According to this report its not good news for Lancaster Park or the Cantabs in 2012. Looks like large parts of the ground need to rebuilt or even demolished.
They should be wary of temporarily moving out to Riccarton though - just ask Matthew Johns.
So game number 123 of the Super XV turned to be a bridge too far for the Cantabs and a long & harrowing season ended with a narrow loss to Queensland who became only the 5th winner of a Super Rugby competition. Here are the video highlights.
The dominance displayed by the men from Christchurch the week before in Cape Town seemed to distract us from the fact that no one has travelled those sorts of distances over 2 weeks & been able to win the trophy.
And so it proved. They started well but needed to convert that early pressure into points & the fact they had nothing to show after dominating the opening 20 minutes should have sent the alarm bells ringing
I was tempted to name this "All Hail the Cantabs II" but last time I came out with that (after they had beaten Western Province) they lost the next week so I won't jinx them. First of all here are the highlights from the games in Brisbane & Cape Town.
But really what more can you say about the Cantabs, who are now just one game from what must be described as the greatest Super rugby season ever surpassing their unbeaten Super 12 season of 2002? From the moment Richie McCaw came out for the coin toss you could see they were up for it. He barely greeted Schalk Burger, almost forgot to shake the ref's hand & there were no niceties at all. They took this onto the field & just blew Province away to lead 23-3 just before half time.
Not for the first time Stu Dickinson has had a major say on the outcome of a Cantab away game in Super. Refer to my thoughts on his performance at Newlands last year.
While the merits of the penalty he awarded against McCaw can be debated (I thought McCaw should have just driven over the ball & secured it for the halfback to clear), Dickinson's overall performance can not be excused.
A penalty count of 12-4 to Queensland, numerous missed knock on's & forward passes (particularly the knock on by Ioane in the lead up to the penalty) & punishing the dominant scrum sum up to an awful game.
So now Richie McCaw has joined the Dan Carter four year gravy train at NZRFU. I can't really begrudge him his dues but 4 years is a long time for a loose forward in his 30's. It all comes down to how much he's getting paid I guess but once again you have to question the value for money for NZ rugby.
After all this is the organisation that somehow manages to lose millions of dollars every year. Surely they are not going to mortgage the game in the dutch auction that will become the race for SBW's services after the World Cup.
So Dan Carter has signed a four year contract with NZ rugby which is good news for the next All Black coach whoever that might be.
Call me sceptical but I wonder if the contract is worth the paper it is printed on if it is filled with sabbaticals, get out clauses & what other inducements Teflon Tew has dreamed up.
I have never been a big fan of the Cantabs but what they produced at Newlands in the weekend was something special as these highlights show.
Not only were they playing the form Japie side in their own backyard but they were without the the Dynamic Duo of Carter & McCaw (not to mention Thorn, Whitelock S, Franks B & Ellis). Then they had 4 backline players injured by half time forcing their openside, Matt Todd, to play on the wing.
The amount of ticker they showed was remarkable even by their own championship winning standards. By the end of the match they had a collection of all sorts out there including a number of players who would be 3rd or 4th choice in their position. How's this for a line up .....
Last week's match between the only two sides to win the Super 14 competition was billed as a clash of the heavyweights. There was an expectation of a very tough encounter up front but no one was anticipating that a bloke sitting on the bench would make the biggest impact.
Maybe he didn't enjoy riding the pine but the highlight of that match was undoubtedly the introduction of Owen Franks who gave it to them at scrum time, had a bit of a set to with Chilliboy (including some verbals) which only got his dander up so he proceeded to unleash the tackle of the season.
Here lies the sad tale of Isaac Ross. Twelve months ago he was in charge of the All Blacks lineout but has since been dropped by the All Blacks then the Crusaders & then even Jarred Hoeata was picked ahead of him for NZ Maori! Once Steve Hansen puts the word out about your problems its all down hill!
Makes you ask what Steve Hansen saw in him in the first place & was it similar to Campbell Johnstone's right shoulder?
