{"id":19070,"date":"2023-08-18T07:49:44","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T19:49:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/?p=19070"},"modified":"2023-08-18T08:31:48","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T20:31:48","slug":"aisle-be-back-i-see-red","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/2023\/08\/18\/aisle-be-back-i-see-red\/","title":{"rendered":"Aisle be Back: I see red"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Meanwhile, Brad Shields and the Wellington pack climb into their work against Otago last Saturday. They play Southland on Saturday at the Hutt Rec\u00a0Photo: Caswell Images.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-1\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>By Kevin McCarthy<\/strong><\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>England are a poor rugby side right now. They will probably squeak into the quarterfinals, courtesy of the weakest of the groups at the Rugby World Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Yet here they are hogging the headlines, courtesy of young Owen Farrell, the thinking man\u2019s tackler.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve been under a rock or possibly suffering concussion from a Farrell head shot, you will have missed his extraordinary escaping of a further penalty for his no arms tackle in the pre-cup return fixture at Twickenham against Wales. The game red card was effectively ruled out and the England captain thus unhampered from taking part in the Cup.<\/p>\n<p>Not so lucky was Tonga\u2019s George Moala, guilty of a tip tackle and now effectively banned from the big event.<\/p>\n<p>No wonder World Rugby is now appealing the Farrell decision, given it makes a mockery of rugby citings on the eve of the big show.<\/p>\n<p>Either way that won\u2019t help George Moala or quieten perceptions that tier 2 nations are always going to get the big end of the stick, and the big boys the soggy bus tickets.<\/p>\n<p>However, I wouldn\u2019t necessarily be practising my French phrasebook quite yet if I were Farrell.<\/p>\n<p>On the flip side, how long into the World Cup before his tackle technique fails once more and earns him another red.<\/p>\n<p>++++++<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m guilty of it above, with my description of the \u2018weakest\u2018 group. From an outside viewpoint, its quite possible to view any tournament draw, especially this lopsided one, as having pools that are tougher or weaker than others.<\/p>\n<p>But actually, from the perspective of the teams in those weak groups, that is C and D, their draw may feel nothing like weak.<\/p>\n<p>For example, does England feel that confident of disposing of Argentina and Japan. They are struggling, and Argentina must surely fancy their chances. Japan are not flattering themselves in\u00a0 the buildup, But both those sides tend to over-excel at world cups.<\/p>\n<p>In Group C, Eddie\u2019s kindergarten experiment could be spectacularly successful, or come unstuck in match one against Georgian muscle. Fiji must think they\u2019re a prospect to finally stop underachieving at this level \u2013 and claim either the scalp of the Welsh or the Australians, or both.<\/p>\n<p>The All Blacks may feel miffed to face such a tough road through the quarters and beyond, but actually the team with the stiffest task is Scotland, with South Africa and Ireland to get past.<\/p>\n<p>Not that the Scots view it as a mission impossible \u2013 and given two bravura efforts against a rusty France in recent weeks, who\u2019s to say that it can\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p>I can feel a few upsets coming on \u2013 and more than usual. Except perhaps they won\u2019t be as much of an upset as we imagine.<\/p>\n<p>++++++++<\/p>\n<p>Rugby bosses should \u2013 I mean how could they not \u2013 study the FIFA women\u2019s world cup.\u00a0 Although we know that women\u2019s rugby is highly attractive, based on last year\u2019s home world cup, it was still quite a thing to see New Zealanders selling out clashes between teams from other countries.<\/p>\n<p>Novelty factor sure, but it can\u2019t just be that. Someone knows how to market itself, and that someone doesn\u2019t start with R.<\/p>\n<p>+++++<\/p>\n<p>I only had time and energy for a quick glance at the super Pacific draw for next season. The Hurricanes kick off with two Aussie away trips, usually a preferable option \u2013 and then a couple of derbies.<\/p>\n<p>First impression is that the draw is a bit more even than last year\u2019s which tended to make the Canes look better placed than they really were foremost of the comp.<\/p>\n<p>Not their fault, in saying that. You play what\u2019s put in front of you.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box,\n\t\t\t#wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2 .wpls-fix-box img.wp-post-image{max-height:250px; }\n\t\t<\/style>\n\n\t\t<div class=\"wpls-wrap wpls-logo-showcase-slider-wrp wpls-logo-clearfix wpls-design-1 \" data-conf=\"{&quot;slides_column&quot;:4,&quot;slides_scroll&quot;:1,&quot;dots&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;arrows&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;autoplay_interval&quot;:3000,&quot;loop&quot;:&quot;true&quot;,&quot;rtl&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;speed&quot;:800,&quot;center_mode&quot;:&quot;false&quot;,&quot;lazyload&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-showcase logo_showcase wpls-logo-slider  sliderimage_hide_border \" id=\"wpls-logo-showcase-slider-2\" >\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.roblawmax.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/rmax24.jpg?fit=220%2C120&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.geeksonwheels.co.nz\/locations\/wellington-computer-repair\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/images.jpg?fit=296%2C170&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/thecallcentre.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/TCC-Logo-400x260-1.jpg?fit=400%2C260&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div><div class=\"wpls-logo-cnt\">\n\t<div class=\"wpls-fix-box\">\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.partnersfinance.co.nz\/\" target=\"_self\">\n\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-post-image\"  src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/part2.jpg?fit=300%2C195&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meanwhile, Brad Shields and the Wellington pack climb into their work against Otago last Saturday. They play Southland on Saturday at the Hutt Rec\u00a0Photo: Caswell Images.\u00a0 By Kevin McCarthy England are a poor rugby side right now. They will probably squeak into the quarterfinals, courtesy of the weakest of the groups at the Rugby World&#8230;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":19072,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,60,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-blacks","category-latest-club-rugby-news","category-wellington-lions"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Shields-Lions.jpg?fit=980%2C567&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbDiON-4XA","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19070"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19076,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070\/revisions\/19076"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clubrugby.nz\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}