Dan Carter | Brett ‘committed To The Blues’

Blues coach Pat Lam says Stephen Brett will be his five-eighth next year despite speculation the Cantabrian is eyeing offshore options.

Lam was quick to quash that talk today, saying he had a guarantee from Brett that he would turn out at No 10 for the opening season of the expanded Super Rugby.

There had been suggestions that Brett could have an out clause in his contract that would allow him to move overseas if he didn’t make the All Blacks squad for the end of year tour.

Lam clarified that, saying Brett was committed to the Blues with his out-clause only coming into reckoning once the Super Rugby championship was finished next year. The All Blacks World Cup squad would be named then and the future of Brett and many players would be determined by that.

“I can guarantee now that Steve will be playing for the Blues in the first season of Super Rugby,” Lam told Radio Sport today.

“We had him for two year deal with an option after the first year. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and he signed for the second year.

“There are always offers for these guys … that’s no secret. The thing that holds them there is the All Blacks jersey and family.

“Steve is no different to anyone – they realise their career is only for a short period of time.

“With all this speculation he said to me, ‘coach I will be here for you next year’. I’m planning with security that I have a quality first five there.

“The hope is that he plays so well and makes the World Cup team and then he is here for the following year (2012).”

Lam did well to entice Brett north last season with Brett acknowledging the log-jam of talent in his positions at the Crusaders with superstar Dan Carter back on board and Colin Slade also there.

He played out a solid season for the Blues but still hasn’t been able to fight his way into the All Blacks.

He remains in the wider frame but has already been overtaken by Aaron Cruden, Mike Delany and Slade.

Slade has decided to move from the Crusaders as well to push his cause, signing with the Highlanders for next season in the hope of regular game time.

Slade has pushed ahead of Brett at Canterbury this year, filling the red and black No 10 jersey for most of the ITM Cup and earning himself a place on the All Blacks bench for last weekend’s Tri Nations win in Sydney.

Brett has the ability to comfortably play No 12 as well. But it’s his experience and playmaking abilities at first five that make him so attractive to Lam.

The Blues also have former Hawke’s Bay and Highlanders No 10 Mat Berquist now operating in their boundaries at Auckland.

It’s a ground-breaking time for New Zealand rugby as the Super Rugby franchises go into private contracting of players. It’s a transitional period initially with many of the leading players still on NZRU contracts that tie them to the Super Rugby sides.

But there are a number of free agents in the mix and Lam said there was a scramble to try to tie down those players.

“Everything is pretty strategic with the franchises right now,” he said.

The five New Zealand teams will operate 32-man squads. They can protect up to 28 players and then go to the draft to top up.

“It’s a longer season, bigger squads and exciting times,” Lam said.

As for taking on Argentine and other overseas players, Lam felt that would be something that would develop “further down the line”.

“You have to be very comfortable that they are better than what we already have here. If you are not sure, you need to back what you have at home.”

Lam said there was also the money component with star imports demanding “big dosh”.

“Is it worth that one player or using that dosh to bring through two or three here at home?”

The franchises meets with the All Blacks coaches next week to sort out some hot topics, most notably the likely rest of leading New Zealand players with an eye on the World Cup.

Dan Carter | Clean Energy’s Future Is A Bit Dim

Investors interested in America’s nascent, clean energy industry are looking for a long-term relationship. But clean energy experts say both the U.S. and Oregon look more like a one-night stand when it comes to long-term funding strategies for energy projects.

After the U.S. Senate this summer abandoned efforts to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill, clean energy proponents say Oregon’s chances of becoming a major player in the energy game are slimmer. A long-term funding strategy for building new clean energy projects and businesses in Oregon is needed for the industry’s survival, according to Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council.

A climate bill proposed this year by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would have put a price on carbon emissions, encouraging investment in cleaner energy sources by businesses and utilities.

“The fact that we didn’t put a price on carbon postponed the development of the industry,” Grott said. “Meanwhile China is putting massive investments and subsidies into renewables, regardless of a carbon tax. We will lose this industry if we don’t find a way to continue supporting it.”

China invested $36.4 billion in clean energy in 2009 while the U.S. invested only $18.6 billion, according to a report from American Businesses for Clean Energy. And two months after the U.S. abandoned its energy bill, the country lags more than $11 billion behind China and other nations in clean energy investments. China also recently overtook the U.S. to lead a quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable energy projects, according to a list compiled by Ernst & Young .

Oregon has had moderate success attracting clean energy investments, said Michael Upp, vice president of marketing for ClearEdge. The Hillsboro-based company manufactures a system that uses fuel cells to convert natural gas into electricity to power homes and small commercial buildings. Though ClearEdge has continued to grow in Oregon, Upp is disappointed by the state of tax credits and other incentives for clean energy development.

“I think the government could crank up the incentives,” Upp said. “If you look at the long-term economic benefit and carbon benefit of having more clean energy devices, it seems shortsighted to be decreasing these credits. The amount of money we have lost to China from our leadership with solar is sickening.”

Though many city governments in Oregon have adopted clean energy as a business growth strategy, Lisa Adatto, the state director of Climate Solutions, says Oregon isn’t meeting those goals with its current tool belt of energy incentives.

The state has experienced the most success helping clean energy projects with its Business Energy Tax Credit . But a year’s worth of cuts and tweaks to the tax credit, and uncertainty over what changes will be made to it in the future, weakened BETC’s allure to clean energy investors, Grott said.

“Although it may have seemed expensive in terms of the dollars and that it was taken advantage to a greater degree than expected, BETC had tremendous results,” Grott said. “In return for the money, we gained an industry.”

While the state’s renewable portfolio standard requires utilities to use renewable energy, only large wind projects are supported, Adatto said. Utilities are required to buy the renewable with the lowest price, which is wind. To ramp up investments in other clean energy sources, like solar, something else will have to be done.

“We’ve been successful with our renewable portfolio standard, Energy Trust of Oregon incentives and pilot feed-in tariff for solar,” Adatto said. “But we still aren’t meeting our goals. There’s more clean energy to be harvested here, so we must continue on with investments in that direction.”

One solution being explored by Adatto and Grott is the State Energy Loan Program. It’s funded through state bonds and offers low-interest loans for renewable energy projects. It doesn’t, however, provide loans for construction projects, for which renewable energy developers need the most assistance, Grott said. His group, along with a coalition of 15 other industry and economic development organizations are putting together a proposal to give the State Energy Loan Program more authority, and funding, to take risks on loans to clean energy projects.

“Construction loans are a key need in clean energy project development,” Grott said. “We plan to inform legislators of the economic benefits of a strong energy industry with the hope that the State Energy Loan Program can be improved.”

Grott and Adatto will be presenting their ideas to the 2011 Legislature. In the meantime, Grott hopes federal legislators will create a long-term plan to drive forward the country’s most promising industry.

“Our habit of only approving tax credits and incentives for two years at a time doesn’t help,” Grott said. “We’ve already started and abandoned our wind turbine industry to other countries. A national standard is ultimately what we need to maintain our share of this market.”

Dan Carter | Clean Energy’s Future Is A Bit Dim

Investors interested in America’s nascent, clean energy industry are looking for a long-term relationship. But clean energy experts say both the U.S. and Oregon look more like a one-night stand when it comes to long-term funding strategies for energy projects.

After the U.S. Senate this summer abandoned efforts to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill, clean energy proponents say Oregon’s chances of becoming a major player in the energy game are slimmer. A long-term funding strategy for building new clean energy projects and businesses in Oregon is needed for the industry’s survival, according to Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council.

A climate bill proposed this year by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would have put a price on carbon emissions, encouraging investment in cleaner energy sources by businesses and utilities.

“The fact that we didn’t put a price on carbon postponed the development of the industry,” Grott said. “Meanwhile China is putting massive investments and subsidies into renewables, regardless of a carbon tax. We will lose this industry if we don’t find a way to continue supporting it.”

China invested $36.4 billion in clean energy in 2009 while the U.S. invested only $18.6 billion, according to a report from American Businesses for Clean Energy. And two months after the U.S. abandoned its energy bill, the country lags more than $11 billion behind China and other nations in clean energy investments. China also recently overtook the U.S. to lead a quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable energy projects, according to a list compiled by Ernst & Young .

Oregon has had moderate success attracting clean energy investments, said Michael Upp, vice president of marketing for ClearEdge. The Hillsboro-based company manufactures a system that uses fuel cells to convert natural gas into electricity to power homes and small commercial buildings. Though ClearEdge has continued to grow in Oregon, Upp is disappointed by the state of tax credits and other incentives for clean energy development.

“I think the government could crank up the incentives,” Upp said. “If you look at the long-term economic benefit and carbon benefit of having more clean energy devices, it seems shortsighted to be decreasing these credits. The amount of money we have lost to China from our leadership with solar is sickening.”

Though many city governments in Oregon have adopted clean energy as a business growth strategy, Lisa Adatto, the state director of Climate Solutions, says Oregon isn’t meeting those goals with its current tool belt of energy incentives.

