Kiwis are rugby mad
For anyone still wondering why the IRB decided to send the World Cup way down south to New Zealand, the answer lies not only in the excitement felt on the pitch, but also around the rugby mad country.
The Springboks got their campaign off to a winning start in a nerve-wracking match against Wales, while Australia were given a scare by Italy and the Irish found USA to be no pushovers either.
Much like yesterday, there were signs that an upset was on the cards with the unfancied teams in search of a big scalp that would see their name go into folk lore, but alas the more favoured sides all prevailed.
However, before the round of pool matches are over, there is bound to be a major shock and a mind-boggling thrashing somewhere in the pipeline.
All the day three results:
* Australia 32-6 Italy
* Ireland 22-10 USA
* South Africa 17-16 Wales
The Springboks victory over Wales was as close as it could have been, with the likes of Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis and Francois Hougaard coming off the bench to save the day.
The Boks may have won the hard way, but this can also be seen as a positive, because the match serves as a wake-up call without a defeat, so while lessons will have been learnt – there isn’t a painful loss to accompany them. Having a battle-hardened side is also not altogether a bad thing, as the All Blacks know only too well – having strolled through the opening rounds of previous World Cups only to trip over the first difficult hurdle.
The match also demonstrated new hope for Wales, who have a young side led by 22-year-old Sam Warburton, and could go on to become a highly competitive unit in years to come.
Ireland ground out a tough victory against a stubborn USA defence, with the American Eagles lifted by the occasion of the tenth anniversary of 9/11.
For any pundits who labelled the Americans as having a leaky defence, there will be a number bruised Irishmen who may beg to differ.
Finally the wobbly Aussies were reminded about their scrum’s frailties by Italy’s Martin Castrogiovanni & Co, who gave them a scrumming lesson, with the score at 6-6 at half time.
Before anybody had the chance to utter: “I wonder if the Italians could cause an upset?” The Australians had promptly scored four quick-fire tries to dispel any notions of defeat and replied to the Italian scrumming lesson with a note saying: “Scrum all you like, we’ll score tries with our backs.”
Keep your knickers on
New Zealand’s female fans now have a cheap new way to support their team: by wearing “All Black” lingerie. The “All Black” ensemble of black bra and knickers, promoted by a Wellington shop, is being offered at a 40 percent discount during the World Cup. The underwear is among a range of black items on special offer at the shop.
Oracle octopus? No mate, we’ve got sheep
The quirky Kiwis have their own answer to Paul the octopus, made famous for predicting match results during last year’s football world cup. A farmer called Dan Boyd has a sheep called Sonny Wool, who could follow Paul’s, erm, tentacle steps?
As a lamb Sonny Wool used to predict when it would rain according to Boyd, and will test his psychic powers.
Apparently Sonny Wool is an All Black supporter and is the ‘black sheep’ of the family, preferring the company of humans.
He’s not the only Kiwi sheep getting in on the act:
Clip of the day: Where the f**k is Webb Ellis?
By Timmy Hancox (Follow on twitter)
