I didn't get to watch the match live, but through highlights, replays and re-runs (the glory of the internet) I have seen around thirty five minutes of play.
Luckily, I wasn't subjected to the commentary from either the English commentators, or the kiwis. They were Italian mostly, and as the only Italian I know is 'pizza,' I'm free from bias in that respect.
Of course it doesn't take away the natural bias from years of life, but that's another matter.
Richie Mc caw, the great kiwi hope, should have been red carded. Sam Warburton dropped a man on his head. 'Richie,' kneed him in the face when he was on the ground and defenceless. He should be cited and banned for at least 8 weeks (subject to good behaviour) for an attack on the frenchman. A punch and knee to the head (face, really) left the frenchman unable to stay on the pitch, with what must have been an almighty headache. But I suppose a few decisions will go the way of the home nation. That's life.
Then the kiwis were off-side at every ruck, basically being inches away from the french backs, before they even got the ball. When the french did the same, they were penalised. But hey, a few decisions will go the way of the home nation, that's life.
The kiwis were off their feet at every ruck. They got penalised once or twice, but only when they were in their own half, or at the extremities of the pitch. The french were penalised countless times for the same infringement, right in front of the post. But hey, a lot of decisions will go the way of the home nation, that's life. (And as a side-note, I haven't yet seen a ruck where the kiwis entered through the gate, choosing to just pile-drive the sides.)
The referee stopped play for two NZ injuries. The referee did not stop play for the Parra injury, and indeed penalised the french for an injury just before a lineout. But hey, every decision will go the way of the home nation, that's life.
The kiwis produced dozens of illegal tackles, some were high and blatant beyond belief, but the referee chose to ignore them (because you know, it's New Zealand, they're allowed to do that kind of thing). But hey, every single possible factor that might help New Zealand will be exploited, that's life.
It's interesting to note how few people are saying this was a good world cup. Usually, after an event of this magnitude, people holler to the rooftops about the 'greatness,' of specific sporting events. Every Olympics is the best one ever, we wait a few years for the proverbial dust to settle, and we look back and think well actually, maybe not.
In this case a minority of people are doing the hollering, while the majority are simply saying 'meh.'
Refereeing caused a storm of controversy throughout. England were penalised at every possible situation, just because they're England and they're all bastards. New Zealand were not penalised at every single opportunity, because they're New Zealand and they damn well paid to win this world cup. (I mean that in terms of them paying the referee, because it is impossible for him to be 'unbiased,' and yet ref that badly; and in terms of paying for the tournament.) Every day, new revelations about cyclists cheating, cricketers throwing games and footy players fixing betting come to light. You'd have to be morose to assume that kind of thing never happens in rugby. When an official gets everything so horribly wrong (with a track-record of only being slightly wrong, which is the best a ref in rugby can hope to achieve) you have to assume foul play (see what I did there?).
The Welsh were hard done by - their captain stupidly (and illegally) attempted a spear tackle, thought better of it, then dropped a man on his head. They were hard done by because the player is a moron, not because of the refereeing decision. He got it spot on, that there ref. Why wasn't he officiating the final?
So this tournament then - disappointing for fans of England, of course. Disappointing for the fans of France, as they should be hoisting the trophy in Paris. Disappointing for rugby fans, because they won't be able to shake that unnerving feeling that somewhere in the shadows, a syndicate just made a healthy profit off that game.
But, great for non-rugby fans, as it was an incredibly tense match. Then again, seeing as rugby playing numbers are starting to fall in the developed nations, there were no non-fans watching. With referees dedicated to spoiling matches as of late, I doubt there will be many converts this year.
IRB priority number one: fix the refereeing. How? I don't know, but I'm not a lord or earl, and I'm not paid hundreds of thousands to do that job.
If you want to hire me for that purpose, my e-mail address is on the right. You know where to contact me.
Showing posts with label rugby world cup 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rugby world cup 2011. Show all posts
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Monday, 3 October 2011
Actual Rugby ７’ｓ
So yesterday I titled the post rugby 7's, without actually providing any news of my sevens exploits. This was an oversight on my behalf, as I simply didn't have enough time to finish writing it.
The university academic year started yesterday, so I was busy filling in profiles and figuring out passwords, attempting to kickstart my Masters. It appears that everything takes longer by correspondence (duh) so I'll have to wait a while longer, before I can start writing things.
On the flip side, this allows me enough time to continue writing about the world cup, and my own endeavours on the pitch.
To begin with the ego massaging portion, I participated in a small sevens tournament between five teams local to the Mito area. I had tweaked my left ass-muscle a couple of days before (an injury that is still causing discomfort) so was only operating at 80%-85%. It also hurt a fair bit, and I had to be dragged off in the third match after a big fat lump tackled me exactly where it hurt. Bastard.
I iced the hell out of it and went back to play in the final match, but was particularly useless.
In total I scored around seven or eight tries, and kicked all of them bar two. To underline the friendly, non-competitive nature of this event, everyone who scored was expected to kick their own goals. This took me by surprise at first, and I completely fluffed the attempt.
From then on, even from a decent angle, I was deadly accurate. This surprised me somewhat as I'm not the best place-kicker; but drop-kicking is something that I mess around with on occasion. Everyone has their own routine when place-kicking, Wilkos' is infamous of course, but everyone has their style and preparation. I was quick to formulate one, designed to give me breathing and recovery time, and let my team meander back at their own pace. The routine was quite simple. Check with the ref where it was to be taken from. Go back a reasonable distance. Tuck the gumshield behind my right ear (always my right ear for some reason). Ask the ref if it was okay to take the kick. Take a couple of breaths, bounce the ball on the floor a couple of times. Take the kick. In all, this little routine took about thirty seconds, but was pretty effective. A 75% success rate is not world class, but it will do at this level!
I'll certainly be interested to see if that holds up in the next competition, in two weeks time (another 7's tournament, somewhat closer to home this time.)
The actual games were very much like sevens, and were extremely fun. Japanese players are uniquely suited to playing 7's, as they're pretty quick, and quick witted. Being tiny doesn't matter in 7's which is perfect.
