Top rugby tantalisingly close to Korea

Well, at least that is what hundreds of Korea-based rugby fams thought as they boarded planes for this weekend's Bledisloe Cup match in Hong Kong. The first time that NZ and Oz have played this type of fixture outside their two countries and the magnificent stadium in HK, host to the world's best rugby sevens tournament, would surely be the perfect stage for these two great rugby nations to showcase rugby to Asia.

However, whether it was because the All Blacks had already beaten the Aussies twice or whether it was the pitch that cut up badly and made for some treacherous running conditions or whether it was some sleepy refereeing....it left the crowd feeling pretty irritated for much of the game.

This was definitely a game of two halves...in the first, the Australians scored a couple of tries through sloppy NZ defending and were pegged back steadily by Dan Carter's boot....which even on the off-day he was having performed slightly better than that of his opposite number Matt Giteau when it came to place kicking. Both missed kicks they would normally get with ease.

In the second half, the AB's changed tactic (or at least they introduced a second tactic since the first half consisted entirely of them launching high kicks too deep to the Aussie right wing and then defending as the Australians ran it back....and since the Aussies also seemed to have no game plan for this steady supply of easy possession on their ten yard line, both sets of supporters could be forgiven for wondering who'd been in the bars before the game, them or their heroes?). The step up produced immediate results and eventually, NZ sealed it when they also ran in a try down the right side. They had the extra numbers but the Australian defence helped them out by commiting their last three defenders to the same man....

The final whistle was something of a relief to all but the Australian supporters and the crowd quickly headed off for the real business of the weekend.

So, since the purpose of this exercise was to (i) showcase rugby, (ii) add supporters and sponsrs to NZ and Aussie rugby, (iii) boost the coffers of Oz, NZ and HK rugby unions and (iv) boost the local economy.....couldn't Seoul be persuaded to host something next year? With Seoul doing it's best to bring in tourists and with the KRW being so weak, it seems like a perfect opportunity for the Korean Rugby Union to talk Mayor Oh into putting his weight behind it...before the Japanese beat us to the punch!!