The state has experienced the most success helping clean energy projects with its Business Energy Tax Credit . But a year’s worth of cuts and tweaks to the tax credit, and uncertainty over what changes will be made to it in the future, weakened BETC’s allure to clean energy investors, Grott said.

“Although it may have seemed expensive in terms of the dollars and that it was taken advantage to a greater degree than expected, BETC had tremendous results,” Grott said. “In return for the money, we gained an industry.”

While the state’s renewable portfolio standard requires utilities to use renewable energy, only large wind projects are supported, Adatto said. Utilities are required to buy the renewable with the lowest price, which is wind. To ramp up investments in other clean energy sources, like solar, something else will have to be done.

“We’ve been successful with our renewable portfolio standard, Energy Trust of Oregon incentives and pilot feed-in tariff for solar,” Adatto said. “But we still aren’t meeting our goals. There’s more clean energy to be harvested here, so we must continue on with investments in that direction.”

One solution being explored by Adatto and Grott is the State Energy Loan Program. It’s funded through state bonds and offers low-interest loans for renewable energy projects. It doesn’t, however, provide loans for construction projects, for which renewable energy developers need the most assistance, Grott said. His group, along with a coalition of 15 other industry and economic development organizations are putting together a proposal to give the State Energy Loan Program more authority, and funding, to take risks on loans to clean energy projects.

“Construction loans are a key need in clean energy project development,” Grott said. “We plan to inform legislators of the economic benefits of a strong energy industry with the hope that the State Energy Loan Program can be improved.”

Grott and Adatto will be presenting their ideas to the 2011 Legislature. In the meantime, Grott hopes federal legislators will create a long-term plan to drive forward the country’s most promising industry.

“Our habit of only approving tax credits and incentives for two years at a time doesn’t help,” Grott said. “We’ve already started and abandoned our wind turbine industry to other countries. A national standard is ultimately what we need to maintain our share of this market.”

Dan Carter | Clean Energy’s Future Is A Bit Dim

Investors interested in America’s nascent, clean energy industry are looking for a long-term relationship. But clean energy experts say both the U.S. and Oregon look more like a one-night stand when it comes to long-term funding strategies for energy projects.

After the U.S. Senate this summer abandoned efforts to pass a comprehensive clean energy and climate bill, clean energy proponents say Oregon’s chances of becoming a major player in the energy game are slimmer. A long-term funding strategy for building new clean energy projects and businesses in Oregon is needed for the industry’s survival, according to Robert Grott, executive director of the Northwest Environmental Business Council.

A climate bill proposed this year by Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass, and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., would have put a price on carbon emissions, encouraging investment in cleaner energy sources by businesses and utilities.

“The fact that we didn’t put a price on carbon postponed the development of the industry,” Grott said. “Meanwhile China is putting massive investments and subsidies into renewables, regardless of a carbon tax. We will lose this industry if we don’t find a way to continue supporting it.”

China invested $36.4 billion in clean energy in 2009 while the U.S. invested only $18.6 billion, according to a report from American Businesses for Clean Energy. And two months after the U.S. abandoned its energy bill, the country lags more than $11 billion behind China and other nations in clean energy investments. China also recently overtook the U.S. to lead a quarterly index of the most attractive countries for renewable energy projects, according to a list compiled by Ernst & Young .

Oregon has had moderate success attracting clean energy investments, said Michael Upp, vice president of marketing for ClearEdge. The Hillsboro-based company manufactures a system that uses fuel cells to convert natural gas into electricity to power homes and small commercial buildings. Though ClearEdge has continued to grow in Oregon, Upp is disappointed by the state of tax credits and other incentives for clean energy development.

“I think the government could crank up the incentives,” Upp said. “If you look at the long-term economic benefit and carbon benefit of having more clean energy devices, it seems shortsighted to be decreasing these credits. The amount of money we have lost to China from our leadership with solar is sickening.”

Though many city governments in Oregon have adopted clean energy as a business growth strategy, Lisa Adatto, the state director of Climate Solutions, says Oregon isn’t meeting those goals with its current tool belt of energy incentives.

The state has experienced the most success helping clean energy projects with its Business Energy Tax Credit . But a year’s worth of cuts and tweaks to the tax credit, and uncertainty over what changes will be made to it in the future, weakened BETC’s allure to clean energy investors, Grott said.

“Although it may have seemed expensive in terms of the dollars and that it was taken advantage to a greater degree than expected, BETC had tremendous results,” Grott said. “In return for the money, we gained an industry.”

While the state’s renewable portfolio standard requires utilities to use renewable energy, only large wind projects are supported, Adatto said. Utilities are required to buy the renewable with the lowest price, which is wind. To ramp up investments in other clean energy sources, like solar, something else will have to be done.

“We’ve been successful with our renewable portfolio standard, Energy Trust of Oregon incentives and pilot feed-in tariff for solar,” Adatto said. “But we still aren’t meeting our goals. There’s more clean energy to be harvested here, so we must continue on with investments in that direction.”

One solution being explored by Adatto and Grott is the State Energy Loan Program. It’s funded through state bonds and offers low-interest loans for renewable energy projects. It doesn’t, however, provide loans for construction projects, for which renewable energy developers need the most assistance, Grott said. His group, along with a coalition of 15 other industry and economic development organizations are putting together a proposal to give the State Energy Loan Program more authority, and funding, to take risks on loans to clean energy projects.

“Construction loans are a key need in clean energy project development,” Grott said. “We plan to inform legislators of the economic benefits of a strong energy industry with the hope that the State Energy Loan Program can be improved.”

Grott and Adatto will be presenting their ideas to the 2011 Legislature. In the meantime, Grott hopes federal legislators will create a long-term plan to drive forward the country’s most promising industry.

“Our habit of only approving tax credits and incentives for two years at a time doesn’t help,” Grott said. “We’ve already started and abandoned our wind turbine industry to other countries. A national standard is ultimately what we need to maintain our share of this market.”

Dan Carter | Wallabies’ Wait Continues

With the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations already decided, one could have been forgiven for thinking this match had little riding on it. But this dead rubber was alive and kicking because of the desire of both sides to build momentum ahead of an even bigger piece of silverware being up for grabs on New Zealand soil in 12 months time.

Had Australia won we would have heard about the birth of a World Cup contender, a team who only lost to the All Blacks twice this season due to the absence of the suspended Quade Cooper and a failure to keep 15 men on the pitch. But the All Blacks’ historic 10th consecutive victory over their Trans-Tasman rivals instead confirmed that this is one of the most dominant groups ever assembled a year out from a World Cup.

That reputation certainly wasn’t strengthened through a quality performance at ANZ Stadium, but by the fact they earned victory without one. Where the Wallabies appear to need absolutely everything to go right for them if they are to achieve so much as one win over the All Blacks, their opponents can come into a match under strength and produce error-riddled and at times directionless rugby and still find themselves in front after 80 minutes.

For the second year in a row, the All Blacks secured a one-point win in Sydney, in a match that followed the now standard format of the Wallabies bursting out of the blocks before fading in the last 20 minutes. And in reality, had Matt Giteau brought his kicking boots, the Wallabies would have run out comfortable winners. The Aussies are inching ever closer to beating these opponents and it might lie in the back of Robbie Deans’ mind that their timing could be perfect if they finally turn the tide in 2011.

Graham Henry might have been preparing the excuses when Kurtley Beale kicked the Wallabies out to a 22-9 lead in the 60th minute. No Dan Carter, an early injury to Keven Mealamu, a slightly experimental selection; a loss in front of a massive crowd of over 70,000 parochial Aussies would not have had the All Blacks searching for the panic button. But they were able to flick the switch again, punishing Australia for not putting on more points during their dominance and for stopping their search for tries too early. Henry will be relishing the thought of what his team is capable of with Carter back at the helm and possibly even Sonny Bill Williams in the backline.

The Wallabies got off to a flying start and only Cory Jane’s desperate sideline tackle prevented Sydney boy Lachie Turner from scoring in the corner early on. Giteau slotted a penalty soon after but the difference between three points and five points could have been the difference at the end of the game.

Wallabies flanker David Pocock continued his one-man mission to wrestle momentum and the ball away from New Zealand with mixed results, he gave away three points when not rolling away but earned three when the All Blacks entered from the side in their over-eagerness to clear him out. His individual rivalry with Richie McCaw was again a fascinating subplot. The young Wallaby’s close-quarters exposure to McCaw has seen the All Blacks skipper’s leadership qualities rubbing off on him.

Aaron Cruden will be better off for his first start in Carter’s No.10 shirt. He showed his quality with ball in hand on several occasions but his tactical kicking will need to improve if he is to become a Test-quality fly-half. The All Blacks clearly missed Carter’s organisation at times, in particular when passes landed behind the backline and when Ma’a Nonu kicked aimlessly to allow the Wallabies backs to launch dangerous counterattacks.

Both coaches rang the changes from early in the second half as the visitors sought to swing momentum in their favour, and the hosts tried to keep it. Jerome Kaino was central to that period of the match, when the tide turned in favour of the All Blacks.

