relaxedanderson
I am not Abe Kabbible
Obviously would be a huge loss for the All Blacks. And yet they can bring in Colin Slade whose better than most of the other 10s in the tournament put together.
You'd think so but a Kiwi friend of mine has turned into a nervous wreck today thinking about the prospect of Slade starting.
I think he's willing to pay for Nick Evans' plane ticket and to drive him to the airport rather than see Slade in the 10 shirt.
Anyway, round up from today:
Scotland are on their way to being a handy side. They just need some guile in midfield, some self-belief, a lorry full of composure and a collective brain.
England are even worse than they were at the last World Cup which probably means another final for them. Particularly seeing as they are virtually guaranteed a semi-final place because of...
France, who are looking more disorganised and disinterested than their Football countrymen last year. I think I'd fancy my chances of beating France on my own at the moment and I've got a bad back.
Tonga spurned a load of chances to go through today but I think they will be cursing the bonus points system as much as themselves.
Bonus points in a short format like the World Cup are useless because they put too much importance on thumping minnows. A team like New Zealand get 5 points for beating up Japan but Tonga only get 4 for pulling off the biggest result in their history against France. It penalises the second tier nations more than any other because any wins they pull out over the big nations are likely to be close and low scoring.
It works well for long format tournaments where the teams are more evenly matched and they can actually enhance certain games - such as a bottom-half match between Newport and Connacht on a dreary February night at Dave Parade - but it must stick in the craw for a team like Tonga to see New Zealand awarded 5 points for beating them but yet they only effectively get 3 points for beating France.
Ditch bonus points for any tournament under six months long.