The play was frenetic, and my favoured drift outside the defender and quickly step back inside worked wonders every time. Our teams conversion from possession to points was almost 100% in all bar one of the games (which we lost to the subsequent winners, a university team no less). When I did get caught, it was often by the bootlaces, allowing me to pass the ball on. A couple more of those, and I would be back up on my feet and ready to help out. Again, I wasn't at 100% but it was fun, and encouraging. I will get onto some more fitness this week and next, and be in top shape.
There was an MVP award, which (deservedly) went to an oldboy who was the playmaker for another team. He looked about sixty, but I suspect he has spent much of his life in the sun. Fair play, he even scored one against us.
Of the internationals: I'll start with England.
The last time I checked, this was a world cup. I might be wrong, but it is my belief that the world cup is the biggest prize in international rugby. Nervy and disjointed performances are expected in football world cups (often cited as one of the factors contributing to terrible English performances past) so why can't a team put in a performance that isn't great without being slammed by everyone. We still beat the scotch. Something France failed to replicate, I might add.
We are still playing the French in the quarters. We are in the game.
If you didn't follow the 2007 world cup I suspect this may be shocking news to you, but we were godawful for large parts of that tournament too. For the vast majority of pitch-time in fact.
What will actually happen when we play the French is a massive unknown. The French are notorious for blowing hot and cold, and are a team where past form means nothing. England also fulfil this expectation to some extent, especially during the world cup. England and France are big game teams, and the games don't come much bigger than those on Saturday.
Whether this expectation of improved performance is realised - well. That is another kettle of fish. The ability of both teams to perform well with no prior form is well established. Whether we'll see it. Who knows.
Another team who have discredited form books the world over are Ireland. How they pulled out a victory over Australia is impossible for me to understand. The aussies weren't there for large parts of the match, and I'm torn as to whether it was because of the Irish, or because they simply didn't get off the bus.
What this now means however, is Ireland are one of the favourite northern hemisphere nations. I believe my above stated rule of form meaning nothing is also applicable in reverse however, so I'm backing Wales to pull out a win over the Irish. The guiness army had one big game in them, I doubt they have two.
An awful number of column inches have been dedicated to one man. This man was prominent before, but now he is infamous. Dan Carter (pronounced Dein kya da) is/was the kiwis Jonny Wilkinson. He kicked the goals, put the team in the right areas of the park, and let loose the likes of Nonu and Umaga, more recently Sonny Bill 'I love talking about myself' Williams and Israel Dagg. Now he has torn a ligament I never conceived existed, he is out of the tournament for good.
Currently, Wilko is not on top form. We do, however, have a replacement that can play well on his day (in Toby Flood). The problem with Flood is that he can't tackle. His defence is not good enough, and every team we play target him. The other problem is that he isn't consistent. He will play some games so well, he immediately warrants inclusion in the next. He will subsequently have a shocker and exit stage right, with Wilko emerging from the left. This situation of having two players for one position is fantastic, and a direct result of Wilko being injured for long stretches. This necessitated a replacement, and having been through a few, Flood emerged as the next best. He's not world class, but he's good enough that those around him, should they play well, will keep England in the competition (at least until the final, assuming we make it that far.)
Dan Carter has never been injured. He was made of rocks, stones and metal. According to the kiwi press, he is actually an artificially created human being, based upon the Wilko android - but upgraded to version 2.0.
This has led their second fly-half, a man named Colin Slade to have zero game-time in an all-blacks shirt. The world was watching when he played in his first world cup rugby match, and he was found wanting. He is the kiwi equivalent of Charlie Hodgson. They might just forego the embarassment and put their second scrum half in at fly. He has experience there, and he has the skills to pay the bills in that regard.
This is great news for the rest of the world, as he is pivotal in the all-blacks plans. I still think the only chance for opposing teams is a typical all-black choke in the semis or quarters. If they reach the final it's theirs; home crowd advantage, previous track record against the northern hemisphere teams, climate, the bizarre un-kickable balls they use down there. All things point to them being unbeatable in the final.
#Edit#
I was unfortuante to read an article by this idiot. It's unfortunate for two reasons. No wait, make that three.
Firstly, he does nothing to counter the pernicious treatment of sportsmen within England, by the british press. It's okay when the Welsh lose control and go drinking, stealing golf carts and the like; in fact it's all a bit of a laugh. When a kiwi gets pissed off at three England players, it's almost the end of the world. It's certainly the end of chivalry, they should all be hung, drawn and quartered. By their testicles.
Grow up.
Secondly, it's disappointing because he takes himself, and his profession, far too seriously. He is not a white knight, here to save us from morally unacceptable behaviour.
Grow up.
Thirdly, it's disappointing because; well read it for yourself:
I was upset by news that Kim Jong Il spends £120,000 a year on dog food while most of his countrymen starve. Given that the North Korean loony presumably defrays much of the expense by eventually eating those same pets, the reports were surely misleading.
No. You weren't. You weren't saddened, tearful or moved. You didn't care, and you don't care. You are sitting in your home office, with a cup of coffee, thinking of the next drivel leak onto the page. At best, you were reticent. At worst, you were callous. Using the death and suffering of the North Korean people to evoke an emotional response from the audience, to further your own career and ambitions.
And why is it okay to stereotype North Koreans as dog-eating savages, whereas their South Korean brethren are off-limits for such banter. Oh wait, banter is between two equals. In his own terms, he is a bully (read the article).
It's nice to see some good, old fashioned blind hypocrisy.
#And Another Thing#
The referee for the England France matchup is a known Anglophobe, who even served a ban for arguing with an England coach (who was later cleared of charges). The rugby committee in charge of organising this tournament have proved to be quite inept in the planning stages, with the smallest nations having three and four days break between matches, while the biggest nations take full six and seven day rests. The reason isn't conspiracy, it's purely marketing. Most people pay the most money to watch the big teams, and they can't do that at work. Hence the Saturday and Sunday matches for the big nations.
They have monumentally fucked up here, however. kiwis aren't ones to let things go at the best of times, and this moron has proved in prior encounters that he is as stubborn and bent as any of his antipodean brethren. His track record is one of hilarious ineptitude, having been kicked out of the kiwi refereeing group for three offences, serious enough for bans, he joined the aussies and is somehow officiating top level rugby again.
