Reality check

First the mutton-chop sideburns, now the battle of the bulge. Could it be that out-of-favour first five-eighths Andrew Mehrtens has taken to heart coach John Mitchell's criticisms and is secretly bulking up in a bid to relaunch his stalled All Black career.

Word is the sidelined star ballooned out to more than 100kg, up to near prop proportions, from his Super 12 playing weight of 86kg.

The Canterbury Rugby Union is now trying to get its pound of flesh out of our top points-scorer in test rugby with a fitness regime that has slimmed the 30-year-old Mehrts down to 90kg.

"He's going to play, he's at training early, he's worked hard, he's lost nearly 10kg. He was over 100kg a little while ago," union spokeswoman Kim Triegaardt told the Weekend Herald. "The coach as well wants him to keep his head down and focus on his game."

Mehrtens will play in Canterbury's practice match against Southland tomorrow but is not in the starting lineup. Triegaardt says there is "nothing sinister" in that because everyone in the squad will get a run.

Sounds just the like the ABs.

But with the World Cup looming wouldn't it be nice to think that our best kicker might at least be recalled to the bench. After all, every star knows black is the most slimming colour.

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What is the world coming to? The bastion of spit-free footpaths has let a New Zealand company set up its first bungy jump, albeit the tamer reverse bungy (where you go up, not down).

Frontier Sports has had previous applications to set up in Singapore turned down when officials cited safety concerns. However, Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong now says bungy jumping will be permitted as part of efforts to encourage a "derring-do society".

It follows hard on the heels of the country's decision to allow dancing outside designated bar areas, including bar-tops.

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Bill Ralston spent his first week on the job in a blur of meetings. TVNZ's new head of news and current affairs, who left the state broadcaster yonks ago for a spot of gonzo journalism at TV3 before editing Metro magazine, trying talkback and being a columnist-at-large was, said a spokeswoman, now learning "the systems and what makes TVNZ tick".

His 300-strong news staff are yet to hear the changes he has in store despite his comments that One News and Sunday deserve a "rev-up".

"He has been so busy getting to grips with it all he has not even had a chance to duck out the door for a cigarette."

Or one of those long lunches he is famous for.

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Ill-health means Jonah Lomu is unlikely to be one of All Black coach John Mitchell's "building blocks" to the Rugby World Cup, but the winger's star status has put him on the wall of fame at Legoland headquarters in Windsor, England, with 70 other celebrities .

The blockbusting wing battling career-threatening kidney disease joins illustrious company, all of whose images are made of a mosaic of Lego bricks. Lomu lines up next to the late Queen singer Freddie Mercury, and above Mother Teresa and ET.

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