Australia v New Zealand...Pick 'Em?

New Zealand should do a job on Australia at the weekend but things are rarely that simple. Cheika is an excellent coach and he possibly has the 'men of the tournament' in Hooper and Pocock - those two at least can match the All Black for intensity. Australia have had the tougher games though - and that could count against them. You also feel that the Kiwis are peaking at the right time..

It is the relentless intensity that basically makes the All Blacks who they are - virtually invincible. They are everything that England and some of the other home nations are not at present, sadly.

Why are the All Blacks so successful? They are true to their roots. If you were given the basic rules of rugby and then told to go out on to a field and play - with no coaches or refs, what would you do? You'd run like hell, pass, catch and try to dodge tackles. Sod the set pieces, the kicking and defence concerns. That's how they teach the game to kids in New Zealand. Add to that the fact that every primary school in the country has a playing field...and you begin to see how the opportunity for youngsters is there.

Growing up playing rugby is all about handling the ball (having fun). I don't believe that in New Zealand they bother with 15-a-side until they get to eleven or twelve years old. Even then, penalties aren't kicked - the ball is handed back to the other side to run with it again..

Add to the mix a few strong, fast 'islanders' and a picture of dominance begins to appear.

New Zealand is a small country with a small population and one of the only ways to measure themselves against the rest of the world is through Rugby - they don't measure up badly.

So it's simple really:

1. Have fun.
2. Run, pass, catch.
3. Have some pride.

I don't know how we teach rugby over here these days but the overriding images I have of e.g. my son - was him standing out on the wing in mid winter, hands freezing, on a full size pitch, with twenty-nine other kids and never touching the ball once - because the skill level wasn't there for the ball to travel down the line. What a joke. Not surprisingly he gave up to play football instead.

System News...

Just a bit of info on one of the systems that I run. It's a high volume (large number of bets) system that takes a fair bit of work. I'm not going to give away the details for obvious reasons and in any case the majority of people wouldn't be able to run with it because it takes a fair bit of racing knowledge in certain areas. I put this video up on You Tube to highlight a few points on expected fluctuations in betting generally, how with this system you can in theory 'model the month' based on results (not generally adviseable with most betting / systems!) and how you have to stick with your betting through the good times and the bad - as long as your research shows long term positive results!

I currently run it with £100 stakes, due to other trading activities, but you could in theory stake at least five times that with no negative effects. At ten times I imagine that you might struggle at times to get all your money taken when you need it taken - I'll let you know if ever I get to that stage!

So don't go buying some rubbish system on the web for £39.99, as there are plenty of tools out there to help you to develop your own!

Double Whammy...

Well it was a disastrous sporting weekend! First off I took my boy to the Bridge for Chelsea v Southampton - which we thoroughly deserved to lose. Prime seats, lovely day - it's just that we conspired to give the ball way at every opportunity. Clearly things are badly wrong - only Willian and Falcao appeared to have their heads in the right place - even if the latter was largely ineffective.

Sadio Mane, as his name suggests, really was a lion in this game. He was brilliant.. unfortunately for us.


Sadio Mane...pushing away 'pillars' at Stamford Bridge...like Samson at the Temple of Dagon!

Then we watched the England v Australia rugby match - which was less of a shock really. It was truly laughable that England would ever be favourites for this game. The weight of expectation sucked the price in on England (8/11) leaving Australia as outsiders (11/8). Pocock and Hooper just destroyed us and the England scrum were overwhelmed towards the end.


The whole England team might as well have played with hands on hips for the entire game...

England were never going to win this game on paper - especially after Wales. This was never going to be the Australia of old. This Australian team has just won the Rugby Championship (new Tri-Nations format) which makes them, almost by default, the best team in the world! Why anyone thought it would be anything less than a thrashing I don't know...and it was a thrashing; play the same match again down-under and you could have given the Aussies at least another ten points.

One of the big disappointments though is how England, Australia and Wales ended up in the same group! It needs looking at..some better type of seeding..group stage re-structuring. England and maybe even Fiji should still be 'in' the competition! It's never good for any tournament when the hosts don't make it through the group stage...not least because going out has cost the economy about £500,000,000!