I think that Richie McCaw should be knighted, but anyway on to the blog...
It strikes me that to win things you have to be positive. You have to have an optimistic outlook on life, relationships and sport.
And maybe that's what's wrong with us Scots, perhaps even us Brits - we are just too cynical, too sneering, and too negative. And that permeates into our sport - scared as we are, actually, of even allowing people to take part in sport.
So I am going to skip by some of the more obvious comments about refereeing inconsistencies which can stay on twitter and talk of the tournament instead.
Read the rest of this entry
This World Cup, sadly, is proving that rugby in our neck of the woods is soft, stodgy and stale and, oh, will win the cup. And what a fantastic World Cup it's been so far.
Luckily there was Northern Hemisphere side to the World Cup play-offs because we are not on the same planet as Australia, New Zealand and South Africa at the moment. And with Argentina joining them and Georgia and others progressing there could be a new world order.
Only the Welsh, , have anything close to the ferocity of our neighbours South of the equator.
Read the rest of this entry
Could rugby union, with it's 'game for all shapes and sizes' and its penchant for collision injuries ever, really, be the number one game of choice in a group of islands with a burgeoning obesity crisis and a love of soccer?
Mmmm. Discuss. How would you do that?
My own personal opinion, if you want it, is that countries like Scotland and England have become car-dependent, TV-watching, complaining countries that breed people who are, frankly, softer than your average Kiwi, Australian, South African, or even Frenchman.
Read the rest of this entry
I hope this World Cup gives Scottish rugby the kick up the **** it needs.
It was Ireland's failure in the Aussie World Cup that paved the way for their current success. They said "never again", and so should Scotland.
I got up during the night with that terrible cramping feeling in my stomach. For all I care you could have called me Johnsky Beattievsky as I was supporting Georgia.
After a cup of tea, and early in the second half, it dawned on me, and every other Scottish rugby fan watching, that Scotland were on their way home from New Zealand.
Only you and I know how that felt.
And that means you have to analyse and ask questions as to why this has happened so early in the competition for the first time ever. Oh there have been some squeaks, but this time we didn't make the quarter finals.
So, do we have the right coaches, players and set-up?
Read the rest of this entry
Do we, as Scots, have a national failing?
As I write this, Scotland can still qualify depending on the result . Argentina play Georgia and Argentina need to win that or lose with a bonus point to qualify. Georgia can throw Scotland a lifeline.
The trouble is that Scotland played really well in the . I liked the way came on, ran straight, attracted defenders and caused England problems. England, for their sake, abandoned their previous game plan, panicked for the first half, and played a game so foreign they looked as though they would imitate France in the process.
I didn't understand the way England played.
Just a mistake by , who might have scored, and we were thinking about and a sitter against Brazil in the football World Cup - and poor .
Read the rest of this entry
I was born in Borneo, spent my formative years swinging from the trees, and you might know me as an international rugby player, but now I'm off to London to give you my opinion on all things Olympic as part of the ´óÏó´«Ã½ Scotland Sport Nation Olympic team.
