Spiro Zavos on All Blacks
All Blacks' brilliance likely to ensure winning streak is unbroken
Spiro Zavos ONE way or another, rugby history is going to be made tonight. The moveable feast of the Wallabies faces an unstoppable All Blacks force at Suncorp Stadium.
Rugby
Fitting time to reflect on Lions revolution
Spiro Zavos ON Tuesday about 3pm, a group gathered at Campbells Hill cemetery in Maitland around the grave of Bob Seddon, the captain of the 1888 first Lions side.
Rugby
Keeping in perspective the Lions that awed
Spiro Zavos Alan Jones, in his days as a successful Wallaby coach, used to tell his players when controversies erupted around himself and his team: ''The dogs are barking, but the caravan moves on.''
Rugby
Wallabies leaps ahead when it comes to X-factor
Spiro Zavos JOHN McBride, the tough, charismatic Ireland second-rower and a five times British and Irish Lion (along with Mike Gibson), tells the story of walking through his village when his glory days were...
Rugby
'Picasso of the Pass' paints a sad picture
Spiro Zavos QUADE Cooper grew up in the New Zealand idolising the extravagant rugby play of Carlos Spencer. Cooper has become a Spencer clone. There are the tats.
Rugby
Lions to kick against their revered heritage
Spiro Zavos Not long after the 2013 British and Irish Lions squad was announced, I received this email from a well-informed England supporter: ‘‘The two best players in their position left behind [Andrew...
Flawless Smith sure to get Test tick as bungler Cooper stays in the cold
Spiro Zavos A FEW days before NSW played their first rugby match against a British rugby side, on June 2, 1888, a Probables- Possibles match was contested in Sydney to work out a starting XV.
Rugby
Beale must concentrate on tackling his demons
Spiro Zavos IT seems a blink in the mind's eye, but several years ago the ABC presented a live telecast of Joeys playing Riverview in the GPS rugby tournament.
Rugby
Ditch old boys network for centralised system to bring out gold
Spiro Zavos THE ARU has unleashed a new version of the Wallaby jersey for the June Tests against the 2013 British and Irish Lions. There is a slash of green along the top.
Rugby
When the music stops, McKenzie may go Irish
Spiro Zavos THERE is no doubt that by announcing the end of his association with the Queensland Reds at the end of the Super Rugby season, Ewen McKenzie is stating he wants to coach the Wallabies.
Campese out of order but Robbie still rankles
Spiro Zavos YOU KNOW when you've put both your rugby boots in your mouth when Wendell Sailor tweets this to you: "Well good morning to u Campo & I have to say u are on your own with this comment it's 2012 champ.
Spiro Zavos
Perception of the scrum can swing the outcome
Spiro Zavos IN HIS essay The Problems of Knowledge, Bertrand Russell described an experiment where people were asked to look through a keyhole and describe a table they saw inside the room.
Spiro Zavos
Deans cops backlash of Jekyll and Hyde season
Spiro Zavos THE tendency of the Wallabies to lose Tests after some convincing performances is driving fans mad. A poll this week on Rugby Heaven showed that 75 per cent of 12,000 voters supported David Campese's...
Spiro Zavos
Cup chances on the line in northern festival
Spiro Zavos ABOUT 7am on Sunday, Sydney time, the Wallabies run on to the Stade de France to play the hosts. The Test is one of 10 to be played during the weekend, starting with a double-header in Wales, where...
Deans's Third XV faces a monumental battle but with a live chance to triumph against the odds
Spiro Zavos HOW about this line-up for a Wallabies side to play the Pumas at Rosario?
Spiro Zavos
Democratic or dictatorial, best coaching system is a winning system
Spiro Zavos There has been a fierce debate this week about the good rucking Richie McCaw has given his former coach, Robbie Deans, in his rugbiography The Open Side.
Henry in Pumas' corner shows coaches transcend nationality
Spiro Zavos THE main Wellington newspaper, The Dominion Post, had a killer photo on its main sports page this week.
Rugby union
Myopic Deans bashers reveal the ugly head of xenophobia
Spiro Zavos THIS week a xenophobic antagonism towards Robbie Deans has emerged in mainstream media. It is being asserted publicly that a New Zealander - and an All Black to boot - can't be trusted to coach the...
Pumas need to adopt Che's doctrine of attack
Spiro Zavos DURING a debate in Melbourne recently between rugby and AFL tragics over the merits of their codes, Adam Freier, the former Wallabies hooker, argued convincingly that the international range of rugby...
Spiro Zavos
Waratahs must drop work-to-rule attitude if they want to win
Spiro Zavos IT was a dispirited and sullen crowd that shuffled from Allianz Stadium after the Waratahs' depressing loss to the Western Force last weekend.