Either way, England are screwed.
Thanks kiwis, at least you fear us enough to dishonourably eliminate us from the competition, without playing us.
The university academic year started yesterday, so I was busy filling in profiles and figuring out passwords, attempting to kickstart my Masters. It appears that everything takes longer by correspondence (duh) so I'll have to wait a while longer, before I can start writing things.
On the flip side, this allows me enough time to continue writing about the world cup, and my own endeavours on the pitch.
To begin with the ego massaging portion, I participated in a small sevens tournament between five teams local to the Mito area. I had tweaked my left ass-muscle a couple of days before (an injury that is still causing discomfort) so was only operating at 80%-85%. It also hurt a fair bit, and I had to be dragged off in the third match after a big fat lump tackled me exactly where it hurt. Bastard.
I iced the hell out of it and went back to play in the final match, but was particularly useless.
In total I scored around seven or eight tries, and kicked all of them bar two. To underline the friendly, non-competitive nature of this event, everyone who scored was expected to kick their own goals. This took me by surprise at first, and I completely fluffed the attempt.
From then on, even from a decent angle, I was deadly accurate. This surprised me somewhat as I'm not the best place-kicker; but drop-kicking is something that I mess around with on occasion. Everyone has their own routine when place-kicking, Wilkos' is infamous of course, but everyone has their style and preparation. I was quick to formulate one, designed to give me breathing and recovery time, and let my team meander back at their own pace. The routine was quite simple. Check with the ref where it was to be taken from. Go back a reasonable distance. Tuck the gumshield behind my right ear (always my right ear for some reason). Ask the ref if it was okay to take the kick. Take a couple of breaths, bounce the ball on the floor a couple of times. Take the kick. In all, this little routine took about thirty seconds, but was pretty effective. A 75% success rate is not world class, but it will do at this level!
I'll certainly be interested to see if that holds up in the next competition, in two weeks time (another 7's tournament, somewhat closer to home this time.)
The actual games were very much like sevens, and were extremely fun. Japanese players are uniquely suited to playing 7's, as they're pretty quick, and quick witted. Being tiny doesn't matter in 7's which is perfect.
The play was frenetic, and my favoured drift outside the defender and quickly step back inside worked wonders every time. Our teams conversion from possession to points was almost 100% in all bar one of the games (which we lost to the subsequent winners, a university team no less). When I did get caught, it was often by the bootlaces, allowing me to pass the ball on. A couple more of those, and I would be back up on my feet and ready to help out. Again, I wasn't at 100% but it was fun, and encouraging. I will get onto some more fitness this week and next, and be in top shape.
There was an MVP award, which (deservedly) went to an oldboy who was the playmaker for another team. He looked about sixty, but I suspect he has spent much of his life in the sun. Fair play, he even scored one against us.
Of the internationals: I'll start with England.
The last time I checked, this was a world cup. I might be wrong, but it is my belief that the world cup is the biggest prize in international rugby. Nervy and disjointed performances are expected in football world cups (often cited as one of the factors contributing to terrible English performances past) so why can't a team put in a performance that isn't great without being slammed by everyone. We still beat the scotch. Something France failed to replicate, I might add.
We are still playing the French in the quarters. We are in the game.
If you didn't follow the 2007 world cup I suspect this may be shocking news to you, but we were godawful for large parts of that tournament too. For the vast majority of pitch-time in fact.
What will actually happen when we play the French is a massive unknown. The French are notorious for blowing hot and cold, and are a team where past form means nothing. England also fulfil this expectation to some extent, especially during the world cup. England and France are big game teams, and the games don't come much bigger than those on Saturday.
Whether this expectation of improved performance is realised - well. That is another kettle of fish. The ability of both teams to perform well with no prior form is well established. Whether we'll see it. Who knows.
Another team who have discredited form books the world over are Ireland. How they pulled out a victory over Australia is impossible for me to understand. The aussies weren't there for large parts of the match, and I'm torn as to whether it was because of the Irish, or because they simply didn't get off the bus.
What this now means however, is Ireland are one of the favourite northern hemisphere nations. I believe my above stated rule of form meaning nothing is also applicable in reverse however, so I'm backing Wales to pull out a win over the Irish. The guiness army had one big game in them, I doubt they have two.
An awful number of column inches have been dedicated to one man. This man was prominent before, but now he is infamous. Dan Carter (pronounced Dein kya da) is/was the kiwis Jonny Wilkinson. He kicked the goals, put the team in the right areas of the park, and let loose the likes of Nonu and Umaga, more recently Sonny Bill 'I love talking about myself' Williams and Israel Dagg. Now he has torn a ligament I never conceived existed, he is out of the tournament for good.
Currently, Wilko is not on top form. We do, however, have a replacement that can play well on his day (in Toby Flood). The problem with Flood is that he can't tackle. His defence is not good enough, and every team we play target him. The other problem is that he isn't consistent. He will play some games so well, he immediately warrants inclusion in the next. He will subsequently have a shocker and exit stage right, with Wilko emerging from the left. This situation of having two players for one position is fantastic, and a direct result of Wilko being injured for long stretches. This necessitated a replacement, and having been through a few, Flood emerged as the next best. He's not world class, but he's good enough that those around him, should they play well, will keep England in the competition (at least until the final, assuming we make it that far.)
Dan Carter has never been injured. He was made of rocks, stones and metal. According to the kiwi press, he is actually an artificially created human being, based upon the Wilko android - but upgraded to version 2.0.
This has led their second fly-half, a man named Colin Slade to have zero game-time in an all-blacks shirt. The world was watching when he played in his first world cup rugby match, and he was found wanting. He is the kiwi equivalent of Charlie Hodgson. They might just forego the embarassment and put their second scrum half in at fly. He has experience there, and he has the skills to pay the bills in that regard.
This is great news for the rest of the world, as he is pivotal in the all-blacks plans. I still think the only chance for opposing teams is a typical all-black choke in the semis or quarters. If they reach the final it's theirs; home crowd advantage, previous track record against the northern hemisphere teams, climate, the bizarre un-kickable balls they use down there. All things point to them being unbeatable in the final.