Deans will be desperate to pinpoint the reasons his team can’t seem to close out matches. For one, the Wallabies should play with a trailing mindset regardless of the scoreboard, and look to outscore opponents. Fly-half Quade Cooper, fresh from re-signing with the ARU through to the World Cup, looked to keep his side on the front foot in the early stages of the second and thrilled the crowd with a Harlem Globetrotters-worthy step and shimmy to whizz past Jane in broken play. He then abandoned the ball-in-hand strategy to opt for two tactical kicks – both of which he executed perfectly – but perhaps the way to beat the All Blacks is to force them to keep tackling.

But to be overly critical would be to miss the point – the Wallabies could and should have won this match. An old sporting adage says that every loss brings a team closer to victory. For Australia, the wait continues.

Dan Carter | The Sun-Herald’s Tri Nations Team Of The Tournament

The Sun-Herald and RugbyHeaven have combined to pick the best XV from the Tri Nations. New Zealand dominate with 11 positions while Richie McCaw has been moved to blindside to accommodate David Pocock and James O’Connor picked on the left wing.

15. Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)14. Cory Jane (New Zealand)13. Conrad Smith (New Zealand)12. Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)11. James O’Connor (Australia)10. Dan Carter (New Zealand)9. Will Genia (Australia)8. Kieren Read (New Zealand)7. David Pocock (Australia)6. Richie McCaw (New Zealand)5. Nathan Sharpe (Australia)4. Brad Thorn (New Zealand)3. Owen Franks (New Zealand)2. Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)1. Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Wallabies’ Wait Continues

With the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations already decided, one could have been forgiven for thinking this match had little riding on it. But this dead rubber was alive and kicking because of the desire of both sides to build momentum ahead of an even bigger piece of silverware being up for grabs on New Zealand soil in 12 months time.

Had Australia won we would have heard about the birth of a World Cup contender, a team who only lost to the All Blacks twice this season due to the absence of the suspended Quade Cooper and a failure to keep 15 men on the pitch. But the All Blacks’ historic 10th consecutive victory over their Trans-Tasman rivals instead confirmed that this is one of the most dominant groups ever assembled a year out from a World Cup.

That reputation certainly wasn’t strengthened through a quality performance at ANZ Stadium, but by the fact they earned victory without one. Where the Wallabies appear to need absolutely everything to go right for them if they are to achieve so much as one win over the All Blacks, their opponents can come into a match under strength and produce error-riddled and at times directionless rugby and still find themselves in front after 80 minutes.

For the second year in a row, the All Blacks secured a one-point win in Sydney, in a match that followed the now standard format of the Wallabies bursting out of the blocks before fading in the last 20 minutes. And in reality, had Matt Giteau brought his kicking boots, the Wallabies would have run out comfortable winners. The Aussies are inching ever closer to beating these opponents and it might lie in the back of Robbie Deans’ mind that their timing could be perfect if they finally turn the tide in 2011.

Graham Henry might have been preparing the excuses when Kurtley Beale kicked the Wallabies out to a 22-9 lead in the 60th minute. No Dan Carter, an early injury to Keven Mealamu, a slightly experimental selection; a loss in front of a massive crowd of over 70,000 parochial Aussies would not have had the All Blacks searching for the panic button. But they were able to flick the switch again, punishing Australia for not putting on more points during their dominance and for stopping their search for tries too early. Henry will be relishing the thought of what his team is capable of with Carter back at the helm and possibly even Sonny Bill Williams in the backline.

The Wallabies got off to a flying start and only Cory Jane’s desperate sideline tackle prevented Sydney boy Lachie Turner from scoring in the corner early on. Giteau slotted a penalty soon after but the difference between three points and five points could have been the difference at the end of the game.

Wallabies flanker David Pocock continued his one-man mission to wrestle momentum and the ball away from New Zealand with mixed results, he gave away three points when not rolling away but earned three when the All Blacks entered from the side in their over-eagerness to clear him out. His individual rivalry with Richie McCaw was again a fascinating subplot. The young Wallaby’s close-quarters exposure to McCaw has seen the All Blacks skipper’s leadership qualities rubbing off on him.

Aaron Cruden will be better off for his first start in Carter’s No.10 shirt. He showed his quality with ball in hand on several occasions but his tactical kicking will need to improve if he is to become a Test-quality fly-half. The All Blacks clearly missed Carter’s organisation at times, in particular when passes landed behind the backline and when Ma’a Nonu kicked aimlessly to allow the Wallabies backs to launch dangerous counterattacks.

Both coaches rang the changes from early in the second half as the visitors sought to swing momentum in their favour, and the hosts tried to keep it. Jerome Kaino was central to that period of the match, when the tide turned in favour of the All Blacks.

Deans will be desperate to pinpoint the reasons his team can’t seem to close out matches. For one, the Wallabies should play with a trailing mindset regardless of the scoreboard, and look to outscore opponents. Fly-half Quade Cooper, fresh from re-signing with the ARU through to the World Cup, looked to keep his side on the front foot in the early stages of the second and thrilled the crowd with a Harlem Globetrotters-worthy step and shimmy to whizz past Jane in broken play. He then abandoned the ball-in-hand strategy to opt for two tactical kicks – both of which he executed perfectly – but perhaps the way to beat the All Blacks is to force them to keep tackling.

But to be overly critical would be to miss the point – the Wallabies could and should have won this match. An old sporting adage says that every loss brings a team closer to victory. For Australia, the wait continues.

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Winning’s All About Timing

One year is a long time if you’re a child, as it represents a large proportion of your life. If you are a Chilean miner not expecting to see the sun again until Christmas time, it’s three times longer than eternity. But for a rugby team preparing for a World Cup, it can elapse as quickly as a swimmer’s tweet offends . . . in some ways at least.

This week’s Bledisloe Cup Test marked one year until kick-off for the 2011 World Cup and, after another demoralising loss, 23-22, to the All Blacks, for the Wallabies the World Cup can’t come quickly enough.

It was not demoralising from the perspective of how the Wallabies played. They were outstanding, and even dominated, in so many ways. They played with both courage and flair, they were deft and dogged, and they made us proud, but they would be hurting like hell.

At the end of the game, Sam Chisholm , a highly regarded and successful media executive and a New Zealander by birth, comforted me with the aphorism; “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” There’s a lot of truth in that.

A bad loser is not to be confused with a bad sport. Bad sportsmanship cannot be condoned but being a bad loser – especially where losing opens a wound that never heals and never stops teaching – is a prerequisite to being a winner. But losing slows the clock so that minutes feel like hours and hours, days, and before long it can seem like years ’til you have the opportunity to exact revenge.

Time may also move slowly for the All Blacks, though winners, as they exist in the shadow of the World Cup – 24 hours a day, for the next 360 odd days.

In a survey conducted two years ago across the Tasman, 95 per cent of New Zealanders and 99 per cent of rugby supporters were aware of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. At the same time leading up to the 2003 tournament in Sydney, only 40 per cent of Australians were aware of it. Perhaps the most revealing fact here is that a percentage of the New Zealand population aren’t rugby supporters . . . alternately they may not have understood the question.

A key tenet of NZ’s pitch to host the tournament was that their nation is a stadium of 4 million people. Now that amounts to a lot of attention on this All Black squad. That pressure will build as the Cup nears and with an increasing weight of evidence that the Wallabies are capable of winning the Webb Ellis trophy. But, as confirmed by their come-from-behind victory, the All Black’s record is imposing and compelling.

Francois Pienaar touts the World Cup as a four-month project. There is a lot of sense in that, as four months out you are more likely to understand the personnel at your disposal and the type of game you need to play.

But substantial work is required to position your team to capitalise on that four-month window.

Perhaps one of the most relevant skills is adaptability, for rarely does anything go exactly to plan. So how did the All Blacks adapt to life without five-eighth Dan Carter? For mine, while they escaped with a victory, this game demonstrated how vulnerable any team can be in the absence of a superstar.

Carter was missed from the first kick-off, in fact in four of the first five kick-offs, which were all collected by an unhurried Nathan Sharpe. These kicks were symbolic of replacement Aaron Cruden’s game, as the young man, of limited senior experience, understandably lacked the game sense and structure of Carter.

Carter would have changed the complexion of this match. Indeed, even Colin Slade did that when he replaced Cruden at the 60-minute mark, injecting the necessary cool-headedness to see the All Blacks home in the nick of time.

On the gold side of the field, it was hard to fault a Wallaby. Matt Giteau missed with four kicks and that ultimately proved the difference, but he contributed strongly.

The Wallaby forwards also competed effectively at the breakdown. Ben McCalman was particularly rugged, and with his lineout work and ball control at the base of the scrum, he has provided an excellent option at No. 8.

The most gut-wrenching aspect of this loss is that once again it happened in the final minutes of the Test after an all but match-winning lead had been built. While the relative speed of time may be variable, some things are not and one is the length of a rugby match – 80 minutes. As the Wallabies clock off for seven weeks before their next Test, Robbie Deans may be tempted to hand each of them a clock and charge them with the task of identifying exactly how long 80 minutes lasts . . . but something tells me they already know.

