48 Hours: Good news! We can hit a grandstand

There's been a theory doing the rounds for the past few years that New Zealand hookers couldn't hit a lake if they were standing in a rowboat.

That can now be dismissed as wild exaggeration.

At Waitakere Stadium, as the All Blacks gathered on Saturday in preparation for this month's internationals, the hookers were throwing balls from the ground into the grandstand with frightening accuracy. Going on the footage seen on the newsreels, backed up by a spy at the ground, we can confirm that not once did Keven Mealamu or Aled de Malmanche miss the grandstand.

The throwing in to mates in the grandstand trick is novel, certainly more far-sighted than throwing to men standing on ladders, though slightly less portable.

It could make life interesting on match day, too. Those ticketed in Row D in the main stand of New Plymouth's Yarrow Stadium should be advised to take their seats early on Saturday so they can snaffle a few two-handed takes. If De Malmanche gets the start, it would pay rows C through F to be on the alert. Don't bring a thermos.

There's a school of thought that the best way to practise throwing in to lineouts is to have two lines of up to seven men standing about a metre apart contesting for possession, the aim being to decide who you want to catch it and then try to get the ball to that man in the most direct way possible.

It's horribly old-fashioned thinking, though, and fiercely impractical. You simply can't gather that many men in one space when there are so many other KPIs that need attending to.

Like it or lump it, the lineout is going to be an enduring focus of the international season. Given what a weapon this set-piece has become for South African sides, the All Blacks cannot afford to flush the dunny and move on if they keep getting it wrong.

It's difficult to overstate just how dysfunctional this particular set-piece has become and how it has permeated all levels of New Zealand rugby.

At the recent England Sevens, New Zealand were holding on to a narrow lead late in the match when they received a penalty. They kicked deep into Samoan territory, flubbed the lineout and watched as the opposition ran the length of the field to take a lead they would not relinquish.

Saturday's televised 1st XV match between Christchurch Boys' High and St Bede's was also instructional. Chasing the game, CBHS, down 24-14, turned down kickable penalty after kickable penalty, opting instead for lineouts. Time and again they either threw it in crooked or St Bede's stole their ball. It was painful to watch, even if you could not have cared less who won.

It's unfair to blame schoolboys, though, especially when a scan of that ground revealed it did not have the most important of training facilities - a grandstand.

The 1st XV rugby was a decent watch in an otherwise fallow weekend. The commentary has become less full of hyperbole, which has made viewing it with the sound on an option, though it still too often crosses the line into fawning (we can take it as established now that schoolboy rugby has a "great tradition").

Otherwise there was some pretty dreary fare on the telly.

The All Whites-Slovenia match played out like you'd expect the last friendly before hopping on the plane to the World Cup to play out - like a glorified training exercise. Expect Mark Paston to join the chorus of those who think they don't make soccer balls like they used to after he shelled a goober in Maribor.

In fact, it was not a happy day for the keeper as Slovenia's other two goals came direct from free kicks.

With Glen Moss suspended for the first two matches and James Bannantyne short of big-match experience, the last thing Ricki Herbert needs is for his shot-stopper to have a crisis of confidence.

The decision concerning Tim Brown's availability has taken on extra significance also in the wake of Maribor.

Even taking into account the fact that the All Whites created enough chances to perhaps have sneaked a different result on a different day, they lacked any thrust through the midfield, the sort of foot-to-the-floor effort Brown gives you, even when he's not at the top of his game.

WEEKEND WINNER

Francesca Schiavone. Hats off to Wikipedia. Within minutes of winning the French Open tennis the top line in her entry read: "She is best known for winning the French Open in 2010, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles."

In fact, it is the only thing she is known for. The group hug she shared with her supporters at the end took post-match celebrations to a new level.

WHAT TO WATCH

The NRL judiciary. Let's look for the creative ways in which they manage to wangle Billy Slater and Jarryd Hayne off the hook this week.