The All Blacks reign supreme

With the country in a T20 frenzy and that too having qualified for the final, it defies all logic to have staged the Clifford cup Knockout finals on the same day and that too in Kandy. Often the organizers of major sports events in SL get their timing wrong, but this was one big blunder. It was as if the T20 finals were being played in the North Pole between Poland and Iceland and that it did not have any bearing. Incidentally there was no major sporting event taking place on Saturday and hence the Clifford Cup finals could have been slotted in nicely.

Speaking to a few sports enthusiasts they opined that this was a result of politicizing the sport and its administration. I am sure that there were a number of sports fans who would have liked to have witness both events but had to choose unless one was living in Kandy. Maybe there is a group that would use air transport to witness both games, a luxury not affordable by the common man.  

The All Blacks once again reminded us all as to why they are the World Champions with yet another superlative performance. Before the game had begun there was talk that they would not be motivated as it was a dead rubber with the Rugby Championship safely in the bag. The pride of donning the black jersey was plain to see with their robust play. Skipper Richie McCaw was once again a sizeable thorn in the side of his opponents. He as usual walked a fine line between what was considered as acceptable play and infringements and was warned by referee Alain Rolland more than once but was still able to get away with his boldness to celebrate his 100th  Test match victory – without doubt the first person to reach such a landmark. As whether anyone else in the modern game will be able to chalk up such a milestone is wishful thinking at this stage. The Boks were on a high after leading at half time but that was about the only consolation that they had as the All Blacks replied with 20 unanswered points in the second half. Their dominance was such that they were able to weather the loss of fullback Israel Dagg to a second half yellow card as the Boks floundered to make an impact against 14 all Blacks.

Kieran Read took the mantle of man of the match for his exceptional ball carrying skills once again whilst he skipped across the turf and landed some telling tackles for good measure.

There was a lot of criticism of the Boks Coach Heyneke Meyer for his action to persevere with Johan Goosen as his kicker as the Boks made just three of their last 11 penalty attempts. With a success rate of 27 % it is simply not good enough at this level of the game.

In the second game, the Wallabies claimed the runners-up spot in this year’s Rugby Championship with a hard-fought and somewhat sloppy 25-19 victory over Argentina in Rosario. It was credible in a sense for the Wallabies as they have been plagued with injuries to about all of their play makers. The Wallabies bounced back from their mauling at the hands of South Africa last weekend and have maybe lent a line of support to under fire coach Robbie Deans.  For most parts of the game Pumas fly-half Juan Martin Hernandez kept his side in the contention  with three penalties in the first half but a late consolation try from replacement Juan Imhoff was not enough to propel the hosts to an historic first win in the competition. The handling of the greasy ball by both sides was poor resulting in may lost scoring opportunities. Thus the opening try nearly came in the third quarter of the game through the perseverance of the Wallabies flanker Michael Hooper.  The game also saw veteran Pumas Prop Rodrigo Roncero bid farewell to the game after having made his debut in 1998. It is also rumoured that the Wallabies stand in skipper Nathan Sharpe will bid farewell to the game as well. It was fitting to see them both exchange pleasantries after the contest.