Counterattack

Rugby has a proud history of sad excuses for even sadder performances, take your pick from classics such as cheating refs, over-arousal and food poisoning.

Well, the English have come up with a blinder for their flappy showing against the Welsh - overpreparation. According to Simon Barnes, a gentleman from the Times, those poor English millionaires have become overwhelmed by the time and money that has been lavished upon them. "Perhaps it is not the immensity of the prize that has undone them, perhaps instead it is the immensity of the preparation." Try that one during your next performance review.

* * *

The English win over Wales may not have consigned too many scoring records to the bin, but it did lift one bar a few notches higher. The Red Roses XV boasted the highest number of test caps of any international team ever. Their total of 704 beat the previous highest, also held by England when they beat the ABs in Wellington this year. Some would read that as experienced. Others might say clapped out.

* * *

Australia's Prime Minister, John Howard, met his British counterpart Tony Blair on Sunday in the intimate surroundings of the kitchen at 10 Downing St, where they discussed Iraq, Guantanamo Bay and rugby.

Mr Blair invited Mr Howard back to his residence after the morning's Remembrance Day ceremony, where Mr Howard laid a wreath at the cenotaph in Whitehall.

The pair of political opposites watched England's rugby World Cup quarter-final against Wales on the Blair family's second TV over a cuppa in the kitchen and then moved into the lounge room for some more serious talks.

* * *

From the victory from the jaws of defeat file: Fiji coup leader Major-General Sitiveni Rabuka believes his country beat Scotland last weekend. "Fiji won because they crossed the Scotland score line twice, while Scotland crossed ours once," Rabuka told the Fiji Sun.

Thirty years ago Rabuka was in the Fiji team that toured England and Wales. He was in Sydney to watch the match and said: "It was so sad to see Fiji lose that match because we were the better team." Rabuka gave a lengthy analysis of the reasons, despite being the better team, Fiji didn't win. They gave away too many penalties, were poor in the lineout, suffered from poor captaincy, bad decision-making, bad scrummaging, didn't get to the breakdown in time and were going over the top. But, as Rabuka insisted, they were still better.

* * *

What they're saying; "Like most of the Kiwis, who half the time look as if they're posing for photographers as they cross the line, Spencer is not short on confidence" - Tim Glover in the Independent.

Full World Cup coverage