The only thing worse than a whingeing Pom is a winning one

Oh the pain!
Watching the Kiwis being thumped by Great Britain in their tri-nations match in the early hours of Sunday morning in the presence of a Pommie friend was a fate worse than death
I mean how many times can you be reminded of a mounting scoreline without threatening to strangle the messenger.
Sure, flicking the off button on the television was tempting but then one never wants to be seen as a poor loser, does one?
So it was a case of sitting through to the bitter end and taking the medicine?huge doses of it! I know complacency shouldn't be an issue in any international no matter what the code but it was hard to escape the feeling that the Kiwis were just going through the motions.
A win and narrow loss to the Aussies and a good victory over the Brits in previous games saw them sent out warm favourites and they played like they thought winning was just a matter of course, that it would happen without them raising a sweat!
The hunger and vigour which had marked their previous performances was seldom seen and a British side which was always likely to improve as the tri-series progressed capitalised big time.
The end result of their 38-12 defeat is that the Kiwis might well be relegated to the positions of also-rans in the current tri-series.
Which would, of course, be disappointing to their army of fans but, in reality, would be nothing less than they deserve.
They had a royal opportunity in their latest game to seal a finals berth and they have only themselves to blame for blowing it.
On a personal note though I'm relieved I still have a chance to even things up with my Pommie mate.
Next weekend will see the All Blacks take on England at Twickenham and it's impossible to imagine anything other than a comprehensive AB's win.
No, I haven't overlooked the fact that England beat the Wallabies a couple of days ago.
But let's face it watching the current Wallabies outfit play and you'd expect basically every NPC first division provincial side in this country to give them a good run for their money.
By any international standards their front five in the forwards can be labelled "soft" and without the injured Stephen Larkham to run the backline at first-five they are like a ship without a rudder, or as someone said "headless chooks".
Much was being made after England's win about the strength of their front row and how they could possibly dominant the All Blacks at scrum time.
Forget it!
The difference between the Wallabies front rowers and the ABs front rowers is immense, and that's being kind.
In Hayman, Oliver or Mealamu and Woodcock the ABs will field a trio who will be relishing the opportunity to test the Poms, and whose determination to gain ascendancy will be heightened by all the gabble from the English press about their own side's scrummaging prowess.
And even if by some mischance England does break even in the scrums the probability is they will play fourth or fifth fiddle, at best, to the AB's in the looser phases of forward play, and in the backs where their lack of flair should be cruelly exposed.
A double figure winning margin to the ABs is the very least we can expect?.please!!!!