Blackadder's Party Mix

Well the Crusaders may have been churlish enough to spoil the party at Tony Brown’s … but at least they brought the lollies.

Here’s a sample of Blackadder’s Assorted Favourites:

·       Sean Maitland – Lemon (yellow)

·       Israel Dagg – Cherry Banana (yellow and red)

·       Dan Carter – Blackberry and Lime (black and green)

·       Robbie Fruean – Raspberry (red)

·       Andy Ellis – Strawberries and Cream (red and white)

·       Sonny Bill Williams – Apple (green)

·       Matt Berquist – Cranberry (red)

·       Zac Guilford – Bubblegum and Vanilla (blue and white)

·       Kahn Fotuali’i – Peppermint (white)

You figured out where I’m going with this? I’ll give you a hint … there aren’t that many forwards in the list above, why, because they seem to be the more traditional bunch and stick with good old-fashioned liquorice.

That’s it … the boots!

Now I know the Crusaders are far from alone in this arena – I’d hate to even try and come up with decent sounding flavours for some of the multi-coloured offerings from the Hurricanes (Corey Jane – purple and orange … ummmm…) –but they’re the only team I’ve taken the trouble to map out.

Now, some of you might chalk that up to my obsession with sugar, but I’ll leave it with you. The trend is definitely on the rise.

Anyway, it wasn’t candy (real or imaginary) that ruined Tony Brown’s homecoming at the House of Pain – it was rugby, bloody good rugby, and I’d better get back to it to it.

It was good to see an enthusiastic crowd at Carisbrook again – but I think the Crusaders next outing should have that atmosphere beat. The Sharks at Twickenham! Apparently there will be about 55,000 tickets on-sale so the Kiwi and SAFFA ex-pat and backpacker communities should have a field day.

In other news …. the less said about the Rebels v Reds the better. In fact … how about those Irish??? Huh? Huh?

The Sharks v Chiefs was hampered by feral weather. Sky Commentator Scotty Stevenson, who continues his run of Murray-Who-isims, put it best: ‘What should be a champagne game [has turned into] cask wine!’.

The Sharks discipline was incredible in the first half, absorbing massive amounts of pressure.

Both sides came agonisingly close to crossing the line only to knock it on. In the Sharks case, we can blame the weather. For the Chiefs, it just looked like a continuation of their past shocking form on this front.

Cue Scotty: ‘Is Ian Foster’s coaching box padded? …. I’m not suggesting he’s insane, just that he’s be looking to punch something.’

Well that’s me for the week. Apologies if it was slightly less coherent than usual, but I’ve just played my first game of Basketball in almost a decade and it feels like my entire body’s blood supply is still running round my head.