Say it isn't so ...

I may actually be suffering from football overload. This weekend we have had:

• The opening of the rugby world cup (8 matches total)
  
• A significant round of matches in the domestic rugby union competition (7 matches)
  
• The first round of playoffs (four matches) in the National (that is Australian, with one NZ team) rugby league
• European qualification matches in "association football" (or just football, or soccer)
  
• The first round of playoffs (prior to the oxymoronically named "preliminary finals") in Garthmeister's favourite game, Aussie rules (two matches?)
• Oh yeah, there's that other game ... gridiron (I did actually watch some of the Colts/Saints)
  

And no, I haven't watched them all, but that's not entirely for lack of trying.

47-3

That was the score this morning (local time) when the All Blacks (a.k.a. NZ) played Les Bleus (France). If you've had any contact with Kiwis, then you know that rugby is essentially a state religion in NZ, so it was quite appropriate that the game should be on a Sunday morning here. They won with an absolutely suffocating defensive display (the French had by far the majority of possession and territory) combined with some superb opportunistic attacks. If some cable channel in your area is showing the game in the next week or so (or next weekend's game, again against France), I recommend it highly.

At one time or another I've followed virtually all of the round or oval ball sports with some degree of seriousness, even including that peculiar Aussie one with four goal posts. Rugby (union) has become my favourite, and not only because I've been subject to almost a decade now of unrelenting propaganda. As well as being as physically demanding as any of them, rugby requires the players, and the players alone, to be able to deal with the on the field situation, in a fluid game with very few stoppages.

Anyhow, at the moment, the All Blacks seem to have two teams that are capable of beating anyone else in the world. This has caused some consternation locally as the tradition of "the jersey" has been that there should be a set line up, and pretenders need to wait for their seniors and betters to retire or realise that they are no longer up to it, before getting their chance. With the World Cup coming up next year, Graham Henry, the coach, has decided on a new plan of ensuring that regardless of injury or loss of form, he'll have a full extended squad of experienced players to try and reclaim what most Kiwis regard as their birthright (despite not having been able to win it since 1987).

A big win against France is doubly sweet as they are the hosts of the World Cup next year, and currently ranked number two in the world. Of course, it's in the Kiwi spirit to now be speculating about whether the team has peaked too soon!