Cold War clash excites former All Blacks captain Mourie

WELLINGTON, Sept 5 (Reuters) : The Cold War may have ended with the dismantling of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s but former All Blacks captain Graham Mourie is keen to see it break out again for 80 minutes in New Plymouth next week.Not that the 58-year-old Mourie is wishing for the political tensions to re-emerge, he is referring to the World Cup Pool C clash between the United States and tournament debutants Russia at Stadium Taranaki on Sept. 15.“I’ve got a few American mates coming over and it will be a good game,” Mourie told Reuters at the official welcome for the world champion Springboks in Wellington.

“It’ll be nice to go back to Taranaki to see at least one game and probably USA against Russia is a traditional rivalry if not on the rugby field but in the world.” Mourie, who captained the All Blacks 57 times and led them to their first grand slam in 1978, is a member of the New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) board and will attend the opening match between the All Blacks and Tonga at Eden Park on Friday. He is also planning on attending “a few” other games is his official capacity with the NZRU and as a member of the International Rugby Board. Mourie was originally from Taranaki before he moved to Wellington in the late 1990s, where he was coach of the provincial team before he took over at the helm of the Super rugby franchise the Hurricanes from 2000-2002.

The urbane former openside flanker, who was renowned for his intelligence on and off the field, diplomatically avoided any predictions as to the favourites for the tournament, though he expected some of the Tier Two nations to produce surprises.

“You only have to look at the major teams who have traditionally been successful (like) South Africa, Australia, England... France are a very good side,” he said when asked on who would be the major contenders for the title, along with the All Blacks.

“It would be nice to see some other teams come through. I think Samoa showed against Australia (with a 32-23 win in Sydney in July) they have been able to put together some rugby and Fiji have always played well at these tournaments.

“I’m really interested in seeing Georgia... they have certainly developed quite a reputation for their forward play overseas.

“But it’s pretty hard to pick.”