NZ Grand Slam in Sight

Although winning matches is nothing new for the New Zealand All Blacks, this weekend could bring them an acheivement they've only enjoyed twice before: a grand slam tour. Although an undefeatedtour is not uncommon (Australia and South Africa are on the verge of that feat as well), the grand slam occurs only when a side beats all four "Home Nations" from the British Isles (England, Ireland, Wales, and Scotland)in the same tour. The All blacks did it in 1978 and 2005, and they've picked a strong side in hopes of earning another this weekend.

Considering the possibilty of such a momentous event, we'll recap the tour in the form of Jed Thian's short and comedic Alternative Rugby Commentary preview videos (Caution: Rude language and profanity):

First, Scotland fell:


Next, Ireland succumbed:


Last weekend, NZ topped Wales:


Now, only England stands in the way. We'll see what happens:

Shane Williams is on Top of the World

The International Rugby Board named Shane Williams the world's Player of the Year for 2008 today. How does one win an award like that? By getting around the park like this (though the below highlights are not just from 2008):

RLWC Final Great for the Sport

Australia had not failed to win a Rugby League World Cup since 1972. With the tournament held at sporadic intervals and in varying formats over the years, that's a total of six in a row. Australia had also won nine of the twelve world cups ever held since 1954. The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was written off as a contest for second from the start, and claims that the cup was pointless mounted as Australia continued to dominate through the ealy matches. Poor New Zealand surely wouldn't stand a chance in the final.

But for some reason, they went ahead and held the grand final yesterday anyway. Predictably, Australia jumped to a 10 lead in the first quarter of the match. Amazingly, New Zealand battled back and took a 12-10 lead shortly before the half, the first lead Australia had rescinded in any match all year. Then Australia recaptured a 16-12 halftime lead, and things seemed to be back on track to a ho-hum conclusion.

Except that the Kiwis forgot to follow the songbook and won 34-20. In perhaps the greatest upset in rugby league history, New Zealand won the nation's first ever Rugby League World Cup. In an era where rugby league is criticized as a sport played in only a few nations (though some point out that rugby union is not as much of a "world game" as it is purported to be either) and some call a Rugby League World Cup pointless, Australia suddenly cannot be found on the comfortable seat at the top of the heap after the Kiwis shocked the world. Even an Australia fan has to enjoy that.

There are sad stories, such as seeing Australian legend Darren Lockyer walk off the ground with a loss, but Lockyer has had plenty of great wins as well. Everybody loses when the same side always wins, but this time that wasn't the case. The sport will surely benefit from the grand final result, just as it will from the great tournament in general.

If you missed the grand final, here are a few highlights. If you've never been interested in rugby league, this is a good match to start with!



And here's an extra video of the Kiwis arriving home with a trophy that had sat in Australia's trophy case for more than three decades:

League World Cup Nears a Close

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup will end in a few hours in the grand final between Australia and New Zealand. The smart money is on Australia, as it has been since the beginning, but the Kiwis have surprised the Kangaroos before and there is still plenty of excitement surrounding the match.

In general, the worldwise event, which wasn't even held in 2004, has been a success and is giving rugby league some definite momentum for future years. Here are some highlights from the previous 17 matches of the tournament:

A New Twist on the Haka

Despite their great record of successes over the years and their legendary uniform, the New Zealand All Blacks are perhaps as famous for the haka they perform before matches as for anything else. Famed Irish author James Joyce even referenced it in his renowned work Finnegan's Wake. The haka tradition saw a bit of a different Irish tribute yesterday, though, when Munster's four players of New Zealand origin performed their own haka before the club's mid-week match against the All Blacks.

