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News With Views
~2/6/00~
Crusaders Win Super 12 Rugby Championship Again
The Canterbury Crusaders have won a record breaking third title in a row by beating the ACT Brumbies
in the Super 12 rugby final last Saturday May 27. The final score was 20-19 with Andrew Mehrtens kicking
the winning points with a penalty four minutes from full time.
No doubt the win has boosted business confidence and the political future of Government MPs in
Canterbury. It has been long speculated that the National Government's chances of re-election crumbled
when the All Blacks crashed out of last year's Rugby World Cup.
But I digress.
The ends of my fingers are proof of the nail biting match with the Brumbies sustaining wave after wave of
attacks on the Crusaders defence. It really was a test of the best attack against the best defence, and to
be honest I think the Crusaders were pretty lucky to come out on top by virtue of the penalty.
That's not
to say they didn't deserve to win but it is strange when the team with seventy per cent of the possession and
field position lose. I remember one period of play where the Brumbies went through fifteen phases of possession
and gained only ten metres. This is all testament to the hard work the Crusaders' put into their defence of course.
It must have been frustrating for the Brumbies to do so much running and passing only to have Andrew Mehrtens
kick the ball back in behind them again or over for a lineout. I think it would fair to say that it was
Mehrtens' kicking for field position that was the difference between the teams especially given that the
Brumbies won the round robin match two weeks earlier when Mehrtens wasn't playing.
The icing on the cake for ten of the Crusaders however would have to have been being named in the All-Blacks squad the
following night, with Crusaders captain Todd Blackadder being named as All-Black captain also.
The All Black squad for 2000 is: Christian Cullen
(Hurricanes), Doug Howlett (Blues), Jonah Lomu
(Hurricanes), Leon Macdonald (Crusaders), Tana
Umaga (Hurricanes), Alama Ieremia (Hurricanes),
Mark Robinson (Crusaders), Pita Alatini (Highlanders),
Andrew Mehrtens (Crusaders), Tony Brown
(Highlanders), Justin Marshall (Crusaders), Byron
Kelleher (Highlanders), Ron Cribb (Crusaders), Scott
Robertson (Crusaders), Josh Kronfeld (Highlanders),
Reuben Thorne (Crusaders), Taine Randell
(Highlanders), Troy Flavell (Blues), Norm Maxwell
(Crusaders), Todd Blackadder (Crusaders, captain),
Craig Dowd (Blues), Greg Somerville (Crusaders),
Kees Meeuws (Highlanders), Carl Hoeft (Highlanders),
Mark Hammett (Crusaders), Anton Oliver
(Highlanders).
Conrad.
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No More Fun At Children's Parties
A booklet launched this week in Britain has branded the game Musical Chairs too aggressive for children.
According to writer Sue Finch, musical chairs encourages aggression and we should ban the game. She told the Times that the advice may surprise some adults. "A little bit of competition is fine, but with musical chairs the competition is not fair because it is always the biggest and strongest children who win," Ms Finch said.
New Zealand Nursery and Preschool teachers are saying the ban is a bit ridiculous and that competition is a good motivational and esteem building tool.
Plunket Society national nursing adviser Angela Baldwin said children learned when they played games and should always be encouraged to do so.
Sally.
Excitement in Southland as Netball final approaches.
Excitement is mounting in Southland as their netball team, the Southern
Sting, prepares to play against the Canterbury Flames in the final match
for the Coca Cola Cup at Stadium Southland in Invercargill.
Sting T shirts will be worn by staff in Invercargill bars, shops are
featuring window displays, and some farmers are going to put blue and green
balloons on their gates. Fans are planning to dress in blue and green and
decorate their cars with blue and green balloons.
Canterbury fans are chartering a plane to Invercargill. The Ascot Park
Hotel in Invercargill is booked out. The blue and green features will be
mixed with red and black as the Canterbury supporters turn out in force to
support the Canterbury Flames.
The atmosphere in the city is what most people associate with rugby
matches. It is great to see such excitement about a sport played by
women. Televised matches have greatly increased the New Zealand public's
interest in netball. Women's sport has been the poor relation in the past.
The interest in this event is really pleasing.
Dorothy.
Pohutukawa Flowering In May
In Season Or Out Of Season?
The pohutukawa, usually thought of as New Zealand's Christmas flower, is
still flowering in and north of Wellington at the end of May. This may be
because May has been an unusually warm month. It may also be because fewer
of the pohutukawas are the native pohutukawas which flower only at
Christmas. Many are hybrids with the Kermadec Islands variety, which in
warm climates flowers continuously.
Many people believe that a good flowering season for the pohutukawa means a
mild winter. Forecasts of cold weather and snow to low levels in the south
for Queens Birthday weekend suggest that the flowering of the hybrid
variety may not be a weather guide.
Many people now like a midwinter Christmas to break the monotony of winter.
Perhaps the pohukawa may be encouraged by the warmer temperatures to flower
for these celebrations.
Dorothy.
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