Sacre bleu! The French have lost their imagination.The country that brought the world Impressionist painting, blue vein cheese and the Eiffel Tower found themselves bereft of ideas on Saturday night.Despite playing 63 minutes with a one-man advantage, Les Tricolours failed to fire a shot against a Welsh side without skipper and openside flanker Sam Warburton.Warburton, who has impressed throughout the tournament, was shown a red card by referee Alain Rolland in the seventeenth minute for a...

Mils Muliaina: 5/10Limited opportunities for the test centurion but showed the solidity that has been a hallmark of his previous 99 matches for the AB’s. Taken off as a precaution at the halfway mark. Cory Jane: 8/10Looked a threat all night on attack with several searing breaks. Linked up well with Piri Weepu when the halfback to chose to kick. All he needed was a try and it would have been a perfect night at the office for the slick winger.Conrad Smith: 6.5/10Kept pretty quiet on attack but...

It is a marquee quarter final. A game worthy of the semis, if not the grand final itself.  Unfortunately, on Sunday one of the powerhouses of world rugby will find themselves battered and bruised, their World Cup dream in tatters. Whether that team is Jake de Villiers’s Springboks or Robbie Deans’ Wallabies even they couldn’t tell you. These two sides are difficult to separate, simply because they are so different. The Africans favour a confrontational style, stemming from their hugely...

Test cricket in New Zealand is dead. Well, maybe not dead exactly but certainly flat on its back and in desperate need of mouth to mouth. Cricket attendances at all levels have been on the decline for years. The reason? A lack of suitable, purpose-built venues and the virtual non-existence of meaningful promotion on the part of NZC. The later is easily remedied by a few well-placed ads and reasonably priced tickets.  The venue question, however, needs some serious thought. Cricket is...