Sir John Kirwan in denial until end with poppycock

John Kirwan had every opportunity to produce a team in the same ballpark as the one Jamie Joseph is succeeding with. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Sir John Kirwan has talked nonsense to the end. Kirwan's analysis of his own performance contained the odd grain of reality in a silo of poppycock.

He has left a mess at the Blues for someone else to clean up but had the audacity to announce the franchise was heading in the right direction and is in the middle of a turnaround. This is like the captain of the Titanic claiming he was involved in pioneering underwater research.

We all know coaching is a stressful job, and can sympathise with Kirwan's sleepless nights. But that's all part of the deal in high-profile professional sport.

The height of Kirwan's gobbledygook came in the Benji Marshall affair, when his strategy was incomprehensible. Those are the sort of things he will be remembered for.

Kirwan has talked like a man in denial. He failed in every area, from talent spotting to retaining key people to building any discernible spirit. His performance has been made to look even worse by the Highlanders, who have stormed the Super Rugby castle with a pack that rates as reserve forces and two Kirwan rejects in a backline of stars.

In other words, Kirwan had every opportunity to produce a team in the same ballpark as the one Jamie Joseph is succeeding with.

I'm not even sure Kirwan jumped of his own free will. He seemed determined to hang on until Friday's slightly surprising announcement. Whatever, his farewell speech could have been something like this: "I screwed up. The fans and players deserved better. I'm sorry."

He would have departed with some dignity that way.

Let the ABs debate begin
Let the debate begin - we've finally got a list of All Black names to chew over. I'm celebrating the selection of Nehe Milner-Skudder, who lights up a game with his skill. Is Joe Moody rugby's international man of mystery? Moody gets very little game time for the Crusaders. But he's always in the All Black mix somewhere - even when he's not officially selected, Moody ends up at the training camps.

Retallick top of the locks
Brodie Retallick is well on the way to being our finest lock since Colin Meads. No wonder the Highlanders set out to distract him in Dunedin. He's as tough as it gets on the field, and can dominate games the way I remember Andy Haden doing it years ago.

What about Aaron Smith? He is already the best halfback we've had in the past 40-odd years, pipping Justin Marshall in his prime. Sid Going at his best was something to behold as well. But Smith is a machine with his passing and destroyed the Chiefs with his running.

Leaving Leitch out big mistake
Chiefs coach Dave Rennie got one selection wrong, and probably missed with another in the playoff game. Leaving Michael Leitch on the bench in the sudden death clash against the Highlanders was a big mistake, and the resulting lack of a specialist blindside led to the pivotal early try to Waisake Naholo. With Liam Messam re-inventing himself as a defensive/nuisance specialist, Leitch was the x-factor loosie and has been a big success story for the Chiefs. Leaving him out for the biggest game of the season was a ridiculous call and Leitch showed his worth when he made an early entry. The selection of the stoic Andrew Horrell at No10 didn't work too well either. He had no chemistry with Sonny Bill Williams, whose interrupted rugby career contributes to him drifting in and out of games.

Time for Tiger to call it quits
Tiger Woods surely thinks about quitting the golf tour. It's his life and if he wants to keep playing, fine. But his woeful performances are ugly to watch and read about. For a man to have scaled such heights to then play like a bozo must drive him crazy.

He turns up to each tournament talking the talk, and ends up walking the walk ... in scrub, behind trees, up hills. He's living up to his name - photos of Tiger playing these days look like they were taken on safari.

His collapse as a golfer is the most incomprehensible thing in sport, ever. He is the second greatest player of all time, and for a while looked like the greatest. He was untouchable. Yet the gallery was apparently laughing at his mishaps at the US Open. Hey Tiger, it's over.

Decent crowd makes difference
Funny how a stadium can look and feel so different with a decent crowd in. North Harbour's footy arena looked impressive for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup football final, where Serbia fended off tired legs to beat Brazil 2-1 in a dramatic finish. The crowd did the city and country proud, especially the bands of Serbian and Brazilian supporters. The spectator enthusiasm was great and made it excellent TV viewing.