#Edit#
I was unfortuante to read an article by this idiot. It's unfortunate for two reasons. No wait, make that three.
Firstly, he does nothing to counter the pernicious treatment of sportsmen within England, by the british press. It's okay when the Welsh lose control and go drinking, stealing golf carts and the like; in fact it's all a bit of a laugh. When a kiwi gets pissed off at three England players, it's almost the end of the world. It's certainly the end of chivalry, they should all be hung, drawn and quartered. By their testicles.
Grow up.
Secondly, it's disappointing because he takes himself, and his profession, far too seriously. He is not a white knight, here to save us from morally unacceptable behaviour.
Grow up.
Thirdly, it's disappointing because; well read it for yourself:
I was upset by news that Kim Jong Il spends £120,000 a year on dog food while most of his countrymen starve. Given that the North Korean loony presumably defrays much of the expense by eventually eating those same pets, the reports were surely misleading.
No. You weren't. You weren't saddened, tearful or moved. You didn't care, and you don't care. You are sitting in your home office, with a cup of coffee, thinking of the next drivel leak onto the page. At best, you were reticent. At worst, you were callous. Using the death and suffering of the North Korean people to evoke an emotional response from the audience, to further your own career and ambitions.
And why is it okay to stereotype North Koreans as dog-eating savages, whereas their South Korean brethren are off-limits for such banter. Oh wait, banter is between two equals. In his own terms, he is a bully (read the article).
It's nice to see some good, old fashioned blind hypocrisy.
#And Another Thing#
The referee for the England France matchup is a known Anglophobe, who even served a ban for arguing with an England coach (who was later cleared of charges). The rugby committee in charge of organising this tournament have proved to be quite inept in the planning stages, with the smallest nations having three and four days break between matches, while the biggest nations take full six and seven day rests. The reason isn't conspiracy, it's purely marketing. Most people pay the most money to watch the big teams, and they can't do that at work. Hence the Saturday and Sunday matches for the big nations.
They have monumentally fucked up here, however. kiwis aren't ones to let things go at the best of times, and this moron has proved in prior encounters that he is as stubborn and bent as any of his antipodean brethren. His track record is one of hilarious ineptitude, having been kicked out of the kiwi refereeing group for three offences, serious enough for bans, he joined the aussies and is somehow officiating top level rugby again.
Either way, England are screwed.
Thanks kiwis, at least you fear us enough to dishonourably eliminate us from the competition, without playing us.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Some Amount of Time (don't read while eating)
So for the next couple of weeks the elementary school I'm working at is conducting experiments on the pupils.
These experiments include trying to stack as many as possible on top of each other, or seeing how many synchronised collapses (between pods of four students) can be achieved in a limited time.
In other parts of the world this is called sports day. Here, I am somewhat reluctant to call it that because no sports are involved.
They dance around to cutesy sounding (see: vomit inducing) songs while trying to maintain a semblance of synchronisation. They all spend their time in front of TV's and computers, just like me. Unlike me, they never leave this sedentary state. Ever. The result is, quite frankly, hilarious.
I'm (probably) contractually obliged to withhold laughter when I see twelve year olds picking up their lightest classmates (three of them picking one up, in a pyramid style formation) to quickly drop him, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the funniest things to see the kid who was dropped, jump back up and kick the crap out of the inevitably larger people who dropped him. After a few hits I intervene of course, but I fear the big kids won't learn the lesson of Napoleon without some peer-prompting.
The reason I mentioned computers and television? The 'dance routines,' have nothing to do with strength. They are entirely co-ordination and balance. Upon seeing this, I was immediately worried. Having seen the older kids in middle school struggle to stay on their feet when simply running a relay I couldn't see how the younger, naturally less well balanced, would fare while picking each other up. My fears were proven.
No one has been hurt yet.
What none of the teachers seem to realise is, having the really fat kids (of which there are only, mercifully, a few) hold the bigger kids is a mistake. It's about poise and balance. The little kids are really good at balancing their peers on each others shoulders, but the fat kids wobble all over the place.
And they can't balance them either.
I question the point of having a sports event without sports, but the designers knew their stuff when coming up with things for the kids to do. (Having been to a couple of these now, it seems the events are universally adopted across the prefecture, if not all of Japan.) It is a crying shame the american passion for cheer leading and other pointless activities has leaked into Japanese society, but they do at least incorporate some traditional Japanese dances. The one I linked a few weeks ago is quite popular - and it looks fantastic when done properly. If you ever get the chance to check it out (I don't know why you would, but anyway...) I would definitely give it a look.
This week I have a cold, and as a result have been having a few nose-bleeds. I assume brought about by sneezing my way through the day; although my head being nanometres from an explosion might also be the cause. I suspect my eyes might be the weak-point through which the pent-up pressure will dissipate. If you see a headline in the news akin to 'man explosively decompresses, makes terrible mess,' it will either be a food poisoning outbreak; or my head.
On the flip side, real-world considerations of an explosive nature were announced today. The yanks are selling a number of upgrades for the Taiwanese air force. Having been lucky enough to meet a number of Taiwanese people, I can safely say that Taiwan is a country devoid of respect for china. As such, it is a country, not a protectorate of china. It is not chinese Taiwan. Every Taiwanese person thinks this, everyone in the world knows this - but china refuse to accept it.
Then again, I just remembered that china is the most powerful country in the world, who regularly employ cyber espionage specialists to steal secrets from other countries and ensure their name is not besmirched.
ALL HAIL CHINA, LEADERS OF THE (FREE) WORLD.
That should appease them for now.
The funny thing is that Taiwan is not worth as much money to america as china - so they get the shaft despite being an 'ally,' for decades. China is sworn enemy number three behind Iran and North Korea, but they have all the money in the world; so let's appease them.
Capitalism, the finest example of hypocrisy this side of communism, which is itself the finest example of hypocrisy since capitalism, which is itself the finest example since hypocrisy since communism, which is...
Google, owners of everything (and that article is three years old (just skip to the list of companies, her writing is devoid of any merit)) are accused of being a monopoly and unfairly taking advantage. If all the worlds searches are conducted through google, and google sites are some of the most visited on the interwebs, doesn't is stand to reason that they would, in essence, be linking to themselves. This is an inevitable conflict of interests for the consumer, but one that can't really be legislated against.