The ritual nearly inspired Munster to repeat their classic 1978 upset of New Zealand. This time, they led New Zealand until the All Blacks pulled ahead in the last four minutes to win 18-16. To be fair, the New Zealand side included several new and lesser-seen faces, but the match was a thriller nonetheless. Here's a look at that haka that started it all:



While we're at it, here are a few highlights from the match:



Here's one try from that 1978 match:



And last of all, to give some idea of the cultural significance of that historic day in 1978, you can also see a video of that same try re-enacted with LEGO blocks:

Knocking it Dead: A Common Practice in League, a Big No-No in Union

This past Saturday's match between Ireland and New Zealand, which New Zealand won 22-3, featured a moment that underscored one key law difference between the rugby codes. In rugby league, it's extremely common to see players slapping the loose footballs into touch, especially in their own try zone, to prevent others from scoring.

In rugby union, though, Law 10.2(c) tells us that knocking, throwing, or placing the ball out of play can get you in trouble, as we see in the punishment doled out to Tommy Bowe in the clip of highlights below (incident happens just after 1:30 has elapsed in the clip, and the replays and deliberations last until about four minutes in):

(Almost) Everyone's a Winner in League World Cup (At Least Once)

Sure, Australia is a heavy favorite in the 2008 Rugby League World Cup and hasn't lost yet. While that may be grounds to call the tournament a joke, naysayers would do well to notice that every other side has been beaten at least once, and that all sides but one have won a match a well. Papua New Guinea bowed out of the even at 0-3, victims of a tough draw in a pool that also contained the three strongest teams in the cup. (That "super" pool, incidentally, also produces three of the four semifinalists in the somewhat controversial tournament layout, with the other spot determined by a playoff between the other two pools' winners.) In the other two three-team pools, though, every single side won at least one match.

That's right, each of the six teams in the two smaller pools finished 1-1. In Pool 2, France started things off by beating Scotland 36-18. Then, Fiji spanked France 42-6. Scotland, however, bounced back and edged Fiji 18-16. In the end, only a favorable for-and-against scoring margin put Fiji atop the pool.

In Pool 3, it was more of the same. Tonga got by Ireland 22-20, Samoa beat Tonga 20-12, and Ireland completed the circle of parity with a 34-16 win over Samoa that also put them atop the table on points difference.

Don't be too quick to write this tournament off as a mere formality preceding Australia's coronation. If you do, you'll miss a lot of good matches--like Fiji's 30-14 win over Ireland in a playoff match that sees them into the semifinals along with the three top finishers in the "super" pool--and also sees them pick up a big payday. This weekend, Fiji will take on Australia in one semifinal while New Zealand plays England in the other. Meanwhile, Fiji's tries from that playoff match with Ireland are below:

Eagles Back on Track

The United States Eagles national rugby union side hadn't won in a while before Saturday, but they corrected that with a 43-9 win over Uruguay in Salt Lake City, Utah. One report put attendance at more than 5,000, which is nothing stellar by global standards but a decent showing in the United States.

Unfortunately, the match wasn't televised in the United States, so if you weren't there you couldn't watch. That's been cleared up now, though, as you can watch a full replay online for free at the USA Rugby Network site. Have a look!

Interestingly, Setanta Sports broadcast an ad selling tickets to the match even though they didn't bother to televise the match itself:

A Code Compromise of a Different Kind

Here, we talk a lot about rugby union and rugby league, and don't see a lot of need to continue any feud between the codes ... especially now that the main reason for the original schism, player payments, is moot given that rugby union has allowed professional play since 1995. Although some have pushed for an introduction of a hybrid game, at least at the youth level, such proposals are met with resistance and a widespread hybrid game seems unlikely in the near future.

That said, an exhibition match seems logistically feasible. Why? Just last week, Australia and Ireland contested a two-match International Rules Football series. The series featured a hybrid of Australian rules football and Gaelic football, and was narrowly won by Ireland. Although interest was so-so, the matches were televised internationally.

If two such disparate codes can have a hybrid series, why not the rugby codes? It has certainly been done before, but such cross-code matches seem rare. The obvious answer is that neither code would want to risk losing audience to the other by way of such a match, but a few matches here and there might also open the door to new sources of fans and revenue.

As a testament to the entertainment a cross-code contest can provide, here are a few clips from the recent International Rules series: