Loose Pass

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the Pacific Islands, servants of clubs and commercialism…

This week we will mostly be concerning ourselves with the Pacific Islands, servants of clubs and commercialism…

Never mind the fact that perhaps their hosts weren't at full strength or didn't play to potential, hats off to Fiji and Samoa this week.

Both sides came to their more illustrious and established hosts with a physicality, intensity and intent that cleared up any lingering notion that Islander teams will always be gallant losers.

Moreover, both played as a tight team unit as well. No longer was the indiscipline that used to undermine their efforts a serious problem, nor was the headlessness of the 'run from anywhere' spirit of their play evident. These were two well-coached, well-drilled, focussed teams. New Zealand 2011 just got a whole lot more interesting.
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Hats off to Joe Worsley. Our Editor sent through to me an email this week containing snippets of the press release from Wasps confirming Worsley was to make his 300th appearance for the club and embellished it with all sorts of exclamation marks of disbelief.

Well, firstly that's 300 for Wasps, but you can also add 77 caps for England into that total, along with a lone B&I Lions cap.

That's 378 games over 14 seasons, an average of 27 matches a season, an outstanding record for a player renowned for physicality in that most physical of positions in the modern game: the back-row.

On Sunday against London Irish, Worsley showed no sign of letting up, with a couple of monster hits as well as a crucial turnover which led to a killer try for his side.

Adding to that all is the fact he is a one-club man – he's been at Wasps since he was 16 – something to truly cherish in the modern era of souls for sale.

So hats off indeed for this significant benchmark. Rumour has it this might be his last season, but we are not betting against one more.
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We get a lot of mail about the haka, a lot of comments and sniping about Kiwi preciousness regarding the haka's safeguarding and the correct/incorrect responses to it on the pitch and blah blah blah…

Well, this week preciousness over the haka took a new twist as it was confirmed that the Ka Mate version – the traditional one the All Blacks have done for yonks – is to be trademarked by the Ngati Toa iwi and that permission for the All Blacks to continue using it is close.

Apparently, Ka Mate is said to have been performed by Ngati Toa chief Te Rauparaha after a Tuwharetoa woman saved his life by shielding him from enemies, thus making it intellectual property of the iwi.

The iwi said it would not try to limit the haka's cultural use, with the main intent of the application to end inappropriate use of it – such as, for example, printing it on a tea towel, which has apparently drawn the ire of the iwi.

Hmmm… we're certainly not going to wade into the argument for either side as it seems when it comes to the haka, nobody is ever culturally correct or factually right.

But firstly, we found it slightly amusing that a chant which virtually demands a good deal of gurning and sticking your tongue out as far as possible is deemed intellectual property, and secondly: for goodness' sake, permission? Is there no tradition that can simply be maintained without lawyers and marketeers picking over its bones and arguing irrelevant tosses?

As one lawyer in the case said: “It's something that's been in the public domain and something that people should be free to use without being afraid of a trademark infringement lawsuit.” Hear, hear.
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This column would not be complete without at least a cursory examination of the weekend's internationals beyond the Islanders' heroics, so here's a few one-liners to ponder:

Wales: What on earth were their instructions? To go out and run the ball? Ignore the scrum superiority? Keep the breakdowns free of bodies as possible? Against Fiji? That's what it looked like. So either the coaches got it horribly wrong or the players did not do as they were told. Either way, and even with a young side, Friday night was a catastrophe. Bad decisions all over the pitch and a lack of direction.

England, Australia, New Zealand, France: Job done, each to their own fashion. Onto the next Test.

South Africa: Stuart Dickinson and the Boks have never been bosom buddies, but it seemed a turning point in Saturday's clash was Victor Matfield's sneering dismissal of a ruling and refusal to play to the referee. The fact remains: South Africa's general decision-making was dreadful for much of the match – kicking from driving mauls is something even U16 teams are told not to do – and that cost them the game far more than the officiating.

Argentina: A return to the indiscipline of old. Had Jonathan Kaplan opted to be more heavy-handed and precise, France would have won at a canter.

Italy: The Azzurri have come as far as they can with the current squad.

Scotland: Congratulations! Resolve, concentration and in-match intelligence won them this game. It was a fine way to bounce back from last week's implosion.

Loose Pass compiled by Richard Anderson