I guess they'll have to pull a microsoft and split the company up. There go a few hundred jobs.
In other news, it turns out Hugo Boss was a nazi. I actually had to google who Hugo Boss is, then I found out he does perfumes or something. I stopped giving a crap at this point.
Wikileaks founder and (almost) convicted pervert has written a book. Interesting stuff, as is the constant insistence that this guy is a rapist.
There are very few cut-and-dried cases of media deception in this world. Most are deliberately muddied in order to obscure the facts, and in the best case scenario, discredit all sides, leading to a stalemate. As such, nobody ever knows what's truth and what's a lie.
The Assange case was one of the most blatant pieces of governmental pressure the world has seen, leading to false accusations and arrest warrants born of fictitious crimes. Wikileaks launched, showing most of the world how corrupt, broken and vindictive the secret police of america are - then within hours he's a rapist.
Erm.
The guy probably isn't an angel (no one is) but I would be inclined to believe him, even if he murdered a goat, with his teeth, right in front of me. If someone puts false claims like that around the world within hours of him becoming infamous, he has obviously done something extremely important. If it shows the world how useless america, england, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries are - more power to him.
The seriousness of female rights took a turn for the worse, with female soldiers reporting back that war sucks. These are women who aren't fighting on the front lines, and they're getting PTSD. I'm sure men who fill their roles also do, but the BBC doesn't do a report about a man who drives a sergeant to and from work every day getting PTSD.
This is all written about the american military, so I wonder how much of applies to the army, navy and air force back home. The image I get is one of the american military basically being a militia of hooligans, whereas only our army falls into that category, and only then some of the time. That's probably just media bias, and a skewed view of england.
Quote of the year comes from a certain Lei Chen Wong of WildAid. Speaking in this article to the BBC regarding the de-finning of sharks, for the raw ingredient of shark fin soup.
"There is this myth in China that sharks will regenerate their fins, but that's not true. They actually die a very slow, painful and cruel death"
I refuse, outright, to believe that a human being could be so stupid as to think a shark would regrow its fin. Honest to god, if I met someone who believed this, I have no idea whether I would be able to control my laughter before punching them in the face.
If I chop your leg off, will it grow back?
Jesus christ chinese people are stupid.
Another peach of a quote: 'Materialism is well developed in China but other things, such as morality, haven't progressed so well,' as if materialism was something to be encouraged along the lines of morality. Astounding stupidity abound in this article then.
That's it for the news roundup; I'm tired from all the laughing and raging I've been doing.
The Japan Tonga game was something. It was, essentially, a game of sevens perpetrated by a group of fourteen year olds, such was the level of control evident.
I personally love that kind of rugby, where turnovers happen every third play, and members of both teams are strewn about the pitch.
The second half saw things calm down and it was much less interesting from then on, but Tonga were most certainly worthy winners. Whenever Japan got the ball they looked dangerous, until they passed the ball a second time; at which point they dropped it, or ran into someone twice their size and four times stronger, or they ran into touch, or kicked it.
Japan would have been a threat if they knew which way to run. Unfortunately they didn't, and that ultimately cost them the match.
They look good in broken play, so I suggest they stick to sevens rugby. I think it would suit their style much more than the full game. It was a solid victory in the end, despite Japan beating them in the pacific nations cup not long ago. Maybe it was just a fluke that time around? The next pacific cup will show whether they're consistent contenders in that particular tournament.
For the state of Asian rugby, they really need to start pulling their weight - that means not just losing well, but winning too.
On a side-note, the saffers are playing Namibia today, which is the first time two African nations have met in the tournament. It will be a resounding defeat for Namibia, but at least the claim that rugby is a global sport is starting to ring true. Now we just need a fully competitive 20 team tournament, and rugby will be alongside football in that regard.
These experiments include trying to stack as many as possible on top of each other, or seeing how many synchronised collapses (between pods of four students) can be achieved in a limited time.
In other parts of the world this is called sports day. Here, I am somewhat reluctant to call it that because no sports are involved.
They dance around to cutesy sounding (see: vomit inducing) songs while trying to maintain a semblance of synchronisation. They all spend their time in front of TV's and computers, just like me. Unlike me, they never leave this sedentary state. Ever. The result is, quite frankly, hilarious.
I'm (probably) contractually obliged to withhold laughter when I see twelve year olds picking up their lightest classmates (three of them picking one up, in a pyramid style formation) to quickly drop him, but I'll be damned if it isn't one of the funniest things to see the kid who was dropped, jump back up and kick the crap out of the inevitably larger people who dropped him. After a few hits I intervene of course, but I fear the big kids won't learn the lesson of Napoleon without some peer-prompting.
The reason I mentioned computers and television? The 'dance routines,' have nothing to do with strength. They are entirely co-ordination and balance. Upon seeing this, I was immediately worried. Having seen the older kids in middle school struggle to stay on their feet when simply running a relay I couldn't see how the younger, naturally less well balanced, would fare while picking each other up. My fears were proven.
No one has been hurt yet.
What none of the teachers seem to realise is, having the really fat kids (of which there are only, mercifully, a few) hold the bigger kids is a mistake. It's about poise and balance. The little kids are really good at balancing their peers on each others shoulders, but the fat kids wobble all over the place.
And they can't balance them either.
I question the point of having a sports event without sports, but the designers knew their stuff when coming up with things for the kids to do. (Having been to a couple of these now, it seems the events are universally adopted across the prefecture, if not all of Japan.) It is a crying shame the american passion for cheer leading and other pointless activities has leaked into Japanese society, but they do at least incorporate some traditional Japanese dances. The one I linked a few weeks ago is quite popular - and it looks fantastic when done properly. If you ever get the chance to check it out (I don't know why you would, but anyway...) I would definitely give it a look.
This week I have a cold, and as a result have been having a few nose-bleeds. I assume brought about by sneezing my way through the day; although my head being nanometres from an explosion might also be the cause. I suspect my eyes might be the weak-point through which the pent-up pressure will dissipate. If you see a headline in the news akin to 'man explosively decompresses, makes terrible mess,' it will either be a food poisoning outbreak; or my head.