Dan Carter | Editorial: Brilliant, Dan Carter’s Injured

An injury to star first five-eighth Dan Carter is more evidence that things are coming together almost perfectly for the All Blacks just over a year out from the rugby World Cup.

Normally, if either Carter or the side’s other superstar, captain and loose forward Richie McCaw, goes down injured, the nation collectively holds its breath.

But Carter’s ankle surgery, which will keep him out of the game for eight weeks, will force the national selectors to try something different in the most key position on the field, one where New Zealand has a glaring lack of depth.

For the Bledisloe Cup game against Australia next month, in will step, almost certainly, Manawatu’s Aaron Cruden. His test career so far has hardly bothered the statisticians – it involves roughly 40 minutes off the bench in five tests.

Is he the man to kick us to glory next year in the last minute of the final? How would coach Graham Henry know without Carter’s timely break from the sport.

Trialling Cruden is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for the All Black faithful.

Without wanting to jinx our bid for the William Webb Ellis trophy (again), things could hardly be looking any better.

We have swept both the Tri-Nations and the Bledisloe Cup with four matches to go in both competitions; tweaks to the sport’s rules have worked in our favour and allowed Henry to implement an attractive brand of rugby that is winning back the spectators; and the core of the Kiwi team will be at its physical peak next year.

We don’t have many veterans struggling to hang on. With key men Andrew Hore, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Ali Williams and Richard Kahui still to come back into the mix, the competition for places next year will be explosive.

As well, the Springboks have a coach who can’t; the Aussies are our bunnies – we’re heading for 10 straight victories there. And don’t forget fate. The year 2011 will be the first time the country has hosted the event since the inaugural competition in 1987, which we won.

The redemption of Graham Henry could well be complete in 53 weeks. If it doesn’t happen this time, it may well never happen.

Dan Carter | ABs Options Key To Crusaders’ Super Selections

Pilots at fault in Air New Zealand crash – report

Huge storm bears down on New Zealand

Lost ring resurfaces… 40 years later

Death sentence appeal told Rush played ‘minor role’

Aussie locust plague is coming

Bond girl slams ‘piece of ass’ industry

Companies ‘shamed’ over staff treatment after quake

Kiwi dollar plunges as rates held steady

Man ‘in shock’ when police arrived at bloody apartment

Crucial information omitted in Garrett case

Dan Carter | Editorial: Brilliant, Dan Carter’s Injured

An injury to star first five-eighth Dan Carter is more evidence that things are coming together almost perfectly for the All Blacks just over a year out from the rugby World Cup.

Normally, if either Carter or the side’s other superstar, captain and loose forward Richie McCaw, goes down injured, the nation collectively holds its breath.

But Carter’s ankle surgery, which will keep him out of the game for eight weeks, will force the national selectors to try something different in the most key position on the field, one where New Zealand has a glaring lack of depth.

For the Bledisloe Cup game against Australia next month, in will step, almost certainly, Manawatu’s Aaron Cruden. His test career so far has hardly bothered the statisticians – it involves roughly 40 minutes off the bench in five tests.

Is he the man to kick us to glory next year in the last minute of the final? How would coach Graham Henry know without Carter’s timely break from the sport.

Trialling Cruden is one of the last pieces of the puzzle for the All Black faithful.

Without wanting to jinx our bid for the William Webb Ellis trophy (again), things could hardly be looking any better.

We have swept both the Tri-Nations and the Bledisloe Cup with four matches to go in both competitions; tweaks to the sport’s rules have worked in our favour and allowed Henry to implement an attractive brand of rugby that is winning back the spectators; and the core of the Kiwi team will be at its physical peak next year.

We don’t have many veterans struggling to hang on. With key men Andrew Hore, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Ali Williams and Richard Kahui still to come back into the mix, the competition for places next year will be explosive.

As well, the Springboks have a coach who can’t; the Aussies are our bunnies – we’re heading for 10 straight victories there. And don’t forget fate. The year 2011 will be the first time the country has hosted the event since the inaugural competition in 1987, which we won.

The redemption of Graham Henry could well be complete in 53 weeks. If it doesn’t happen this time, it may well never happen.

Dan Carter | Portland Urban Designers Take On Middle East

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, former president of the United Arab Emirates, transformed it from a sparsely populated desert to the fastest growing country in the world.

And for the past six years, Portland architecture firm Otak has kept alive Sheikh Zayed’s dream of a sustainable, thriving metropolis in the desert. For Portland urban designers Ben Bortolazzo and Martin Glastra van Loon, that means creating entire cities where today lies only sand.

“Sheikh Zayed took the country’s oil money and shared the wealth with the people,” Glastra van Loon said. “He emulated cities like Portland and Vancouver, B.C., for their walkability and livability. His vision of how a city should grow has been our guiding principle.”

Otak has performed more than 40 projects in the United Arab Emirates and has increased the number of employees in its Abu Dhabi office from two to 150. Work performed in the United Arab Emirates accounts for 25 percent of Otak’s revenue. And with the country’s population expected to double by 2030, a lot of work remains.

In Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates’ capital city, work barely keeps pace with demand. A sketch presented by a design team to government officials one week could be under construction the next. The city plans to invest billions of dollars on light rail, new resorts and live-in-ready communities.

But work is challenging. Designers are attempting to create walkable, sustainable cities where temperatures climb to 118 degrees. And while Portland designers are accustomed to public transportation, cities in the United Arab Emirates are just now getting bus service.

“You hear about the heat and humidity, but you don’t fully realize what it’s like until you get there,” Bortolazzo said. “A lot of attention must be paid to shading outdoor areas.”

Otak was tasked with revitalizing Wasat Al Madina, Abu Dhabi’s central business district, which had been built and rebuilt over the past 30 years. The designers, who aimed to preserve the area’s history, learned that a traditional head covering worn by men in the area could cool not only a man, but an entire city.

A qutra’s checkered pattern was reproduced in a shade canopy designed to cover a historic path leading from an ancient fort to the ocean in Wasat Al Madina. The checkered canopy has open and closed panels to shade the street while allowing cool breezes from the ocean to flow through. Designers also took inspiration from the crowded streets of ancient Arab cities long gone to keep streets cool.

“We’re creating a historic district that’s a modern interpretation of a historic Arab city,” Bortolazzo said. “We brought the urban blocks closer together to create narrow streets that are naturally shaded.”

Recreating cooling methods from ancient cities is only one part of the designers’ work. They are also designing move-in-ready cities. Otak’s master plan for North Wathba is to create a 128,000-person city in an unpopulated desert. The need to plan entire cities, Glastra van Loon said, is a result of a population boom. The number of United Arab Emirates residents is expected to increase from 1.2 million to 2.5 million by 2030.

“This is a self-contained city design with hospitals, schools, recreation and light rail,” Glastra van Loon said. “They’ve already run out of space in Abu Dhabi for development.”

Determining the scale of a city is the first step, Bortolazzo said. Designers tried to identify how many public spaces would fit in the city area.

And just because North Wathba will be somewhat landlocked doesn’t mean designers can’t take advantage of the sea breeze. Extensive micro-climate studies were performed to show how buildings should be oriented to receive the most breezes and the least sunlight.

After working in a place where money for public infrastructure seems to flow like water, the designers say it’s harrowing to return to Oregon, where public money is harder to come by.

“I feel so lucky to stay busy and employed during this time,” Bortolazzo said. “The public realm is the hardest place to carry forward money and ideals. The scale of this place, and the speed at which it’s moving, once you’re exposed to it (is) life-changing.”

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Winning’s All About Timing

One year is a long time if you’re a child, as it represents a large proportion of your life. If you are a Chilean miner not expecting to see the sun again until Christmas time, it’s three times longer than eternity. But for a rugby team preparing for a World Cup, it can elapse as quickly as a swimmer’s tweet offends . . . in some ways at least.

This week’s Bledisloe Cup Test marked one year until kick-off for the 2011 World Cup and, after another demoralising loss, 23-22, to the All Blacks, for the Wallabies the World Cup can’t come quickly enough.

It was not demoralising from the perspective of how the Wallabies played. They were outstanding, and even dominated, in so many ways. They played with both courage and flair, they were deft and dogged, and they made us proud, but they would be hurting like hell.

At the end of the game, Sam Chisholm , a highly regarded and successful media executive and a New Zealander by birth, comforted me with the aphorism; “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” There’s a lot of truth in that.

A bad loser is not to be confused with a bad sport. Bad sportsmanship cannot be condoned but being a bad loser – especially where losing opens a wound that never heals and never stops teaching – is a prerequisite to being a winner. But losing slows the clock so that minutes feel like hours and hours, days, and before long it can seem like years ’til you have the opportunity to exact revenge.

Time may also move slowly for the All Blacks, though winners, as they exist in the shadow of the World Cup – 24 hours a day, for the next 360 odd days.

In a survey conducted two years ago across the Tasman, 95 per cent of New Zealanders and 99 per cent of rugby supporters were aware of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. At the same time leading up to the 2003 tournament in Sydney, only 40 per cent of Australians were aware of it. Perhaps the most revealing fact here is that a percentage of the New Zealand population aren’t rugby supporters . . . alternately they may not have understood the question.

