Nothing is Created nor Destroyed...

...It is merely moved (transformed) from one being (team) to another. This phrase, we all know and it supports Einsteins 'Theory of Relativity' but us 'rugby jocks' may never have paid much attention to that stuff, I know I never did. It has now hit me like a 115kg centre on a crash ball.

World Cup: Fiji v South Africa Recap

Finally the 'Boks seemed to show the class that we all know thy have. I just want to know where the hell it has been hiding or who has been suppressing it for so long! Either way, it was out for all to see on Saturday as the South Africans showed some fight and determination as they took it to the large islanders from Fiji.

Australia v. Ireland: PreJudgement

The marquee game of Pool C sees two-time RWC champions Australia face off against Webb Ellis under-achievers Ireland in a rematch of their thrilling 17-16 win in 2003.

Players to Watch: Australia

Quade Cooper:

There is no doubting that this is the man who is red hot at the moment. The New Zealand born number 10 should be a no brainer pick for most people as the danger man when the Aussies take the field as the number two favorites for this years IRB Rugby World Cup.

There are some concerns around his defense and how he may buckle under pressure but one thing is for sure, when he is cooking he will even put Gordon Ramsay to shame. 

At only 23 years old he will be in the international set up for a long time to come and I can see him taking the Wallabies all the way.

Other close contenders: Digby Ioane, Kurtley Beale

Name: Quade S. Cooper

Age: 23

Position: Fly-half

Teams: Queensland Reds, Australia

Test Caps: 28 (55 Points)

Height: 1.86m

Weight: 93kg's

What Quade looks like to defenders

Tri Nations Recap: South Africa v New Zealand

The Springboks have escaped a first ever win less Tri Nations by beating the All Blacks at a packed Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth. The match saw only one try from the visitors with Richard Kahui crossing the whitewash in the 35th minute. The rest of the game belonged to SA and more notably Morne Steyn...

Tri Nations Recap: South Africa v Australia

So, after all this is said and done, we, the supporters, are still stuck in the same place we were the last few years! We can see no clear direction that the Boks are taking and all the promise that there is a plan seems to be just smoke up our asses. There is one game left for us before we play in the World Cup! Surely by now we should be seeing some shape and positiveness! We are clearly going to NZ unprepared and hoping that by some grace of God we can do something. 
Now we can take a look at what happened in Durban last night as the most experienced Bok team to ever run on got beaten.

Ireland name World Cup Preseason Training Squad:

A 43 man squad has been named by the IRFU and there are no real surprises there. They will be playing in the Guinness Summer Series as pre-world cup preparations. 
The fixtures are as follows:

Guinness Summer Series

August 6th: Scotland v Ireland, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

August 13th: France v Ireland, Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux

August 18th: Ireland Select XV v Connacht, Donnybrook Stadium, Dublin

August 20th: Ireland v France, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

August 27th: Ireland v England, Aviva Stadium, Dublin

Declan Kidney, Irish Head Coach, had the following to say: 

“This is the first step in preparation for the Rugby World Cup and the group called into our first camp shows that there is competition for places right across the board. There are players who we have identified as part of the larger Rugby World Cup squad who will not be in the first camp and will be based with their provincial and club fitness staff, but that may change as we go through June and July, so none of that larger group are necessarily out of contention for the final squad”.

“The aim three years ago was to deepen the strength of the squad and there are a number of players that have come through in that time either playing with their provinces or with the Wolfhounds and the Ireland team. There are big challenges ahead for the group with the coming preseason and then five games in August”.


Forwards:                                                         
Rory Best (Banbridge/Ulster)                                    
Tony Buckley (Sale Sharks)
Tom Court (Malone/Ulster)
Sean Cronin (Leinster)
Leo Cullen (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Stephen Ferris (Dungannon/Ulster)
Jerry Flannery (Shannon/Munster)
John Hayes (Bruff/Munster)
Cian Healy (Clontarf/Leinster)
Jamie Heaslip (Naas/Leinster)
Marcus Horan (Shannon/Munster)
Shane Jennings (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Denis Leamy (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Mike McCarthy (Buccaneers/Connacht)
Kevin McLaughlin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster)
Sean O'Brien (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donncha O'Callaghan (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Paul O'Connell (Young Munster/Munster)
Mick O'Driscoll (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Michael Ross (Clontarf/Leinster)
Donnacha Ryan (Shannon/Munster)
Damien Varley (Garryown/Munster)
David Wallace (Garryowen/Munster)
Brett Wilkinson (Galwegians/Connacht)


Backs:
Isaac Boss (Terenure College/Leinster)
Tommy Bowe (Ospreys)
Gordon D'Arcy (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Gavin Duffy (Galwegians/Connacht)
Keith Earls (Thomond/Munster)
Luke Fitzgerald (Blackrock College/Leinster)
Felix Jones (Shannon/Munster)
Robert Kearney (UCD/Leinster)
Fergus McFadden (Old Belvedere/Leinster)
Geordan Murphy (Leicester)
Conor Murray (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Brian O'Driscoll (UCD/Leinster)
Ronan O'Gara (Cork Constitution/Munster)
Tomas O'Leary (Dolphin/Munster)
Eoin Reddan (Lansdowne/Leinster)
Jonathan Sexton (St.Mary’s College/Leinster)
Peter Stringer (Shannon/Munster)
Andrew Trimble (Ballymena/Ulster)
Paddy Wallace (Ballymena/Ulster)

Quota of a different kind:

Being a World Cup year brings all sorts of crazy feelings to rugby fans and players alike. One thing we mustn't forget is that the Southern Hemisphere boys have a small matter of the Tri-Nations to fight for beforehand. I have been keenly watching the Springbok Squad selection and the management team have recently cut a few players which brings me to my quota concern. It's not the usual crap about quota's that you have heard for the last couple of decades but the 'There is no replacement for experience' quota's. 

Basically, are we  going to fall into same trap that the FIFA world cup champions (France & Italy) did? Are we going to be knocked out in the first round because we sent the experienced players instead of inform players? So many questions that are burning me right now and I wish I had answers for them!

Judging by the team that has been announced I see way too many of our inform players playing second fiddle to the older more experienced (and slightly off form) guys and sadly some inform players being dropped. Firstly I would like to briefly tackle the two players that have been dropped from the squad and I think should still be there:

Bjorn Basson and Keegan Daniel:

What else do they need to do in order to move into the International set up? Both have had an awesome season and both have been overlooked by players that are either injured or not playing well at all. 

You can't please every "coach" on squad selections but I think these two have something to offer and will be missed.

Secondly I am worried we will have the likes of Andries Bekker, Bismark du Plessis and Lwazi Mvovo playing behind guys that are not in form or being played out of position. I understand there needs to be a squad in place to help the entire Tri-Nations and IRB RWC campaign but when it comes too big games are we going to pick game breakers or settle for the rugby we saw 4 years ago? The rugby 4 years ago was great...4 years ago. Now that the rugby powers have evolved and changed their game are we going to be able to compete with new innovation or hope to get by on old experience?

Sky TV IRB RWC 2011 Ad:

What a great ad. It's the kind of ad that makes all rugby supporters feel all warm and fuzzy inside.