On the flip side, real-world considerations of an explosive nature were announced today. The yanks are selling a number of upgrades for the Taiwanese air force. Having been lucky enough to meet a number of Taiwanese people, I can safely say that Taiwan is a country devoid of respect for china. As such, it is a country, not a protectorate of china. It is not chinese Taiwan. Every Taiwanese person thinks this, everyone in the world knows this - but china refuse to accept it.
Then again, I just remembered that china is the most powerful country in the world, who regularly employ cyber espionage specialists to steal secrets from other countries and ensure their name is not besmirched.
ALL HAIL CHINA, LEADERS OF THE (FREE) WORLD.
That should appease them for now.
The funny thing is that Taiwan is not worth as much money to america as china - so they get the shaft despite being an 'ally,' for decades. China is sworn enemy number three behind Iran and North Korea, but they have all the money in the world; so let's appease them.
Capitalism, the finest example of hypocrisy this side of communism, which is itself the finest example of hypocrisy since capitalism, which is itself the finest example since hypocrisy since communism, which is...
Google, owners of everything (and that article is three years old (just skip to the list of companies, her writing is devoid of any merit)) are accused of being a monopoly and unfairly taking advantage. If all the worlds searches are conducted through google, and google sites are some of the most visited on the interwebs, doesn't is stand to reason that they would, in essence, be linking to themselves. This is an inevitable conflict of interests for the consumer, but one that can't really be legislated against.
I guess they'll have to pull a microsoft and split the company up. There go a few hundred jobs.
In other news, it turns out Hugo Boss was a nazi. I actually had to google who Hugo Boss is, then I found out he does perfumes or something. I stopped giving a crap at this point.
Wikileaks founder and (almost) convicted pervert has written a book. Interesting stuff, as is the constant insistence that this guy is a rapist.
There are very few cut-and-dried cases of media deception in this world. Most are deliberately muddied in order to obscure the facts, and in the best case scenario, discredit all sides, leading to a stalemate. As such, nobody ever knows what's truth and what's a lie.
The Assange case was one of the most blatant pieces of governmental pressure the world has seen, leading to false accusations and arrest warrants born of fictitious crimes. Wikileaks launched, showing most of the world how corrupt, broken and vindictive the secret police of america are - then within hours he's a rapist.
Erm.
The guy probably isn't an angel (no one is) but I would be inclined to believe him, even if he murdered a goat, with his teeth, right in front of me. If someone puts false claims like that around the world within hours of him becoming infamous, he has obviously done something extremely important. If it shows the world how useless america, england, France, Germany and the Scandinavian countries are - more power to him.
The seriousness of female rights took a turn for the worse, with female soldiers reporting back that war sucks. These are women who aren't fighting on the front lines, and they're getting PTSD. I'm sure men who fill their roles also do, but the BBC doesn't do a report about a man who drives a sergeant to and from work every day getting PTSD.
This is all written about the american military, so I wonder how much of applies to the army, navy and air force back home. The image I get is one of the american military basically being a militia of hooligans, whereas only our army falls into that category, and only then some of the time. That's probably just media bias, and a skewed view of england.
Quote of the year comes from a certain Lei Chen Wong of WildAid. Speaking in this article to the BBC regarding the de-finning of sharks, for the raw ingredient of shark fin soup.
"There is this myth in China that sharks will regenerate their fins, but that's not true. They actually die a very slow, painful and cruel death"
I refuse, outright, to believe that a human being could be so stupid as to think a shark would regrow its fin. Honest to god, if I met someone who believed this, I have no idea whether I would be able to control my laughter before punching them in the face.
If I chop your leg off, will it grow back?
Jesus christ chinese people are stupid.
Another peach of a quote: 'Materialism is well developed in China but other things, such as morality, haven't progressed so well,' as if materialism was something to be encouraged along the lines of morality. Astounding stupidity abound in this article then.
That's it for the news roundup; I'm tired from all the laughing and raging I've been doing.
The Japan Tonga game was something. It was, essentially, a game of sevens perpetrated by a group of fourteen year olds, such was the level of control evident.
I personally love that kind of rugby, where turnovers happen every third play, and members of both teams are strewn about the pitch.
The second half saw things calm down and it was much less interesting from then on, but Tonga were most certainly worthy winners. Whenever Japan got the ball they looked dangerous, until they passed the ball a second time; at which point they dropped it, or ran into someone twice their size and four times stronger, or they ran into touch, or kicked it.
Japan would have been a threat if they knew which way to run. Unfortunately they didn't, and that ultimately cost them the match.
They look good in broken play, so I suggest they stick to sevens rugby. I think it would suit their style much more than the full game. It was a solid victory in the end, despite Japan beating them in the pacific nations cup not long ago. Maybe it was just a fluke that time around? The next pacific cup will show whether they're consistent contenders in that particular tournament.
For the state of Asian rugby, they really need to start pulling their weight - that means not just losing well, but winning too.
On a side-note, the saffers are playing Namibia today, which is the first time two African nations have met in the tournament. It will be a resounding defeat for Namibia, but at least the claim that rugby is a global sport is starting to ring true. Now we just need a fully competitive 20 team tournament, and rugby will be alongside football in that regard.
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Rugby Bonanza
So at the weekend, there was more rugby around than you could possibly shake a stick at.
Not only that, but I played in only my second game on Japanese soil. I played for Tokyo Gaijin Rugby Club. Gaijin means foreigner in Japanese, so it's an exiles team, basically.
Match report first:
Coming off the back of a reasonable performance last time (playing for Sano club a couple of months ago, I scored four tries but missed a tackle) I was expecting to improve in all areas of the game this time around.
I was to play only a half, as our team had a total of thirty players, and everyone wanted to get onto the pitch.
I started on the wing, and was destined to stay there for the half I played. The opening exhanges were forwards based, and the ball never made it past the outside centre. Around five minutes in, our team (Tokyo Gaijin) kicked on and started putting some passes out wide. A series of fine passes was undermined when the final two in the movement ended up behind the player, with me taking the ball with no momentum on the wing. Luckily that didn't matter, and I pushed through the first tackle, dummied the winger, and left the full back on his backside to score next to the posts. That was the first of three - but I can only remember two.