A key tenet of NZ’s pitch to host the tournament was that their nation is a stadium of 4 million people. Now that amounts to a lot of attention on this All Black squad. That pressure will build as the Cup nears and with an increasing weight of evidence that the Wallabies are capable of winning the Webb Ellis trophy. But, as confirmed by their come-from-behind victory, the All Black’s record is imposing and compelling.

Francois Pienaar touts the World Cup as a four-month project. There is a lot of sense in that, as four months out you are more likely to understand the personnel at your disposal and the type of game you need to play.

But substantial work is required to position your team to capitalise on that four-month window.

Perhaps one of the most relevant skills is adaptability, for rarely does anything go exactly to plan. So how did the All Blacks adapt to life without five-eighth Dan Carter? For mine, while they escaped with a victory, this game demonstrated how vulnerable any team can be in the absence of a superstar.

Carter was missed from the first kick-off, in fact in four of the first five kick-offs, which were all collected by an unhurried Nathan Sharpe. These kicks were symbolic of replacement Aaron Cruden’s game, as the young man, of limited senior experience, understandably lacked the game sense and structure of Carter.

Carter would have changed the complexion of this match. Indeed, even Colin Slade did that when he replaced Cruden at the 60-minute mark, injecting the necessary cool-headedness to see the All Blacks home in the nick of time.

On the gold side of the field, it was hard to fault a Wallaby. Matt Giteau missed with four kicks and that ultimately proved the difference, but he contributed strongly.

The Wallaby forwards also competed effectively at the breakdown. Ben McCalman was particularly rugged, and with his lineout work and ball control at the base of the scrum, he has provided an excellent option at No. 8.

The most gut-wrenching aspect of this loss is that once again it happened in the final minutes of the Test after an all but match-winning lead had been built. While the relative speed of time may be variable, some things are not and one is the length of a rugby match – 80 minutes. As the Wallabies clock off for seven weeks before their next Test, Robbie Deans may be tempted to hand each of them a clock and charge them with the task of identifying exactly how long 80 minutes lasts . . . but something tells me they already know.

Dan Carter | Revitalization Begins In Downtown Vancouver

The city of Vancouver, Wash., has grand plans to add 1 million square feet of commercial space along its waterfront and essentially create an area similar to the Pearl District over the next 15 years.

But Vancouver’s Downtown Association doesn’t want to see the city’s downtown lost in the shuffle. After spending six months with a consultant, the association now has a plan – and projects – to revitalize the historic district.

Michele Reeves, a Portland-based consultant, has spent much of this year connecting property owners, business owners and Vancouver city officials to start dialogue about how to improve downtown. And after a host of charrettes , walking tours of downtown and bus tours of many Portland districts, Reeves thinks Vancouver is ready to get to work.

“The problem connecting these groups is that the public sector likes documents and master plans, while the business and property owners like discussing ideas,” Reeves said. “My goal was to come in and create a forum that lets both take place.”

Last week, during her final presentation under contract with the downtown association, Reeves recommended three goals for the group to pursue over the coming year: creating better connectivity between downtown and Esther Short Park, improving maintenance of storefronts and street fronts, and further developing a community story about the history of downtown.

“The city can stay focused on planning out years in advance, but as an organization Vancouver’s Downtown Association can produce real change in a year, six months or even this month,” she said.

To better connect Esther Short Park, the association has worked out an agreement with the city to use city-owned Block 10 as a temporary park. The empty city block – located between Eighth Street and Columbia Street – separates the edge of downtown and Esther Short Park.

“The chain-link fence that surrounds the lot creates this really uninviting feeling as you leave downtown and head to the park,” said Lee Rafferty, executive director of Vancouver’s Downtown Association. “Considering the lot won’t be used for five years at the earliest, we decided to ask the city if we could take (the fence) down and maintain the lot.”

The association plans to raise money to add benches and landscaping. Street vendors will be allowed to dot the outside of the lot.

Another significant project on tap is the refurbishment of the Schofield Building at 600 Main St. The structure, originally constructed in the 1860s, is the oldest commercial building in Vancouver. It has been owned by the Schofield family since it was constructed.

“We’re going to start by removing all the plaster that has been added to the shell over the last century and restore the original brick that sits beneath,” said Ed Aschieris, third-generation owner of the building. “Then we will turn our attentions inside and build out 8,000 square feet of second-floor office space that was destroyed in a fire in the 1950s.”

The Schofield family also plans to restore a building it owns at McLoughlin Boulevard and Main Street. Beginning next month, four second-floor office spaces totaling nearly 4,000 square feet will be renovated, Aschieris said.

“This is going to be a great project because it will not only remind us of our family’s history, but the entire history of what downtown Vancouver was,” Aschieris said.

Also being revitalized this year is a restaurant space, at 800 Main St., that sat vacant for nearly a year. Reeves and the downtown association reached out to a group of Portland restaurateurs who are turning it into a sports bar.

In addition, Portland-based developer Aaron Jones will transform a building at Ninth Street and Washington Street into three retail spaces with upstairs apartments. Jones already has lease agreements signed that will bring in a new art gallery, a bakery and a small market.

Work will start on both projects in the coming months.

Reeves believes Vancouver’s historic downtown and the forthcoming commercial development can coexist.

“Your future is, and always will be, built around your history,” Reeves said. “For years, I believe Vancouver has been hiding its history, and it needs to be celebrated.”

Dan Carter | England Manager Martin Johnson Confident Of Matching New Zealand In Autumn Series

“When the guys get back together they know that they will have to play at Test-match intensity, with the right levels of execution, right from the start. But they’ve been to Australia and they’ve won. You don’t know what you know ’til you know it. It’s about experiencing things. This group has done that. They’ve seen it, they’ve felt it, they’ve played it.

“Getting close is one thing, getting over the line, whether it’s a one-point, three-point or 10-point margin, is a big step. We know that we can still improve but we didn’t feel that we were behind the pace of the game down there.”

Johnson acknowledges that the tempo and shape of the game has changed since the new law directives triggered a more expansive, ball-in-hand style. The southern-hemisphere countries have had longer to adapt to that way of playing through the Super 14 and Tri-Nations. Even so, Johnson does not feel that England have been disadvantaged.

“It’s not a news-flash, we’ve seen this coming,” said Johnson, emphasising that fitness levels are only part of the equation. “A great athlete is not always a great player. But our fitness did need to improve, and it has improved.”

The pace of matches in the opening two rounds of the Aviva Premiership has been a couple of notches above where it was 12 months ago. The new interpretations at the breakdown have been the catalyst for a different approach.

“That’s the sort of rugby you want to see played and is what you need to prepare for Test matches,” said Johnson, who will not have the squad at his disposal again until the last week of October.

New Zealand will limber up for a tour on which they could become the most successful side in the history of the game if they eclipse the 17 successive Test victories mark for elite nations set by New Zealand in 1965-69 and South Africa in 1997-98. They start by playing Australia in Hong Kong en route to Europe and open at Twickenham.

“It’s no bad thing to be playing them first up,” said Johnson, who has already seen injury potentially deprive him of London Irish flanker Steffon Armitage and Leicester fly-half Toby Flood for the autumn series. “We’ve got nine Tests between now and the World Cup warm-ups. Every minute will be precious.”

Meanwhile, former Wales back Gavin Henson has revealed that he wants to move from Ospreys until at least the end of the season.

He said: “I want to be somewhere new, where people are a little bit too respectful to ask about my business and just don’t know who I am… and just have a fresh club and see where I am rugby-wise. I’m a bit raw, to be honest.”

Henson has not played in 18 months. Wasps have strenuously denied that he has signed for them.

Reasons to be Fearful

Confidence The Kiwis have a lot of it, justifiably so after a run of 15 successive victories. They never believe that they are beaten: witness their dramatic hauling-in of South Africa and Australia in recent games with two tries in the last three minutes against the ‘Boks encapsulating that deep-rooted belief

Great Players in Key Positions Openside flanker Richie McCaw and fly-half Dan Carter are pre-eminent in world rugby. The All Blacks faltered without Carter in Sydney last weekend. McCaw, for all the claims of sharp practice laid against him at the breakdown, is the motor for the side, impossible to switch off.

Legacy The All Black sense of themselves runs deep, right back to the first ever tourists here, the Originals of 1905 or The Invincibles of 1924-25 (P32 W32). Upholding the honour of those who have gone before is passed down through the generations.

Coaching Just as with Clive Woodward in 2003, Graham Henry has been given another crack at winning a World Cup having failed three years ago in France. That continuity ought to count if only in eradicating previous errors.

The Haka? No, there is no reason to make a song and dance about a song and dance. Nor should the evocative black shirt give New Zealand an advantage. The opposition have to beat a rugby side, not supermen.

