Shame on Manu, shame for Muliaina

Day 19 from Planet Rugby journalist Adam Kyriacou's day-by-day diary of his adventures in New Zealand at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

For something extra, Planet Rugby has jetted Adam Kyriacou across to New Zealand for him to scribe a day-by-day diary of the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

Follow Adam on Twitter: @PlanetRugbyAK

Day 19

It was always going to be an emotional day for a handful of reasons. As Martin Johnson summed it up so simply on Saturday, “One team goes home with a smile, the others it ends in tears.” For the Springboks and Pumas, the latter was ultimately their fate as low and behold we have the same last-four quartet as in 1987. Both semi-finals promise a lot but you have to wonder how much was taken out of Australia in their tackle-filled win. They go up against what is now looking like a largely 2011 Hurricanes backline of Piri Weepu, Aaron Cruden, Ma'a Nonu, Conrad Smith and Cory Jane. Who would have thought the struggling 'Canes would have such a large contingent in the black shirt. Hosea Gear to replace Mils Muliaina? It may still grow.

Tweet of the Day (Ulster fly-half Ian Humphreys) – Just watched repeat of Tigers v Quins from yesterday… Can't believe NZ aren't calling up Nick Evans…

News surfaced this morning of Manu Tuilagi jumping from a ferry and swimming the final stretch into Auckland harbour. I don't know about you but I am baffled about player behaviour at the 2011 World Cup. We have had a plethora of mishaps coming from the English, Cory Jane and Israel Dagg drinking 72 hours before a quarter-final and a Samoan swearing and whatnot on Twitter to name but a few. One has to feel for coach Johnno at the moment as his team are not making his life any easier following their exit. So will he jump ship or be pushed? Well if he's dealing with player idiocies such as this, it will come as no surprise if he walks. Richie McCaw and Graham Henry offered their own 'no more' vibe at the press conference late last night and so should all teams. It is a World Cup after all. Rant over.

2 – position Tonga's Kurt Morath currently lies in the World Cup points-scoring chart!

Jock Hobbs made his second on-field RWC appearance on Sunday as he presented Mils Muliaina with a similar cap to Richie McCaw in celebration of his 100 Test appearances for the All Blacks. Did you miss the centurion full-back's speech? Well you weren't the only one as Sky TV apparently cut away from Muliaina for adverts to 'fulfil their obligations as host broadcaster'. Cue a great deal of feathers being ruffled with Chiefs colleague Liam Messam tweeting “Wat the f*#* Sky, the man achieves a massive milestone and u don't even show it.”

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Day 1