I was only called upon defensively a few times, but I managed to bundle two into touch, and turn over two balls in that time. One turnover was a direct steal from one of their backs, the other was their number eight running into me, thinking he could bowl me over. Unluckily for him we probably weighed the same, and I held him up to force a turnover from the referee.
The second try I honestly don't remember. It might not even exist.
The third came in the form of a breakaway on the right, going through one and past another. This one was notable only for the pettiness of their inside centre, whom I took objection to. I had scored the try, and three seconds later he slid into my head, knees first. I was already getting back up after the try at this point, and the lateness, coupled with the illegality, suggests this guy is a terrible loser. Luckily I was still holding the ball and got it up to my head before his knees reached me.
Needless to say, I was less than impressed. No punches were thrown however, and it was at this point the team was completely changed. Over the next two minutes there were half a dozen changes, and I was taken off the wing. It's a shame, because I'm sure I would have prevented the try down my wing, scored by their inside centre of all people; with around ten minutes to go. I would have stopped that guy with vengeance. I was so angry at that point, I probably would have stopped him with enough force to ensure he was also prevented from working for the next week.
The second half descended into an under 10's game with around twenty to go, with no structure present on either team. It was quite entertaining to watch for that fact alone, but it shows what I've said about Japanese sports in general: defence is a lower priority in all their sports.
For the effort I got a man of the match award, which was my own personal aim prior to the match. I was a little worried as being on the wing affords so little time with the ball, or even tackling for that matter. I had stayed with the captain the night before (in one of the most plush apartments I've ever seen) and didn't want all the travelling to be wasted. It ended up okay in the end, but I still want more ball!
That's one and a half games of rugby in Japan, seven tries, and half a dozen turnovers. Tries being indicative of attack, turnovers being indicative of defensive work (it's not enough to make all your tackles, that's a given; good play hinges on providing something for your team), and nothing being mentioned of the heat. It gets hot here, really hot. (No sunburn this time though, yay!)
Thanks to Alistair Nimmo (whose nickname should most certainly be nemo) for putting me up the night before, and thanks to the team for a hot, but fun game of rugby.
I'll put the Tokyo Gaijin match report up here when it's written, and you can contrast and compare proceedings. Obviously this blog is written by me, so it's ego centric...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So of the internationals played this weekend. Three games stood out for me. The England Argentina game was as to be expected. England ground out a win despite shoddy refereeing, and despite Wilkinson not being able to kick a thing. To be fair, this entire tournament has been problematic for kickers, with percentages well below normal.
Talking of shoddy refereeing; the game I played in Tokyo had additional rules. Firstly, all tackling must be conducted under the armpits. Say what? No shoulder to shoulder contact allowed. That referee is obviously an ex-footballer (to be fair he was about 35kg's). The second rule: no hand-offs in the face. Chest only.
This one actually forced me to change the way I played the match. Normally you hit up a straight line and then step while forcing the opposing players' face away. This time, I had to push them backwards with a hand to the chest and hope the outside man didn't turn inwards.
Japanese fake rules do not make for interesting rugby.
It's not a safety orientated rule either, because our scrum half showed how easily a hand can slip to the face during a hand off, as the man tackling him stood bolt upright. He couldn't grip the shirt and his hand went up as a result. This happened a few times during the match, but was only penalised once.
Anyway; if anyone thought England would easily beat Argentina then they were deluding themselves. Argentina are one of the top ranked sides in international rugby, and have emerged out of seemingly nowhere in the past decade to become a force to be reckoned with. When they join the tri-nations next year, they will only become stronger. I can't help but feel it's a trick the six nations missed, as their inclusion in any tournament greatly adds to its commercial viability.
Delon Armitage had a good game, showing an interesting aspect to having two full-backs on the field, as he was adept under the high ball. Foden made some ground with limited ball, but in a game dominated by shoddy refereeing and forward domination, the backs didn't have any momentum.
The Wales South Africa game showed the importance of refereeing once again, as James Hook kicked a penalty for it to be disallowed. In a one point match, that kind of mistake is rather important to the outcome.
The game actually mirrored the warmup match between England and Wales in which England lost. In that match, England had all the possession and all the territory, but still lost.
In this match, Wales had all the territory and all the possession, but still lost. The northern hemisphere have a criminal inability to convert possession into points. There were a dozen missed half opportunities, not just the penalties.
It was also telling that Wales took ten or more phases to march SA back twenty metres, turned the ball over and found themselves forty metres back in three phases. The Welsh defence is not able to hold up against southern hemisphere attack. The forwards stopped their counterparts most of the time, but the SA backs ran rampant.
The only back on the Welsh side who made in-roads was Jamie Roberts, (I think that's his name) who took a huge number of balls up through the middle, and consistently made ground on each. Williams forgot he was playing with fourteen other people on the pitch and kept getting pushed back. Stay on your wing, mate.
On the first match performances alone, Wales are looking the sharpest of the Northern Hemisphere teams, which is disappointing because they won't make it out of the quarter finals.
The last match of interest was Romania Scotland. This match is significant because it illustrates something rarely seen on a world stage in any context. Scotland has gone from being a tier one rugby nation, to now being tier two. Romania were all over Scotland for the vast majority of the match, but ran out of steam in the last ten minutes. For Scotland to rely on superior fitness means they don't have the skill to get results. They have slipped, and only time will tell if they can stand up with the best once more.
Contrary to what most people are saying, I don't think the Japan France game shows us any more than we already knew. Japan upped their game (expected - it's a world cup) and France were asleep for most of the game (expected - it's France).
That's it for the bumper rugby edition. Phew.
(Boy do I ache today, I didn't even do that much yesterday!)
Not only that, but I played in only my second game on Japanese soil. I played for Tokyo Gaijin Rugby Club. Gaijin means foreigner in Japanese, so it's an exiles team, basically.
Match report first:
Coming off the back of a reasonable performance last time (playing for Sano club a couple of months ago, I scored four tries but missed a tackle) I was expecting to improve in all areas of the game this time around.
I was to play only a half, as our team had a total of thirty players, and everyone wanted to get onto the pitch.