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Winning’s All About Timing

One year is a long time if you’re a child, as it represents a large proportion of your life. If you are a Chilean miner not expecting to see the sun again until Christmas time, it’s three times longer than eternity. But for a rugby team preparing for a World Cup, it can elapse as quickly as a swimmer’s tweet offends . . . in some ways at least.

This week’s Bledisloe Cup Test marked one year until kick-off for the 2011 World Cup and, after another demoralising loss, 23-22, to the All Blacks, for the Wallabies the World Cup can’t come quickly enough.

It was not demoralising from the perspective of how the Wallabies played. They were outstanding, and even dominated, in so many ways. They played with both courage and flair, they were deft and dogged, and they made us proud, but they would be hurting like hell.

At the end of the game, Sam Chisholm , a highly regarded and successful media executive and a New Zealander by birth, comforted me with the aphorism; “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” There’s a lot of truth in that.

A bad loser is not to be confused with a bad sport. Bad sportsmanship cannot be condoned but being a bad loser – especially where losing opens a wound that never heals and never stops teaching – is a prerequisite to being a winner. But losing slows the clock so that minutes feel like hours and hours, days, and before long it can seem like years ’til you have the opportunity to exact revenge.

Time may also move slowly for the All Blacks, though winners, as they exist in the shadow of the World Cup – 24 hours a day, for the next 360 odd days.

In a survey conducted two years ago across the Tasman, 95 per cent of New Zealanders and 99 per cent of rugby supporters were aware of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. At the same time leading up to the 2003 tournament in Sydney, only 40 per cent of Australians were aware of it. Perhaps the most revealing fact here is that a percentage of the New Zealand population aren’t rugby supporters . . . alternately they may not have understood the question.

A key tenet of NZ’s pitch to host the tournament was that their nation is a stadium of 4 million people. Now that amounts to a lot of attention on this All Black squad. That pressure will build as the Cup nears and with an increasing weight of evidence that the Wallabies are capable of winning the Webb Ellis trophy. But, as confirmed by their come-from-behind victory, the All Black’s record is imposing and compelling.

Francois Pienaar touts the World Cup as a four-month project. There is a lot of sense in that, as four months out you are more likely to understand the personnel at your disposal and the type of game you need to play.

But substantial work is required to position your team to capitalise on that four-month window.

Perhaps one of the most relevant skills is adaptability, for rarely does anything go exactly to plan. So how did the All Blacks adapt to life without five-eighth Dan Carter? For mine, while they escaped with a victory, this game demonstrated how vulnerable any team can be in the absence of a superstar.

Carter was missed from the first kick-off, in fact in four of the first five kick-offs, which were all collected by an unhurried Nathan Sharpe. These kicks were symbolic of replacement Aaron Cruden’s game, as the young man, of limited senior experience, understandably lacked the game sense and structure of Carter.

Carter would have changed the complexion of this match. Indeed, even Colin Slade did that when he replaced Cruden at the 60-minute mark, injecting the necessary cool-headedness to see the All Blacks home in the nick of time.

On the gold side of the field, it was hard to fault a Wallaby. Matt Giteau missed with four kicks and that ultimately proved the difference, but he contributed strongly.

The Wallaby forwards also competed effectively at the breakdown. Ben McCalman was particularly rugged, and with his lineout work and ball control at the base of the scrum, he has provided an excellent option at No. 8.

The most gut-wrenching aspect of this loss is that once again it happened in the final minutes of the Test after an all but match-winning lead had been built. While the relative speed of time may be variable, some things are not and one is the length of a rugby match – 80 minutes. As the Wallabies clock off for seven weeks before their next Test, Robbie Deans may be tempted to hand each of them a clock and charge them with the task of identifying exactly how long 80 minutes lasts . . . but something tells me they already know.

Dan Carter | Wallabies’ Wait Continues

With the Bledisloe Cup and Tri-Nations already decided, one could have been forgiven for thinking this match had little riding on it. But this dead rubber was alive and kicking because of the desire of both sides to build momentum ahead of an even bigger piece of silverware being up for grabs on New Zealand soil in 12 months time.

Had Australia won we would have heard about the birth of a World Cup contender, a team who only lost to the All Blacks twice this season due to the absence of the suspended Quade Cooper and a failure to keep 15 men on the pitch. But the All Blacks’ historic 10th consecutive victory over their Trans-Tasman rivals instead confirmed that this is one of the most dominant groups ever assembled a year out from a World Cup.

That reputation certainly wasn’t strengthened through a quality performance at ANZ Stadium, but by the fact they earned victory without one. Where the Wallabies appear to need absolutely everything to go right for them if they are to achieve so much as one win over the All Blacks, their opponents can come into a match under strength and produce error-riddled and at times directionless rugby and still find themselves in front after 80 minutes.

For the second year in a row, the All Blacks secured a one-point win in Sydney, in a match that followed the now standard format of the Wallabies bursting out of the blocks before fading in the last 20 minutes. And in reality, had Matt Giteau brought his kicking boots, the Wallabies would have run out comfortable winners. The Aussies are inching ever closer to beating these opponents and it might lie in the back of Robbie Deans’ mind that their timing could be perfect if they finally turn the tide in 2011.

Graham Henry might have been preparing the excuses when Kurtley Beale kicked the Wallabies out to a 22-9 lead in the 60th minute. No Dan Carter, an early injury to Keven Mealamu, a slightly experimental selection; a loss in front of a massive crowd of over 70,000 parochial Aussies would not have had the All Blacks searching for the panic button. But they were able to flick the switch again, punishing Australia for not putting on more points during their dominance and for stopping their search for tries too early. Henry will be relishing the thought of what his team is capable of with Carter back at the helm and possibly even Sonny Bill Williams in the backline.

The Wallabies got off to a flying start and only Cory Jane’s desperate sideline tackle prevented Sydney boy Lachie Turner from scoring in the corner early on. Giteau slotted a penalty soon after but the difference between three points and five points could have been the difference at the end of the game.

Wallabies flanker David Pocock continued his one-man mission to wrestle momentum and the ball away from New Zealand with mixed results, he gave away three points when not rolling away but earned three when the All Blacks entered from the side in their over-eagerness to clear him out. His individual rivalry with Richie McCaw was again a fascinating subplot. The young Wallaby’s close-quarters exposure to McCaw has seen the All Blacks skipper’s leadership qualities rubbing off on him.

Aaron Cruden will be better off for his first start in Carter’s No.10 shirt. He showed his quality with ball in hand on several occasions but his tactical kicking will need to improve if he is to become a Test-quality fly-half. The All Blacks clearly missed Carter’s organisation at times, in particular when passes landed behind the backline and when Ma’a Nonu kicked aimlessly to allow the Wallabies backs to launch dangerous counterattacks.

Both coaches rang the changes from early in the second half as the visitors sought to swing momentum in their favour, and the hosts tried to keep it. Jerome Kaino was central to that period of the match, when the tide turned in favour of the All Blacks.

Deans will be desperate to pinpoint the reasons his team can’t seem to close out matches. For one, the Wallabies should play with a trailing mindset regardless of the scoreboard, and look to outscore opponents. Fly-half Quade Cooper, fresh from re-signing with the ARU through to the World Cup, looked to keep his side on the front foot in the early stages of the second and thrilled the crowd with a Harlem Globetrotters-worthy step and shimmy to whizz past Jane in broken play. He then abandoned the ball-in-hand strategy to opt for two tactical kicks – both of which he executed perfectly – but perhaps the way to beat the All Blacks is to force them to keep tackling.

But to be overly critical would be to miss the point – the Wallabies could and should have won this match. An old sporting adage says that every loss brings a team closer to victory. For Australia, the wait continues.

Dan Carter | Winning’s All About Timing

One year is a long time if you’re a child, as it represents a large proportion of your life. If you are a Chilean miner not expecting to see the sun again until Christmas time, it’s three times longer than eternity. But for a rugby team preparing for a World Cup, it can elapse as quickly as a swimmer’s tweet offends . . . in some ways at least.

This week’s Bledisloe Cup Test marked one year until kick-off for the 2011 World Cup and, after another demoralising loss, 23-22, to the All Blacks, for the Wallabies the World Cup can’t come quickly enough.

It was not demoralising from the perspective of how the Wallabies played. They were outstanding, and even dominated, in so many ways. They played with both courage and flair, they were deft and dogged, and they made us proud, but they would be hurting like hell.

At the end of the game, Sam Chisholm , a highly regarded and successful media executive and a New Zealander by birth, comforted me with the aphorism; “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” There’s a lot of truth in that.

A bad loser is not to be confused with a bad sport. Bad sportsmanship cannot be condoned but being a bad loser – especially where losing opens a wound that never heals and never stops teaching – is a prerequisite to being a winner. But losing slows the clock so that minutes feel like hours and hours, days, and before long it can seem like years ’til you have the opportunity to exact revenge.

Time may also move slowly for the All Blacks, though winners, as they exist in the shadow of the World Cup – 24 hours a day, for the next 360 odd days.

In a survey conducted two years ago across the Tasman, 95 per cent of New Zealanders and 99 per cent of rugby supporters were aware of the 2011 Rugby World Cup. At the same time leading up to the 2003 tournament in Sydney, only 40 per cent of Australians were aware of it. Perhaps the most revealing fact here is that a percentage of the New Zealand population aren’t rugby supporters . . . alternately they may not have understood the question.

