Week six here in New Zealand and it's a twiddling thumbs moment as we wind down from the quarter-finals and wait for the high-octane weekend ahead. So, a few thoughts:
1 ) Why isn't there a plate competition for the best losers in the pool stages? A football World Cup gathers pace in the knockout stages: RWC has no option but to take a breather because of the battering players take. As the teams begin to rev up here in Auckland, wouldn't it be a great focal point to be heading off tonight to, say, Hamilton for the semi-final plate game between Samoa and Japan, then to Rotorua tomorrow for Fiji against Canada? Money, as ever, is the root reason why not. I say there has to be a way round it. These countries crave exposure and competition. This is a way to get both.
2) Discussion point. Would it matter if Steve Walsh, a Kiwi by birth, an Aussie by trade now, were to referee a final between the All Blacks and whomever? I say not. Just as Geoff Coooke once said that he wouldn't mind if Clive Norling did every England-Wales game, so the same is true now. Give the best man the whistle. As for Walsh, well what a comeback. He's been criticised, and rightly so, but he's served his time and is the best whistler here.
3 ) Memo to RWC 2015. Don't price every bugger out of the market. It's galling to see empty seats as there were at the quarter-finals. The host union can only gets its quid back through tickets sales. That's why the tickets available were at around £200. It will be even more for Wales-France on Saturday. Tickets are still available. Better to reduce revenue to increase atmosphere and spectacle.
4) This has been the tournament of the no.7s. David Pocock's display for the Wallabies against South Africa was the best individual performance of any player in any position. Brussow's injury might have helped, and, by the by, would Ireland have beaten Australia if Pocock had played that day? I only ask. Sean O'Brien v Pocock would have been worth the admission price alone. Greatest ever no 7 ? Great man of Samoa and New Zealand, Michael Jones. Unless you think differently, of course.
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