I started on the wing, and was destined to stay there for the half I played. The opening exhanges were forwards based, and the ball never made it past the outside centre. Around five minutes in, our team (Tokyo Gaijin) kicked on and started putting some passes out wide. A series of fine passes was undermined when the final two in the movement ended up behind the player, with me taking the ball with no momentum on the wing. Luckily that didn't matter, and I pushed through the first tackle, dummied the winger, and left the full back on his backside to score next to the posts. That was the first of three - but I can only remember two.
I was only called upon defensively a few times, but I managed to bundle two into touch, and turn over two balls in that time. One turnover was a direct steal from one of their backs, the other was their number eight running into me, thinking he could bowl me over. Unluckily for him we probably weighed the same, and I held him up to force a turnover from the referee.
The second try I honestly don't remember. It might not even exist.
The third came in the form of a breakaway on the right, going through one and past another. This one was notable only for the pettiness of their inside centre, whom I took objection to. I had scored the try, and three seconds later he slid into my head, knees first. I was already getting back up after the try at this point, and the lateness, coupled with the illegality, suggests this guy is a terrible loser. Luckily I was still holding the ball and got it up to my head before his knees reached me.
Needless to say, I was less than impressed. No punches were thrown however, and it was at this point the team was completely changed. Over the next two minutes there were half a dozen changes, and I was taken off the wing. It's a shame, because I'm sure I would have prevented the try down my wing, scored by their inside centre of all people; with around ten minutes to go. I would have stopped that guy with vengeance. I was so angry at that point, I probably would have stopped him with enough force to ensure he was also prevented from working for the next week.
The second half descended into an under 10's game with around twenty to go, with no structure present on either team. It was quite entertaining to watch for that fact alone, but it shows what I've said about Japanese sports in general: defence is a lower priority in all their sports.
For the effort I got a man of the match award, which was my own personal aim prior to the match. I was a little worried as being on the wing affords so little time with the ball, or even tackling for that matter. I had stayed with the captain the night before (in one of the most plush apartments I've ever seen) and didn't want all the travelling to be wasted. It ended up okay in the end, but I still want more ball!
That's one and a half games of rugby in Japan, seven tries, and half a dozen turnovers. Tries being indicative of attack, turnovers being indicative of defensive work (it's not enough to make all your tackles, that's a given; good play hinges on providing something for your team), and nothing being mentioned of the heat. It gets hot here, really hot. (No sunburn this time though, yay!)
Thanks to Alistair Nimmo (whose nickname should most certainly be nemo) for putting me up the night before, and thanks to the team for a hot, but fun game of rugby.
I'll put the Tokyo Gaijin match report up here when it's written, and you can contrast and compare proceedings. Obviously this blog is written by me, so it's ego centric...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
So of the internationals played this weekend. Three games stood out for me. The England Argentina game was as to be expected. England ground out a win despite shoddy refereeing, and despite Wilkinson not being able to kick a thing. To be fair, this entire tournament has been problematic for kickers, with percentages well below normal.
Talking of shoddy refereeing; the game I played in Tokyo had additional rules. Firstly, all tackling must be conducted under the armpits. Say what? No shoulder to shoulder contact allowed. That referee is obviously an ex-footballer (to be fair he was about 35kg's). The second rule: no hand-offs in the face. Chest only.
This one actually forced me to change the way I played the match. Normally you hit up a straight line and then step while forcing the opposing players' face away. This time, I had to push them backwards with a hand to the chest and hope the outside man didn't turn inwards.
Japanese fake rules do not make for interesting rugby.
It's not a safety orientated rule either, because our scrum half showed how easily a hand can slip to the face during a hand off, as the man tackling him stood bolt upright. He couldn't grip the shirt and his hand went up as a result. This happened a few times during the match, but was only penalised once.
Anyway; if anyone thought England would easily beat Argentina then they were deluding themselves. Argentina are one of the top ranked sides in international rugby, and have emerged out of seemingly nowhere in the past decade to become a force to be reckoned with. When they join the tri-nations next year, they will only become stronger. I can't help but feel it's a trick the six nations missed, as their inclusion in any tournament greatly adds to its commercial viability.
Delon Armitage had a good game, showing an interesting aspect to having two full-backs on the field, as he was adept under the high ball. Foden made some ground with limited ball, but in a game dominated by shoddy refereeing and forward domination, the backs didn't have any momentum.
The Wales South Africa game showed the importance of refereeing once again, as James Hook kicked a penalty for it to be disallowed. In a one point match, that kind of mistake is rather important to the outcome.
The game actually mirrored the warmup match between England and Wales in which England lost. In that match, England had all the possession and all the territory, but still lost.
In this match, Wales had all the territory and all the possession, but still lost. The northern hemisphere have a criminal inability to convert possession into points. There were a dozen missed half opportunities, not just the penalties.
It was also telling that Wales took ten or more phases to march SA back twenty metres, turned the ball over and found themselves forty metres back in three phases. The Welsh defence is not able to hold up against southern hemisphere attack. The forwards stopped their counterparts most of the time, but the SA backs ran rampant.
The only back on the Welsh side who made in-roads was Jamie Roberts, (I think that's his name) who took a huge number of balls up through the middle, and consistently made ground on each. Williams forgot he was playing with fourteen other people on the pitch and kept getting pushed back. Stay on your wing, mate.
On the first match performances alone, Wales are looking the sharpest of the Northern Hemisphere teams, which is disappointing because they won't make it out of the quarter finals.
The last match of interest was Romania Scotland. This match is significant because it illustrates something rarely seen on a world stage in any context. Scotland has gone from being a tier one rugby nation, to now being tier two. Romania were all over Scotland for the vast majority of the match, but ran out of steam in the last ten minutes. For Scotland to rely on superior fitness means they don't have the skill to get results. They have slipped, and only time will tell if they can stand up with the best once more.
Contrary to what most people are saying, I don't think the Japan France game shows us any more than we already knew. Japan upped their game (expected - it's a world cup) and France were asleep for most of the game (expected - it's France).
That's it for the bumper rugby edition. Phew.
(Boy do I ache today, I didn't even do that much yesterday!)
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