A key tenet of NZ’s pitch to host the tournament was that their nation is a stadium of 4 million people. Now that amounts to a lot of attention on this All Black squad. That pressure will build as the Cup nears and with an increasing weight of evidence that the Wallabies are capable of winning the Webb Ellis trophy. But, as confirmed by their come-from-behind victory, the All Black’s record is imposing and compelling.

Francois Pienaar touts the World Cup as a four-month project. There is a lot of sense in that, as four months out you are more likely to understand the personnel at your disposal and the type of game you need to play.

But substantial work is required to position your team to capitalise on that four-month window.

Perhaps one of the most relevant skills is adaptability, for rarely does anything go exactly to plan. So how did the All Blacks adapt to life without five-eighth Dan Carter? For mine, while they escaped with a victory, this game demonstrated how vulnerable any team can be in the absence of a superstar.

Carter was missed from the first kick-off, in fact in four of the first five kick-offs, which were all collected by an unhurried Nathan Sharpe. These kicks were symbolic of replacement Aaron Cruden’s game, as the young man, of limited senior experience, understandably lacked the game sense and structure of Carter.

Carter would have changed the complexion of this match. Indeed, even Colin Slade did that when he replaced Cruden at the 60-minute mark, injecting the necessary cool-headedness to see the All Blacks home in the nick of time.

On the gold side of the field, it was hard to fault a Wallaby. Matt Giteau missed with four kicks and that ultimately proved the difference, but he contributed strongly.

The Wallaby forwards also competed effectively at the breakdown. Ben McCalman was particularly rugged, and with his lineout work and ball control at the base of the scrum, he has provided an excellent option at No. 8.

The most gut-wrenching aspect of this loss is that once again it happened in the final minutes of the Test after an all but match-winning lead had been built. While the relative speed of time may be variable, some things are not and one is the length of a rugby match – 80 minutes. As the Wallabies clock off for seven weeks before their next Test, Robbie Deans may be tempted to hand each of them a clock and charge them with the task of identifying exactly how long 80 minutes lasts . . . but something tells me they already know.

Dan Carter | The Sun-Herald’s Tri Nations Team Of The Tournament

The Sun-Herald and RugbyHeaven have combined to pick the best XV from the Tri Nations. New Zealand dominate with 11 positions while Richie McCaw has been moved to blindside to accommodate David Pocock and James O’Connor picked on the left wing.

15. Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)14. Cory Jane (New Zealand)13. Conrad Smith (New Zealand)12. Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)11. James O’Connor (Australia)10. Dan Carter (New Zealand)9. Will Genia (Australia)8. Kieren Read (New Zealand)7. David Pocock (Australia)6. Richie McCaw (New Zealand)5. Nathan Sharpe (Australia)4. Brad Thorn (New Zealand)3. Owen Franks (New Zealand)2. Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)1. Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Balanced All Blacks Side Ticking All The Boxes

With the 2010 Steinlager Series and the 2010 Investec Tri Nations now completed, it would be a harsh critic to pick an aspect of the All Blacks game that would not bear close inspection under the microscope.

It began in Christchurch where the Wallabies came out on top in regards to possession and most statistics, but an uncompromising All Blacks team shut down the game to win.

Here further aspects of growth were revealed.

The ability to back up a very impressive attacking game with a defensive mettle as polished as their offense, and the capacity to switch their on-field tactics throughout the test as the team saw fit.

In Soweto and Sydney that was further accentuated by an iron like composure that never saw heads drop or belief waver.

These All Blacks, especially under Graham Henry, have had strengths and attributes that have allowed them to record a winning percentage over seven years of 86 percent.

But areas that could have been pinpointed as weaknesses are fading with each impressive outing, with each victory showing as Henry says “character, character and more character”.

Their recent victories, come from behind wins after trailing both the Springboks and the Wallabies for most of the tests, would be most pleasing not so much for the art of winning against all odds, triumphing even when they have struggled to find their rhythm.

They are pleasing as they show that this All Blacks team is still growing.

And clearly very far from peaking as was claimed earlier in the Tri Nations.

However this All Blacks team, now the most experienced New Zealand test side in history, has strengths beyond their game.

The selection of a front line test XV has finally become a reality for Henry, who for years almost had too much depth at his disposal.

The blend of the current squad is superb, with all test veterans showing their worth, even despite some – such as Dan Carter, Mils Muliaina and Ma’a Nonu – coming into the test environment with little match fitness.

Youth is playing its part as well.

Cruden will be a far better player for his harsh Sydney starting run, while players like Israel Dagg, Sam Whitelock and Victor Vito all look like they belong.

Even Colin Slade, the newest All Blacks debutant, showed that he was not out of depth in a high pressure test environment.

And to think, a host of returning players enter the fray in the coming months to remind the selectors of their worth.

In some respects the All Blacks are on a hiding to nothing from here, for as former World Cup winning captain David Kirk explained, if this just completed Tri Nations was the World Cup, New Zealand probably would have won easily.

Now they have to strike that careful balance to ensure that they keep ahead of a pack that will strive to close the gap with each coming month.

The Wallabies showed their improvement, losing by decreasing 21, 10 and 1 point margins.

The All Blacks have a Grand Slam tour beckoning, yet despite the importance of such a high profile British and Irish schedule, a tournament kicking off September next year will now occupy the thoughts of all major test nations.

Key players will need some recuperating, depth will want to be developed, and tactics will want to be further honed.

The All Blacks took the game by the scruff of the neck this year, and a large part of that success has come from getting a jump on their opponents with a more cerebral understanding of the new law interpretations.

But the Springboks have shown that a lot can change in a year.

Their game ruled all and sundry last season, while it is the All Blacks who have remained the pacesetters so far.

The pride of the North will now eagerly await the three SANZAR sides in varying scales of personal development.

As the professional era has shown, the three big Southern sides often hit their end of year tours a step or two ahead of their hemispherical rivals simply because they have been battle hardened in the Tri Nations.

We shall soon see how much France, England and co have learned from watching the All Blacks and co run rampant in a tournament that saw 52 tries scored by all sides, with Richie McCaw and his men again revolutionising an always changing rugby landscape.

Dan Carter | ITM Cup Preview: Waikato Vs Southland

Waikato vs Southland; 7:35pm in Hamilton

Last clash: Southland beat Waikato 16-6 inInvercargill (Round 1, 2009) TAB: Waikato $1.75, Southland $2.00

How Waikato managed to gift Hawke’s Bay a draw last Saturdaycould only be solved by the CSI: Hamilton team. Even as theMooloos tired in the second half they were still in control on thescoreboard.

Coach Chris Gibbes will therefore demand an 80 minute efforttonight& and if he doesn’t get it Waikato will suffer worsethan a draw against the high-flying Stags.

Gibbes has made just one change to his starting XV withsuper-striding Fiijan Dominiko Waqaniburotu more than deserving hispromotion to starting lock.

Of more intrigue is the inclusion on the bench of former AllBlack Stephen Donald who rejoins the rugby fray for the first timesince injuring himself the day before Aaron Cruden was anointed asDan Carter’s understudy.

How many minutes Donald gets off the bench, and whether it’senough to ultimately displace the smooth-sailing Trent Renata, willbe a feature of tonight’s match.

Southland run out unchanged in the first of their twoconsecutive Thursday night matches. Next week they defend theRanfurly Shield against Auckland; and it’s with that in mind theTAB have perhaps made the Stags underdogs.

But Southland’s resources and desire extend beyond holding ontothe Log o’ Wood. It’s clear to all that this team want toclaim the ITM Cup as well as retain the Shield.

There has been a 22-man dedication shown by Southland thisseason. And while names like Kendrick Lynn, Tim Boys and JoshBekhuis might not have Super rugby coaches scrambling for theirsignature it is players like these that have put the Stagsjoint-top of the table.

Key: Both provinces pride themselves on playinga no-nonsense brand of provincial rugby; and opposing props NathanWhite and Jamie Mackintosh epitomise that more than anyother. Whichever of the two can get the upper-hand at scrumtime will put their team in with a grand chance of winning atightly-contested encounter.

Verdict: Southland

Waikato: Sosene Anesi, Tim Mikkelson, SaveTokula, Christian Lealiifano, Dwayne Sweeney, Trent Renata, BrendonLeonard; Liam Messam, Zac Hohneck, Jack Lam, Dominiko Waqaniburotu,Toby Lynn, Nathan White, Aled de Malmanche, Toby Smith. Reserves: Vern Kamo, Ben May, Romana Graham, Alex Bradley, TaweraKerr-Barlow, Stephen Donald, Henry Speight

Southland: Glen Horton, Tony Koonwaiyou,Kendrick Lynn, Matt Saunders, James Paterson, Robbie Robinson,Scott Cowan; Kane Thompson, Tim Boys, John Hardie, Joe Tuinneau,Josh Bekhuis, Chris King, Jason Rutledge, Jamie Mackintosh. Reserves: Brayden Mitchell, Nick Barrett, Alex Ryan/Hua Tamariki,Dion Bates, Sonny Rangitoheriri, Sminar Manu, Mark Wells

Dan Carter | Rugby: Carter Heir Returns From Wilderness

It was little more than a year ago when the All Blacks’ first five-eighths pecking order seemed set.

