Wallabies’ pecking order poser

RUGBY is very much the fourth sport in Australia, and a perfect illustration of how far down the pecking order it is occurred at the Wallaby hotel this week. Reserve hooker Saia Fainga’a boarded the elevator in his Wallaby tracksuit. A local man asked him in a broad Aussie accent: “Who do you play for, mate?”

FORMER All Blacks coach Graham Henry revealed a little about New Zealand’s approach to test rugby compared with most other teams. At times the Springboks and others are willing to accept losses as part of building towards World Cup success, but not the All Blacks. “If you’re coaching the All Blacks and don’t have a high winning percentage you won’t last,” Henry said. In 103 matches as coach his team won 84.5% of their games.

GOOD on Cheetahs captain Boom Prinsloo for trying to draw the sting from yet another biting incident in the aftermath of his team’s victory over Griquas last week. Griquas lock Rory Arnold was red-carded in the match and later banned for seven weeks for biting Cheetahs hooker Ethienne Reynecke. Said Prinsloo: “I don’t know what’s going on with all these incidents.

“I don’t know if these guys don’t get food at home.”

BOK training in Brisbane was held at the Anglican Grammar School, appropriately in the suburb of Churchie. While the squad was going through its paces coach Heyneke Meyer pointed out that at the school rugby practice on the adjacent field the boys were doing advanced breakdown drills. Meyer was impressed at the technical work such young players were exposed to, remarking that even top schools in SA didn’t have such clinical sessions.