Reaffirmed All Blacks head coach Ian Foster congratulates NZ Rugby CEO Mark Robinson on helping to make an excellent decision. Photo / Alan Lee, Photosport
I wonder if all the scriptwriters who have been bagging Ian Foster will get off his case now he has been confirmed as All Black coach until the World Cup.
The first question would have to be, could they coach the team any better and achieve different results?
Second would have to be, is the coach responsible for all forward passes and dropped catches, all of which can contribute to a loss of possession?
Under the pressure of a fast-moving game, these can all contribute to losing the game and have nothing whatsoever to do with the coach.
Now Fossie has been confirmed, let's hope all these so-called experts hiding behind their pens will get in behind the coach and the team in their next games against Argentina and Australia.
Go the All Blacks.
Best China
Congratulations on a great editorial (Weekend Herald, August 13). We need to work with China and not succumb to the idea of holding China back.
China is today on a par with the US on the size of their economies and will outgrow the US based on its population of four times America.
Even at half of US GDP per capita, China will reach twice the size of the US economy. Almost all nations – including the US, Japan, Taiwan and Australia, as well as NZ - now have China as their main trading partner.
Lifting up to 500 million out of poverty is no mean feat. We all need to work together without military threats or unrealistic ambitions to dominate world affairs by any nation. Peace is a necessary criterium for prosperity. In the third millennium, surely we can find ways of peaceful co-existence.
Frank Olsson, Freemans Bay.
Facing the music
That takes the cake. What little respect I had for the Teachers Council has well and truly diminished after reading (Weekend Herald, August 13) about the outcome of a disciplinary hearing.
A teacher was disciplined for removing the earbuds of a student who was repeatedly asked to take them out. The student is deemed to have his well-being adversely affected and the teaching profession brought into disrepute. Really? What is this world coming to?
With all that is going on in teaching, this is the best my professional body can do? Teaching Council please stop wasting my money and bringing the teaching profession into disrepute. The teacher should have been applauded, not disciplined.
Chris Bayes, Torbay.
House proud
Jonathan Brownlee owns 51 houses (Weekend Herald, August 13) and good on him.
Had these been bought by first home buyers, it would reduce demand for rentals by 51 families - families that would create a stable environment for work, school and the community.
Jonathan and his like don't help productivity, and create more transient communities as renters come and go (often trashing the neighbourhood before they leave).
I do wish we had a law where you, your trust or interests could only span two properties.
It would create more stable communities and mum and dads could still have passive income during retirement and help those who don't want to grow roots in our neighbourhood.
Simply, the more houses available to owner-occupiers, the more stable our society will be.
And it would free up $20m of Brownlee's money to invest in manufacturing etc.
Randel Case, Bucklands Beach.
Floats my boat
As much as I admire the artistic brilliance of Colin McCahon's masterpiece The Canoe Tainui (Weekend Herald, August 13), I am afraid it doesn't hold a candle to my collection of Thomas Hoyne prints of American fishing schooners.
They are more colourful and show more action. Another bonus is they are a lot cheaper at $200 a print.
However, everyone's tastes differ.
Brian Cuthbert, Army Bay.
Fix is in
James Gregory (Weekend Herald, August 13) asks Fran O'Sullivan "what part of US democracy she feels needs fixing". The answer lies in Trump's refusal to accept the American people's democratic choice of voting him out and his demands of those in charge of counting the votes to alter their figures in his favour (thankfully quite a few of his Republican party members refused to be party to his illegal attempts to falsify the vote count in his favour). After failing to bribe officials in his favour, he stirred up his "proud boys" to storm the Capitol in the biggest anti-democratic action seen in the USA, in his last desperate bid to overturn the results of the voting.
Surely his actions fly in the face of the democracy the US prides itself on.
Tim Mitchell, Takapuna.
Mob mentality
As a former teacher at Mt Eden Remand, gang behaviour needs more than "the fear factor" or "punitive, blanket remedies" to reverse.
Dysfunctional families, poverty, a lack of education, mental health issues, good models and peer influence should be factored into the solution, including the role of reformed, ex-members as mentors for the very young recruits.
No matter what party is in power none has come up with an easy fix, nor with pinpoint law changes.
Paul Protheroe, Manurewa.
Hear hear, well said Sir Ted. All Black players, coaching and management, you have always had my support and loyalty and always will – win or lose. Kia kaha. Cherie Smith, Auckland Central.
Auckland Council's loss of $12m of ratepayers' money on public transport every month, purely in terms of running a business, reminds me of the adage that most councils or councillors would struggle to run a bath. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
Canvas Magazine (WH, Aug. 13) showed imagery that neatly summed up my fears of a National-led government. Two laughing men crossing the road holding throwaway coffee cups, carelessly walking towards climate change extinction. Samantha Cunningham, Henderson.
NZ Rugby boss Mark Robinson made Pontius Pilate look like a figure of strength; he should stand up to public opinion and back the coach until he either steps down or is fired. Peter Grace, Henderson.
Mark Robinson should play on the wing for the All Blacks – he is untouchable. Glenn Forsyth, Taupō.
New Zealand's A rugby team beat the South African B team. So what? Martin Adlington, Browns Bay.
One factor that stands out over Covid is how businesses are now inured to recruiting staff from overseas. Ellie Carruthers, Eden Terrace.
I am sure that, like myself, many landlords would accept a rent freeze, as long as there was also a rates freeze, a water charges freeze, an insurance premium freeze, a maintenance costs freeze and a tenancy laws changes freeze. David Stewart, St Heliers.
World Health Organisation is looking to re-name monkeypox because of racist overtones. I had no idea that monkeys were so annoyed. Richard Telford, Lucas Heights.
Benefit-bashing is a huge distraction. What these politicians know, but never admit, is that unemployment is a structural characteristic of capitalism, providing the conditions to keep suppressing wages and maximising profits. Paul Judge, Hamilton.
I can recall when bad storms were referred to as a "weather bomb". Now we have an "atmospheric river". A deluge by any other name. Ian Brady, Titirangi.
Aotearoa: Land of the long wet cloud. Graham Fleetwood, Botany Downs.
The agency will also offload 20% of its vacant land that's no longer needed.