Inside knowledge tips scales to true blue-and-white

By CHRIS RATTUE

A little bit of inside knowledge never goes amiss.

And now this country's top rugby players criss-cross boundaries in the mixed-up world of Super 12 and NPC, there's more scope than ever for a bit of insider training.

When the Blues ignored Auckland's Keven Mealamu this year and instead selected the much larger units of Slade McFarland and Derren Witcombe, the Otahuhu hooker was sent into "enemy" territory at the Chiefs.

"I tried my very hardest at the Chiefs ... but I'm blue and white at heart," said the sharp running Mealamu after Auckland had beaten Waikato 40-28 in Saturday night's NPC grand final in Hamilton.

Mealamu's inside knowledge helped Auckland win the final.

At two lineouts stationed close to the Waikato line, he read Waikato's coded lineout calls and quickly told his jumpers where the ball was going.

On both occasions, Ali Williams disrupted opposing lock Keith Robinson's jump near the front.

In the 15th minute, Mealamu benefited by anticipating Robinson's loose tap back. The hooker grabbed the ball and drove over the line to give Auckland a 13-3 lead.

In the 43rd minute, the ball sailed over Robinson's impeded jump and low to Auckland captain Xavier Rush. He scooped the ball up quickly and stepped and drove superbly over the line to give Auckland a 25-16 lead.

Waikato lineout thrower Greg Smith said: "There were two key lineouts that went wrong. They read our calls. He [Mealamu] knew where our ball was going. Well done to him.

"Keith makes the calls and they were the ones the Chiefs use. They had worked for us all year ... but we hadn't given enough thought to the situation during the week."

Mealamu: "I think I might have known. They delayed, which gave me time to have a little think. I was looking at their body language ... the calls sounded familiar."

Auckland technical adviser Graham Henry added to the plot when he said: "We scored two tries from their five metre lineouts which we had practised against during the week. We put other people in as Waikato players and knew where they would go to in those lineouts."

The key lineout dramas added to the entangled careers of Mealamu and Smith, the Fijian captain.

Smith was denied a Super 12 contract this year - he played just one match as an injury replacement - largely because he is ineligible for New Zealand and the national hierarchy wanted Mealamu to be selected. The Chiefs have been negotiating the way clear for Smith to be considered for next season, while Mealamu is a certainty for the Blues this time.

While a beaming Mealamu talked proudly of winning his second NPC medal, and the extra satisfaction of being a starter rather than a replacement as he was in the 1999 final against Wellington, Smith looked a shattered figure.

Smith believed he had got underneath Mealamu and thus prevented his opponent's try, adding to his despondency.

"The guys are just sitting around the dressing room and no one is saying very much. I don't know what to say," said Smith.

Just five hours earlier and only 90 minutes' drive away, there was a similar mood in the Hawkes Bay dressing room after they lost the promotion-relegation match 37-21 to Bay of Plenty in Rotorua.

Hawkes Bay coach Kieran Keane was not sitting around saying nothing.

He shied away from commenting on Hawkes Bay's belief that the game should have been played in Napier, not wanting to make excuses for a loss.

But Keane didn't hold back as he contemplated the chances of keeping his team together, with few resources to ward off any raiding parties.

"The vultures will be hovering. The vultures and sharks will have a frenzy," said Keane, his eyes fixed on the ceiling in a look of resigned indignation.

"That's the ridiculous nature of the competition we are in.

"It is really hard when you spend all that time developing a team and someone can walk in and pull our team to bits. How do we stop them?"

He then railed against the New Zealand Rugby Football Union system that gives first-division teams $10,000 for each non-Super 12 player.

"Those funds seem to run out before it gets to us," he said.

Among those circling the Magpies squad may be Bay of Plenty.

Their coach, Vern Cotter, avoided rubbing salt into the wounds when asked if the Steamers might recruit some Magpies, whose forwards and former Otago halfback Donovan Hall impressed on Saturday.

However, Cotter is already certain that Hawkes Bay fullback Jacob Kennedy will be returning to Bay of Plenty colours next season.