Inexperience proves the All Blacks' weak link

From the Hip

The nation expected them to win, the punter who placed two bets of $100,000 did too and so did I.

Seems the All Blacks thought they had only to front up and the win would follow.

Wrong. It was the French who fronted on Saturday night at Carisbrook in Dunedin. The All Blacks stood off as if the French had swine flu, making no contact for the first 10 minutes.

When they finally thought it was safe to play rugby, it was too late and the final score of 27-22 to the French flattered the All Blacks.

This wasn't a full-strength French team. In fact, it was only an average French side. Same could be said for the All Blacks and there must be a few alarm bells ringing in the the All Blacks camp heading into the second test in Wellington. Take out Richie McCaw, Dan Carter and Conrad Smith and New Zealand rugby is not as strong as we would like to believe.

The loose trio on Saturday was cruelly exposed for what it was - inexperienced - while the inside pairing of Jimmy Cowan (and then Piri Weepu) and Stephen Donald lacked the spark of a Brendon Leonard-Carter combination.

Cowan and Weepu might be feisty and physical players, but their passing skills are not as quick as Leonard, while Donald can punt the ball well, but his grubber kicks are more kick and hope. Out wider, the midfield always found themselves under pressure from the French defence which was up quickly and centre Isaia Toeava battled. But their problems came from slow ball.

The loose trio of Adam Thomson, Kieran Read and Liam Messam struggled. Messam, in particular, looked out of his depth and he's one who could face the axe for the second test. Prop Neemia Tialata is another.

And, with such an inexperienced pack (not helped when Taranaki hooker Andrew Hore left the field injured early on), how wise is it to have your captain in the No 15 jersey?

THANK goodness that's over.

No more nights having to write another report on how the Taranaki Dynamos self-destructed yet again.

It was tough enough reporting on the 16 straight losses for the side in the National Basketball League competition, but it must have been tougher for the players. Losing is not something players enjoy and fronting up to practices week after week must have been a grind. Now steps have to be put in place to make sure Taranaki has a team in the league next year. And that's a must for the sport. There's plenty of basketball fans out there who want a team in the top league.

THE Warriors can give you a few anxious moments.

Last Friday night was no exception. Ahead 6-0 with 10 minutes remaining against the Newcastle Knights in conditions that could only be described as awful in Auckland, the Warriors were awarded a penalty under the posts. The gift two points would have killed the Knights.

No, a rush of blood followed, with Ian Henderson taking a quick tap and the two points were gone.

Typical.

Henderson should have been hauled straight off and, if I was the rugby league team's coach, he wouldn't be playing again for a couple of weeks.

- © Fairfax NZ News