.

The match
This was like watching an emerging Crusaders rugby side, the same daring, scintillating back pay, familiar defensive patterns and the same heart-in-mouth mistakes. But these charges were decked out in the green and gold of the Australian Wallabies and not the black and red of home. And it was a positively dangerous sign for New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup hopes.
Rugby is not viewed at its best when played in an AFL stadium, a rugby field is 80 metres shorter than its Aussie Rule’s counterpart, everything is seen long distance, but from high in Block 415 at Subiaco Oval, the stadium equivalent of being in the Gods, we had a commanding oversight of the entire field.
It is not often that a rugby test is played in AFL-mad Perth and so the opportunity to see Australia play England was a test match not to be missed. And while it is not in the nature of most New Zealanders to support an Australian side, it is even less palatable to show any liking for the English. Of course it is easier to support the Australians with its Canterbury coach, Robbie Deans, and it must have been an omen, for as we arrived at the ground the team bus pulled in with Deans in command up front.
Overcome with the moment, I almost brought a Wallabies jacket for grandson Jack, but was saved from such folly by my friend Rod who rightly suggested the poor lad might be scarred for life turning up to day-care or visiting friends in Christchurch wearing such a rivaled outfit.
But to the rugby and we witnessed sides of such contrasting styles. The Wallabies were expansive and attacking, taking risks and exciting the home crowd. The English were big and dour and without imagination, and they typified the very reason that English test rugby has such a poor reputation. If there was a game plan it wasn’t evident and they were just, simply, dull and brutish. Had the Wallabies front row not repeatedly collapsed, handing the English an unprecedented two penalty tries, the English would have been thrashed. In any event, the Australian’s 27 to 17 winning margin flattered the English, but in the meantime, take note of these names; Quade Cooper, Will Genia, Berrick Barnes and James O’Connor; these are stars of the future.
The lesson from this is that the Australians have an exciting young squad and the Rugby World Cup is still more than a year away. Time enough to get the front row ills to be sorted and, once done, this team will be an imposing force.
If there is blight on the modern game, that is aside from its corporatisation, it is the number of handlers and trainers who appear on the field during the game; at one breakdown alone on Saturday night we counted eleven, that’s almost another full team, and it is plainly ridiculous.
There was some relief though; après match we retired to colleague Rod’s home and watched a recorded version of the All Blacks versus Ireland test played in New Plymouth earlier in the evening. Just as the Australian backs were young and dazzling, so too were the new All Blacks, with Cory Jane and Israel Dagg having cracking games. Even the front row looked good, although these are not the imposing men of past eras, and the worry is that coach Graham Henry has the year ahead to knock every shred of of that flair and brilliance from their systems.
Despite the win at Subi, Australia was in mourning by Monday. Their team, the Socceroos, was hammered by Germany four nil in the Football World Cup and it was worse in Western Australia. Both local AFL teams lost their weekend matches, the hapless West Coast Eagles by a whopping 49 points. “At least”, said the radio newsreader, “we won the rugby”. Not in the least consoled, the announcer responded, “Yeah, but who cares about Rugby.”
On another note entirely, we were amused to learn that the fast food chain, Red Rooster has brought out new signage, a single illuminated panel to replace the separate, stand-alone lettering of the current branding. A spokesperson for the company says the appearance of the new panels has nothing to do with the frequency with which the “S” keeps getting stolen from the current signs. Yean right.