynand Olivier is an unlikely starter because of a hip injury.

The sides met in pool play this year in Christchurch where the Crusaders, without the injured McCaw, beat the visitors 16-13 to maintain their push to defend their crown.

"The Crusaders are one of the toughest teams to play in a semifinal," said Matfield.

"They know how to win semifinals and finals. They have won the Super rugby title seven times and they have enough talent and experience to do it again. Obviously we are happy to be playing at Loftus but Loftus won't win the game for us. We have to go back to zero and work hard," he said.

The Bulls are the only side outside New Zealand in the playoffs but they were the top qualifiers and if they win this weekend will host either the Chiefs or Hurricanes in the Pretoria final the following weekend.

The Crusaders though will be looking to repeat their 1999 effort when they were the fourth qualifier but won the title against the Highlanders in Dunedin. That is the only time the last qualifier has claimed the honours.

Test rugby the lure to Luke McAlister's return to New Zealand...

Test rugby was McAlister's lure:

It wasn't until he visited his former All Blacks team-mates when they played England at Twickenham that Luke McAlister realised how much he missed Test rugby.



Initially, after moving to Sale, after the failed 2007 Rugby World Cup campaign, he hadn't missed Test rugby.

"It was nice to get away from it and have a break. But then watching it later on you do miss it.

"I went down to watch the boys in London and being there I sort of felt like I was missing being there.

"It's not easy, but you still support the boys and you want them to do their best.

I loved it at Sale, it was hard leaving. It was different to here in lots of ways - good and bad I suppose but you get that wherever you go," he said.

While he didn't know if he was a better player, he did feel he was a better person and more rounded.

"I had to grow up a bit and learn a few things over there," he said.

British rugby was demanding, not only for its duration but also for the variety of conditions involved.

"It's a long season over there, week in, week out, you're going for 10 months which is a long time. So it is a grind," he said.

"You're playing in conditions that probably aren't as good as Super 14 so you learn how to play in different conditions and you are playing with guys who are a bit more reserved.

"You've got to bite your tongue a bite and go with what the team is trying to do but in saying that you will want to play your natural game which you can't do all the time.

It's slower, so it's a bit more crash, bash type of thing but they are trying to expand the game and throw the ball around a bit more I suppose now that it is coming towards the end of the year.

"You can afford to throw the ball around a bit more otherwise if you make any mistakes near your own goal-line or in your own 22m you get turned over and you get punished. There are a lot of big forwards over there and you don't really want to be caught around them."

He said his preferred position was second five-eighths but he was prepared to fit in where it best suited his team.

He knew when he left that players would step into his position and make it their own and that happened.

He said he thought it was good for New Zealand rugby that 18 players had re-signed for the All Blacks from last year.

From what he had seen of the Rebel Sport Super 14 this year he thought the standard had been better than many British commentators were prepared to acknowledge and he shrugged that off as the chip on the shoulder that many have about the Southern Hemisphere.

One of the areas of his game that had advanced as a result of his move was the ability to close games out.

With England and Lions five-eighths Charlie Hodgson playing inside him there had been plenty to learn from the kicking five-eighths approach and the safer option in winning games with drop-kicks and the like.

"But in saying that I still like to play my natural game which is to run with the ball but you have got to work in with the team.

"When I first got over there I tried to throw the ball and there were a couple of intercepts, chip kick and they scored, in my first two games. It wasn't a good start really.
He's still carrying a leg injury and it is to be assessed before he confirms whether he will play for the Barbarians.

"I have told the Barbarians that if it is not right I am not going to risk it," he said. "My priority is over June-July."

As regards his return to playing in New Zealand for the Junior All Blacks, he said he had no problems and he had no idea how he would go but he was being chucked right back in and would soon know.