Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, Oi Oi Oi....

It was a scintillating rugby match. Unbelievable pace and energy. The Wallabies pulled off something of a coup in beating the All Blacks 43-19 (two clear tries) with less than 40% of the ball possession. Unheard of in modern rugby.

Clever kicking, self-belief, and a herculean effort in aggressive committed defense in the opposition half allowed the Wallabies to keep the All Blacks pinned back and under pressure, when this much All Black possession would normally have resulted in a rout, and a cricket score being posted against most other international sides.

The Wallabies loose forwards, Palu/Smith/Elsom (and then Waugh) were the point-of-the-sword that pilfered ball at will, and wrecked havoc on the normally invincible All Black rucking and mauling machine. The Wallabies front row Archillies heel seemed to count for little, as the All Blacks struggled to capitalise. Wave after wave of the Black tide roared and rolled in, only to smash against and be broken by an immovable green and gold rock wall.

Then there was the added factor of the fast, skillful and enterprising Wallabies back line. A flawless Giteau, with lifted performances from Barnes, Tuqiri, Hynes, and Ashley-Cooper, more than compensated for the absence of Mortlock at center. The impact of Nonu was negligible. Mills played well, but the outstanding Carter seemed like a lone voice in the Henry wilderness, shouting at the wind. A depressed missing master McCaw could only look on from the grandstand, as the on-field leadership provided by Carter was not supported, and ultimately wilted in the heat and surge of the battle.

This is now 5 wins in a row for Roo-bie Deans, (two consecutive losses for Henry) and the 5 year Australian Bledisloe Cup drought looks likely to break. The Wallabies are building up to a full hop, with the team seemly acquiring that aura, confidence and swagger of that Golden Wallabies Farr-Jones/Lynagh/Horan/Campese era.

All the pressure has to be now on Graham Henry as round 2 of the Bledisloe shifts to Auckland next week. It's a must win game for the All Blacks, else a unforgiving NZ rugby public will undoubtedly be calling for his scalp.

What a treat we are in for, this coming weekend!

Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, Oi Oi Oi !!

...Finally some sense

After a long long time, today I got the feeling that good old common sense is starting to take hold in Fiji.

In today's papers it is reported that the FRU has appointed Serevi to the position of Coach (and only coach) of the Fiji 7's team for the 2009 season, and most importantly to defend Fiji's 7's World Cup. Hooorrrayyy!!! Good job Rugby House.. Most of the Country will, like me, be breathing a huge sigh of relief. More importantly our hopes of having at least something good in Fiji to look forward to (ie a Rugby World Cup victory) next year will give us some strength to keep moving forward under the present very depressing circumstances.

Also today the press reports that PM has revoked the Water tax ..... Hooorrayy !! Hooorrraaayy!!! Finally the powers that be have put the foot down and said "enough is enough", and a stop has been put to an ill-conceived policy that would have acted to push the economy further into recession. Hopefully the Government can build on this and right a few more policy mis-steps to bring much needed confidence back into the business community. If this happens, it will not be long before the cheque books get reopened, and green-eyed entrepreneurs rejoin the mad scramble for investments in Fiji.

Go Fiji Go !
God Bless Fiji !!

NZ Tucker

Gulia and I had the privilege of attending the NZ Trade Charity Dinner last night courtesy of Westpac Bank. Thanks Westpac! Dinner was awesome - a 7:30pm kickoff with 10 courses of food accompanied by a different NZ wine carefully selected to compliment each course (including 2 deserts!). The function was fully attended (200 seats) and needless to say, by the evening's end well after midnight all attendees were fully stuffed and inebriated. Luckily for me Gulia had volunteered to be the designated driver, saving me a taxi fare and an early morning retrival of the car from the Holiday Inn carpark. Vinaka NZ High Commission and Westpac!