Ireland down, Doug Howlett's Munster to go

It was another good day at the office for the All Blacks when they took on Ireland at the magical Croke park on Saturday night.

Not such a great night for Ireland who had hyped the game up quite considerably beforehand - which is not surprising as the talk-ups between test matches - particularly in the NH - seem to be part and parcel of tests nowadays.

Unlike the rest of the critical New Zealand rugby public, I thought the All Blacks showed a lot of heart. To restrict both Scotland and Ireland to tryless final scores says a lot about this team’s excellent defensive structure. And the backline looks exciting when it gets a bit of space.

Star player for me was Ma’a Nonu who made Brian O’Driscoll and co look ordinary. An easy looking fend flicked O’Gara into a green heap at one stage and the Wellington man ran some great lines – especially leading up to try he built with Joe Rokocoko.

New Zealand was a bit selfish when it came to releasing the ball. Particularly – and surprisingly – from Mils Muliaina. There were at least three passes that he didn’t release on potential overlaps and I’d like to think that will be picked up by the coaches and remedied come Cardiff. There’s no "I" in team Mils!

Meanwhile the All Blacks prepare for a midweek test against Doug Howlett’s Munster. Whether the Munster men will turn in a haka to challenge the Abs is anyone’s guess. I hope they do – it will make a good spectacle.

Highlights of the weekend

The polite Irish crowd remaining silent during the penalities - unlike us uncouth colonials who heckle and boo to our hearts content when the opposition kick for goal.

Australia taking it to England’s forward pack. Dingo Deans must be laughing smugly after the way the British media has harranged the Aussie scrum.

Lowlights

Ireland’s lack of guile, often getting pinged for offences when they were right in front of the ref. What was up with that?

Ireland taking up to five minutes to come onto the pitch before each half - keeping the crowd, the world and the other team waiting. Maybe a little prima donna-ish perhaps boys?

Why do the All Black coaches persist with Sivivatu?

So Graham Henry has announced the All Black team to face Ireland with a good thing being that Joe Rokocoko makes a return to the wing. However, I’m not so thrilled about the reselection of Sitiveni Sivivatu on the other. I mean, Why? The guy can’t defend for peanuts (several tries against the All Blacks this year have been directly related to him and his shoddy defence).

And if that wasn’t bad enough, has he scored any tries for the All Blacks for the whole of 2008? I mean, he’s meant to be a winger for one of the best backlines in the world for Pete’s sake. Declan Kidney’s Irish will be licking their lips I’m sure and no doubt there will be plenty of punts on the fact that several Irish bombs will be heading Sivivatu’s way come the weekend.

I’m not the only one that’s frustrated – here’s a very succinct letter to the editor in the DomPost in June from an equally exasperated fan, summing up Sivivatu’s capabilities quite well: “Hopelessly out of position in most of the games and his handling is dreadful. Apart from his burst of speed and the compromising photos he has of the selectors, there is not much there. C at best verging on D.”

Amen to that brother.

But for handling errors, bad defence, lack of positional nouse, not to mention poor sportsmanship, the main reason why he shouldn’t be in the team is more clear cut. He has a record in the courts of domestic violence. Ok – only once that we know of, and everyone deserves a chance of redemption right? No. Not when it comes to the All Blacks. His membership should have been stripped as soon as word came out that he had hit his wife. For a country that is drowning in the blood of its many domestic violence scandals, there should be no room for a person to represent the national team in what is supposedly the national sport.

He can seek his redemption out of the public eye as far as I’m concerned. Mud sticks