Hey Geeves, that title is for you... :)

I have many fond memories of Crusaders vs Reds games and I imagine that 10 in a row stat is a large reason why.

Maybe that is why there has been so much turnover in the Reds squads over the last 10 years? Each time they lose to the Crusaders again they have to cull out the ranks and bring in some young fellas who don't have the emotional scarring that no doubt comes with being another team's bitch for a decade. (Of course the Kangaroos obviously have a similar dominance over the Kiwis, but let's not go there!)

For a while it looked like this current crop of rookie Reds might halt the run at 9 straight, but as they tend to do more often than not the Crusaders came home strong in the end and took it out. Beautiful!

Rain or shine, these Crusaders showed tonight that they can grind out a win, whatever the conditions. And a tough win it was too, only sealed by Sheriff Crockett's late try, which gave them an 18-10 win over the nasty Sharks.

Bring on the Reds and Highlanders, and go the Chiefs and Canes! (We want another shot at those Mooloo Boys this season!)

Ah, regular service is resumed after last weeks hiccup which I won't discuss any furthur (because like the RWC, it's in the past... grrrrr).

The Crusaders held on to take it 26-22 over the Blues in a classic matchup between the big boys on NZ rugby, full of fast frantic rugby. Not exactly error free from either side but fortunately for the Crusaders the key errors were made by the Blues, and Nick Evans in particular.

With DC out of action it would appear that the next best first five in the country plays for the Chiefs, with both Evans and Brett putting in patchy performances, again. Come back quick Dan!

Bah! Just watched my first Highlanders (and Sharks) game of the season, and it was pretty entertaining, especially when the Highlanders were in front 14-3!

Unfortunately they just made too many mistakes to hold out the vastly experienced Sharks (270 international caps compared to Otago's 13 according to the commentators!), who went ahead after about 55 minutes thanks to a 51m penalty from scruffy kicking sensation Francois Steyn.

Highlanders had numerous chances to sneak the win in the final 5 minutes, but showed their inexperience and lack of patient by making crucial mistakes at crucial times. Final score 19-17 to the Sharks, who stay unbeaten this season and maintain 2nd spot on the table.

Congrats to Titch and the boys on adding the 2008 Hong Kong sevens title to their trophy cabinet.

That makes 7 titles in a row for the current squad, including all 5 tournaments so far this season. Awesome!

The highlight of this tournament had to be their 34-0 victory over arch-rivals Fiji in the semi-finals, a clinical display that would have had all of Fiji crying in their kava last night.

As usual the Crusaders vs Hurricanes clash was very entertaining, although the quality of the rugby was overshadowed by the sheer brutality of the defense as has often been the case in these clashes of late.

Also as usual Jerry Collins couldn't resist throwing a high shot. I laughed at Richie's comments to the ref after that about how "he has a history of this sort of thing" and should be sent off for it! Nice one Richie, just practising working the ref for the Tri-Nations eh?

After letting the Crusaders stretch out to a 20-6 half-time lead the Canes never seriously looked like winning the match but they definitely put some heat on the Crusaders, especially in the final 20.

Unfortunately the most significant event in the game was Dan Carter injuring his ankle, an injury that is likely to keep him out for the rest of the S14 round robin. With Stephen Brett already out for at least another month this is going to seriously test them. Can Rangi Macdonald lead the Red 'n Blacks past the Chiefs, and Blues? Hopefully Brett at least is back for the game against the Sharks, which could have siginificant ramifications on playoff seedings.

Ahhhh, the Red and Black juggernaut keeps on rolling, this week right over the top of Lote Tuquiri and his golden slippers and the rest of the WorryTahs.

Admittedly they took a while to warm up this week, but once the shock of the Tahs taking the lead (7-6) early in the second half they cranked things up and never looked back, running in four tries in the final 30 minutes to secure the bonus point win. Nice!

I must admit Lote's magic boots did seem to help his defense, especially on Richie Mccaw who he smashed twice in the space of about 2 minutes, but other than that the Tahs just looked ordinary.

The view from the top of the table is very nice thanks. :)

If the result of these new ELV (Experimental Law Variations) is that my Crusaders can thrash their old foes the Brumbies by 34-3 then I'm all for them!

Regardless of the result I think that so far these new rules look like they are really going to help speed the game up, and cut down on the defensive force-back kicking duels that often used to dominate patches of the game.

In other news the Reds held off a fiesty Highlanders challenge, and the Sharks beat the Force.

Every year, just when I am struggling to get enthused about the S14 kicking off while it's still hot and sunny, along comes the Wellington Sevens to whet the rugby fans appetite.

And every year it seems to deliver, even if the NZ team don't always do as well as they did this time around, it's still always fun to watch, and I imagine, a blast to attend.

For all the gory details on the Welly Sevens check out the Official IRB Sevens website, but if you want the abridged version, here it is.

NZ beat Samoa in the Cup final, with Wellington flanker/winger (flinger didn't sound right, and the other alternative was not very nice) Victor Veto doing a Jonah in the final. In the all-pacific semis Samoa beat Tonga and NZ thrashed Australia. In the battle of the biggest losers South Africa won the Plate, England won the Bowl and USA won the Shield. (Which I guess left Fiji with the Spoon.)

NZ has now won all 3 titles so far this season. Woo Hoo!

Feel free to throw in your 2c on the sevens on the discussion board.

Congratulations to South Africa, worthy winners of the 2007 RWC.

At least it was a Southern Hemisphere team that won the trophy this time around, here's hoping that in 4 more years time it can be another one.

In the meantime us Kiwi fans will just have to make do with winning back the Super 14 and beating the world cup champs in the Tri-Nations I guess. Contrary to popular belief being the best team between RWC's isn't actually a bad thing!

On the back of a perfect ANZC season the Aucks add the ANZC title to their unbeaten, shield winning run. Not that I really cared about the game at all but good on em, at least some of our ABs got to finish the year on a high.

I had a nagging feeling that bloody Wellington were going to roll my Cantabs last night in their ANZC semi.

Must be that "bad luck happens in 3s" rule. I never used to believe in that sort of stuff but now with this result on top of Auckland taking the shield and the ABs coming home early from the RWC maybe it's true.

Anyway, it sucks, and all you misguided AB fans who don't support Canterbury, look out, your bad luck is coming, I promise you!

Friggin' French! Dodgy Ref didn't help but really the ABs lost it themselves, and the French defense won it for them... Unfrickingbelievable!?!?!

Now that was somewhat unexpected! I guess it's "4 more years" eh Wallaby fans?

Not for little Georgie Grogan though, time for a new Wallaby halfback, Matt Dunning is the front runner for my money.

Yeah so we are a bit late getting the site up-to-date in time for the RWC, tough.

It's not like any of the games in the pool play were really important is it? So the Irish and the Welsh missed out on the Quarter-finals, boo hoo.

Did their misguided fans really think they were going to advance to the semis anyway! Come on lads, I know your beer googles are good, but they can't perform miracles!

It's nice for the Bula Boys and the Argies to get some time in the spotlight in any case, especially if it winds up the old guard at the IRB!

Anyway, we are pretty much up to date now, and I plan to make an effort to give you a piece of my mind now that the real RWC is about to start.

Go the ABs!