Counterattack

Actor Sam Neill revealed that he had a hot and cold attitude to rugby when he represented New Zealand on Australia's Channel Seven.

Asked what qualifications he had to be on a panel discussing the game Neill remarked: "We all had to play when we were kids".

But there came a time when "I abandoned rugby for a while," he told rugbyheaven.smh.com.au.

The sport had become "a fairly dull game" and the effect of apartheid on the game turned him off. "I didn't come back to rugby until the 90s," he said, crediting Super 12 with the change of heart.

He labels the press treatment of Eddie Jones and George Gregan as "completely disgraceful" but it's "the kind of thing we're entirely used to in New Zealand", while the Kiwi expectation of All Blacks' victories is "an awful burden for a sportsman".

That was where the Wallabies had an advantage, he said, as "you're not responsible for the morale of the country".

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Top scientists believe they have come up with the secret to Jonny Wilkinson's success as a kicker.

The answer: KP CSP - (EnC(s+w+r+yn) + PsS(cr+sc+mt+xn) + PhS(cxtxw).

No wonder Wilkinson has been looking so dumbfounded at the cup.

The formula was devised by QinetiQ, a science and technology research organisation based in England after examining videos of the first-five eighth's phenomenal kicking ability.

KP stands for Kicking Prowess while CSP is for Closed Skill Performance, worked out by calculating Wilkinson's angle of approach to the ball, the speed of his run-up, his foot and ball placement and his kicking leg velocity.

The Environmental Conditions (EnC) Playing Surface + Wind + Rain + Other Factors (yn) + The Psychological State (PsS) Anxiety Produced by the Crowd + Score + Match Time + Other Factors (xn) The Physical/Physiological Status (PhS) Fatigue as a Factor of Time + Work Load.

According to the experts, the key to any sporting performance is the ability to control CSP while taking into account external factors - known as Sci-Q.

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Wallaby winger Wendell Sailor has revealed how the Australians prepared for their triumphant semifinal against the All Blacks.

In between tough training sessions at their Coffs Harbour camp, the players surfed, played computer games and indulged in a passion for watching soaps on television.

Sailor couldn't get enough. During the day he caught Days of Our Lives, The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.

"Then at night, I'll watch Neighbours and Home and Away."

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Float, the bar on Princes Wharf favoured by sports fans, was deserted yesterday afternoon as management wondered how many cancellations there would be for next weekend's final.

One of Float's managers, Nix Jaques, said downtown Auckland looked like a ghost town before Saturday night's game but the bar soon filled to overflowing.

"There was hope probably until 10 minutes from the end," she said yesterday.

In spite of the sombre faces after the game things would pick up she believed - "It's not long till Super 12 starts."

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The English fan abroad: In Sydney to cover the World Cup, Reuters journalist Jean Paul Couret was king hit and kneed in the groin as he got out of a taxi he'd shared with an England supporter - because he was French.

It gets worse.

Having offered to let the English tourist ride with him to their mutual destination - there was a large queue at the taxi rank - Couret had just paid the fare.

Instead of thanking him for his generosity, the brute left the Frenchman with a large bruise under his right eye and a cut above it that required stitching.