Not the easy group excuse, I thought we'd settled on Waayne Barnes...
So the IRB have decided to change the World Cup seedings for the next Rugby World Cup. Based on the current system, the seedings for 2011 would read: 1. South Africa 2. England 3. Argentina 4. France.
The All-Blacks would, at best, be a lowly fifth. Surely the IRB is taking this bold step with a view to representing the four-year cycle of international rugby more fairly, not just to step to appease New Zealand, which hosts RWC 2011. What do you reckon...
Question - who is sick and tired of Kiwi moaning? If New Zealand arrived in France as top seeds, rather than England, they would have drawn South Africa, Tonga, Samoa, and USA, rather than Scotland, Italy, Portugal and Romania. It certainly doesn't take a rugby genius to work out who had the easier route to the knock-out phase...
It looks likely that the All-Blacks will be rewarded for being consistently the best team in world rugby - and I'm sure their fans are already surfing naked in celebration. But form counts for diddly-squat in knock-out tournaments. It's all about holding your nerve and showing that big match temperament when it really matters.
If the All-Blacks can't realise that throwing wild miss-passes on your own five metre line in a World Cup quarter-final (see Dan Carter) represents a dangerous combination of arrogance and mind-boggling stupidity, then the seedings aren't likely to help them get what they feel they so richly deserve.
Too many of their greats go missing in the big games and they always find some excuse - food poisoning in 1995, France’s dirty play in 1999, Anton Oliver being brutalised in 2003 and referee Wayne Barnes' visual aberration in 2007.
With nothing to show since 1987 we continue to hear ludicrous statements like ‘we’re still the best team in the world’ within hours of an inglorious World Cup exit. Whatever happened to notion that if you’re going to win it, you must beat the best?