Sabbaticals and Achilles injuries aside, Dan Carter was the king and Stephen Donald his heir apparent.

Things have changed. Since the 2009 Tri-Nations, Donald has had to contend with a challenge from Chiefs teammate Mike Delany on the end-of-year tour, a dramatic loss of form during the Super 14 that saw his name missing from the June internationals, and a chest injury that has prevented any involvement in the ITM Cup.

Until now. Donald has been named on the bench for tonight’s game against high-flying Southland.

“Stephen has come through his injury rehab really well. He has been working with both Chiefs and Waikato trainers and he’s itching to get back on the field,” coach Chris Gibbes said.

In the past couple of months Donald has seen his name slip below Aaron Cruden and Colin Slade. In all likelihood, he now sits in a group looking up that includes Delany and Canterbury’s Stephen Brett.

Donald, 27, does not have long to push his case for a spot on the end-of-year tour, but a strong finish to the campaign would serve two purposes: it would keep his name from slipping completely of the All Blacks’ radar and it would help Waikato in their quest for an NPC title to sit alongside those won in 2006 and 1992.

It is a measure of how tight it is at the top of the ladder that if Waikato, in sixth, were to win scoring four tries while denying Southland a bonus point, they would leapfrog the Ranfurly Shield holders, who sit second.

Scoring four tries against Southland is no mean feat. In seven matches they have conceded 12, including three dubious efforts in one match against Hawkes Bay.

North Harbour scored three last week and Manawatu two in week one, but really it is only Northland, who scored four in week six, who have made any damaging dents in the Southland defensive shield.

“Defensively Southland are very strong and they put a lot of pressure on teams so we need a strong set piece and ball carries on attack,” Gibbes said.

More ominously, Southland recovered their try-scoring touch when torching Harbour last weekend.

WAIKATO v SOUTHLAND

Sosene AnesiTim MikkelsonSave TokulaChristian LealiifanoDwayne SweeneyTrent RenataBrendon LeonardLiam MessamZak HohneckJack LamD. WaqaniburotuToby LynnNathan White (c)A. de MalmancheToby Smith

Waikato reserves: Vern Kamo, Ben May, Romana Graham, Alex Bradley, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Stephen Donald, Henry Speight.

Glen HortonTony KoonwaiyouKendrick LynnMatt SaundersJames PatersonRobbie RobinsonScott CowanKane ThompsonTim BoysJohn HardieJoe TuineauJosh BekhuisChris KingJason RutledgeJamie Mackintosh

Southland reserves: Brayden Mitchell, Nick Barrett, Alex Ryan, Dion Bates, Sonny Rangitoheriri, Seminar Manu, Mark Wells.

Dan Carter | ‘We Got Sonny On The Cheap’

Rebel Sport says it got a bargain by being first out of the blocks to sign an ad campaign deal with rugby star Sonny Bill Williams.

The first of six television ads using former league player Williams has just started running in the lead-up to Christmas.

Rebel Sport boss Rod Duke said he understood Williams was about to announce a major deal with another brand. Rebel Sport, which is part of the Briscoe Group, got “fabulous value” in its agreement with Williams.

“It’s nowhere near what you might think it’s worth. It’s on air for a limited time frame and Sonny Bill was not doing too much else,” Duke said.

“We thought it was fabulous value.

“My mail is that he is about to sign a very lucrative contract with a brand – once that happens he would have been out of bounds for us.”

Rebel has used bruising French rugby player Sebastien (“the Caveman”) Chabal and boxer David Tua in previous campaigns. It was using Williams for similar reasons.

The first three of the ads were shot in Auckland on the day of the earthquake which hit Christchurch, where Williams is based.

It meant Williams had to be flown to Wellington by helicopter before catching a flight to Auckland because Christchurch Airport was closed for much of the day.

The remaining ads will be filmed this week.

While the jury remains out on whether the former league star can make the grade in top level rugby, brand expert Brian Richards says New Zealand can expect to see much more of Williams and other rugby stars in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup.

Williams was a good fit for Rebel Sport.

“I think it is reflective of family brands. I would say it’s a good move from their point of view because Rebel does represent family,” Richards said.

If Williams was able to prove himself as an international rugby player his value would be enhanced.

“Without disclosing the numbers I know what Dan Carter can command now and it’s no mean feat.”

In its half-year result Briscoe said Rebel Sport sales increased 4.47 per cent from $59.25 million to $61.90 million.

Duke said the high profile events such as the soccer World Cup and the All Blacks successful Tri-Nations campaign had helped boost apparel sales which had been dented by a late start to winter.

Dan Carter | Oregon’s Wood Certification Goes Against The Grain

The term “green forest” might seem redundant. But as demand for sustainable buildings increases, more landowners want green certifications for the timber used in them.

The Oregon state forester is lobbying for more sustainable forestry certifications that would earn points under the most prolific green building standard, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design .

But green building experts, including Jason McLennan, executive director of the Cascadia Green Building Council , say not all sustainable forest certifications should be equivalent.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certification program awards points for using wood certified by the international nonprofit Forest Stewardship Council . But Oregon State Forester Marvin Brown would prefer the council award points for another certification by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative , a nonprofit established by major timber corporations like Weyerhauser, International Paper and Smurfit-Stone Container. Brown says the industry standard is just as rigorous as the Forest Stewardship Council’s certification.

McLennan, however, disagrees.

“I’ve seen (Sustainable Forestry Initiative) forests and it’s akin to smoking back in the 1960s being advertised as healthy,” he said. “It’s typical forestry practices. The spin is that there are not many (Forest Stewardship Council)-certified forests in Oregon, so local wood isn’t being used. But that’s because the companies there don’t want to do it. The question should be: Why is forestry in Oregon behind the curve?”

Oregon’s embrace of the timber industry’s standard has left the state at a disadvantage. While states like Washington have pursued Forest Stewardship Council certification for whole blocks of public land, Oregon has only 586,570 acres certified, according to the Oregon Forest Resources Institute. About 2.5 million acres of Oregon forests are Sustainable Forestry Initiative-certified, however.

If the industry-created standard were included in LEED, Brown said Oregon’s struggling timber industry could get a much needed slice of the green building pie. Despite an increase in green building, the construction industry is still mired in the recession, and each year more Oregon timber mills are closing.

“The (Forest Stewardship Council) has a fine standard,” Brown said. “The challenge is there’s a small portion of the world’s forests that are certified at all. In Oregon, most of the wood produced will be produced under the Sustainable Forestry Initiative.”

Oregon a few years ago considered whether to pursue Forest Stewardship Council certification for some of its public lands near Klamath Falls, Brown said. The people conducting the audit suggested that because it was public land, it should be held to a higher standard of sustainable management. What that meant, however, was unclear to Brown. The state decided against FSC certification because of uncertainty concerning the additional measures needed to earn it.

But the real reason why Oregon doesn’t have more FSC-certified forests, according to R. Wade Mosby, senior vice president with wood products firm The Collins Cos., is because meeting the standard is so difficult. Mosby’s company has had some of its forest land outside of Oregon certified FSC.

“FSC is the most rigorous certification out there,” Mosby said. “It’s going to be a slow process to increase the number of FSC forests in Oregon.”

Nevertheless, the Forest Stewardship Council standard is the best in existence, said Ralph DiNola, a principal with Portland’s Green Building Services. Putting the Sustainable Forestry Initiative or any other certification on equal footing for LEED points, DiNola said, would devalue the standard.

“If other standards are made equivalent in terms of LEED, FSC will lose ground in terms of being the best standard out there,” DiNola said. “SFI, in my eyes, doesn’t carry the rigor in terms of regulations for clear-cutting, social equity issues for forest adjacent communities and chain-of-custody issues.”

If the main argument for including SFI in LEED is to be sure Oregon wood products are being used, DiNola said that isn’t a problem. Under LEED, use of Forest Stewardship Council wood is worth one point, while use of wood obtained from local sources is worth two. LEED does not require wood to be certified, DiNola added.

But for people like Steve Wilson, a member of the Oregon Forestry Board and a staffer at Woodworkers District 1, inclusion of Oregon’s most popular forest standard would at least encourage the purchase of Oregon wood. Wilson says it’s important to encourage the use of local timber, which he believes is served by the industry certification.

“As I understand it, SFI is every bit as comprehensive as FSC,” Wilson said. “The only difference is it doesn’t discriminate against Oregon wood products. We’re worried about losing our work. If SFI leans towards the use of local wood products, that’s more work for my members.”

Brown and U.S. Reps. David Wu and Kurt Schrader have asked the U.S. Green Building Council to include Sustainable Forestry Initiative certification in the LEED program. The USGBC said it expects to make a decision this fall.