All Blacks Dominate
Rugby season has kicked off in style & Australian Cricket is hot!
Australia and Wales draw, while the All Blacks thump England in the opening weekend of November. Meanwhile, Australia are firm favourites to retain the Cricket World Cup.
Rugby
It's that time of year again when the Southern Hemisphere tours the North and treats us to a whole month of scintillating, breathtaking and pulsating rugby action.
Last weekend was no exception.
Wales drew with Australia 29-29 at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. The Welsh looked dead and buried and managed to claw their way back into the match thanks to some awesome play from debutant James Hook, who replaced captain Stephen Jones in the first half. Hook, last season's Wales Under-21 fly-half, booted 13 points and defied relentless pressure on his young shoulders.
This result is fantastic for Wales, as they desperately try to regain their 2005 Grand Slam glory.
The other match of the weekend saw the New Zealand All Blacks return to their winning ways after losing to South Africa in the Tri-Nations. The Kiwi's thumped a young England side, 41-20 and hardly used their 4th and 5th gears that we know they have at their disposal.
The English did play well in parts, yet now slump into their 6th successive defeat... the road to World Cup retention looks all up hill.
This coming weekend sees the All Blacks take on France, South Africa are in Ireland, England meet the Argentinian Pumas, Australia play Italy, Scotland will enjoy Romania and the Welsh will have to face a brutal onslaught from the Pacific Islanders.
Cricket
The ICC Championship has come and gone with hardly a mention on Suite101. The Australians managed to clinch the title in a sensational final against the West Indies in Mumbai, India.
After 30 days of fighting it out, the two top teams, the defending champion West Indies and the current World Champions, Australia. met to decide which team will go into the World Cup next year as firm favorites.
In my opinion, these two teams could well meet again in the final of the World Cup next year, as the Caribbean hosts and the Canary Yellows will prove tough to beat given their current forms.
Australia won the match by 8 wickets under the Duckworth-Lewis method, as rain stopped play. The Australians were however firmly in front at that stage and were deserved winners.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) President Percy Sonn, said,
"Although world champions Australia came through to take the spoils, this was still a tournament that, more than any other in recent memory, illustrated the unpredictability of our great game.
"The formbook was turned upside-down on more than one occasion, and matches such as Pakistan's win over Sri Lanka, South Africa's great comeback against Pakistan and the West Indies' win over Australia in the group stages were illustrations of that.
"The ICC Champions Trophy also showed how fascinating one-day cricket can be when there is a balance between bat and ball and that balance helped define this tournament."
