Chiefs v Crusaders, round 5, Super 12, 12 Mar 2010 (Waikato Stadium)
My brief was fairly brief this week.
Dan Carter is very popular so I needed a couple of shots of the Jockey model
Pin-up boy Daniel Carter
The Chief’s Richard Kahui is also popular and so there is likely to be an angle or poll around who is the best looking.
I also wanted to see if the classic looks of Tnerau Latimer could be brought into the equation.
A colleague’s wife had seen him at the Mt Maunganui 1/2 Iron Man and reckoned he was hot
Tanerau Latimer - Classic square cut look
I have a story in draft about beautiful front-rowers and the Franks brothers are fine looking specimens
Owen Franks
Ben Franks
I also wanted some footage from the Waikato Supporters Club bar under the old stand for our series on Rugby World Cup 2011 Venues.
The bar has a considerable amount of memorabilia, knowledgeable members and inexpensive drinks. The guy I spoke to joked fondly about the Graham Purvis ‘scrum hand’ that helped Waikato beat Auckland in the 1992 NPC semi-final.
The early 90s was second time around for the flat-top
After that, things were pretty open. Canterbury are a pretty conservative team all around and so very little in the way of flamboyant hairdos.
I was hoping for a much improved Chiefs performance and a disciplined effort to combat the low mistake, ball retention strategies Canterbury were likely to adopt.
Unfortunately this didn’t happen.
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Chiefs v Reds, round 4, Super 14, 5 Mar 2010 (Waikato Stadium)
I had a very specific brief for last night’s match with 3 core objectives
Daniel Braid, Queensland Reds
1. Daniel Braid
I needed a good shot of Queensland Reds flanker, Daniel Braid. I had always felt the ex-All Black looked a little bit like the half-lion, half-man TV character, Vincent in Beauty and the Beast.
It was one of Linda Hamilton’s earlier efforts and another great make-up triumph from Ron Perlman, the man who brought us the Sayer of the Law (The Island of Dr. Moreau), Reinhardt (Blade II) Reman Viceroy (Star Trek Nemesis) and HellBoy.
For the record, Braid had a blinder against the Chiefs. He was all over the paddock, making tackles, creating turnovers and leading the pack. The best performance I’ve seen from him wearing the Reds jumper. There seems to be a theme with a lot of expat Kiwis playing rugby codes in Australia that they play their best against teams from the home country, especially when playing in New Zealand.
Morgan Turinui was the other standout for me on the night.
All Black centre, Richard Kahui with fellow All Black Mils Muliaina in the background
2. Pin-up boys
Also on my hit list was All Black pin-up, Richard Kahui. Kahui is very popular among internet-goers and so good for my search engine ranking.
It is true that TV puts on 10lbs because Kahui is very lean. There is not much bulk to him at all. It is accentuated by his height at 6ft 2in but he does no look anywhere near the 98kg that he is listed at.
Muscle weighs more than fat I guess. He had been in good form this season but was a little quiet last night.
Quade Cooper, Queensland and Australia
Others of interest in this category were
- Kiwi-born, Aussie bad-boy, Quade Cooper
- All Black flanker, Tanerau Latimer
3. Quade Cooper’s new kicking style
My third target was Queensland’s fly half, Quade Cooper and in particular, his new kicking style. Cooper is popular among those who like the bad-boy rugby player types but it is his new upper body swing that had me intrigued.
It reminded me of the feline cartoon character who used to ‘exit sage left’ and say ‘heavens to Murgatroid’ (whatever that meant) but I couldn’t think of the cartoon’s name. Google knows all and youtube had the piece I needed to be able to give the kicking style an appropriate moniker – ‘The Snagglepuss’.
[Actually, Cooper's run up looked a bit like a golf swing. It makes sense to start with the arms to one side and upper body twisted in the opposite direction to where it would end up. It provides the kind of momentum that a golfer relies on to generate speed through the swing that is focused on the point of contact with the ball.
One difference with Cooper is that he does not use the full Snagglepuss for shorter shots at goal where as a golfer tends to use his full swing regardless of the distance of the shot.
This caught me off guard in the first half when Cooper's first kick was a short one. Queensland hardly saw the ball in the first 20 mins of the game so I was getting concerned that I may not get to see him in action. Then, Queensland wing, Will Chambers waltzed through the Chiefs line and I had my opportunity.
But the try was directly under the posts and hence the conversion was the easiest kick Cooper would take that night. I was poised, kneeling behind the goal and ready to utilise the full burst rate of my Canon EOS 50.
But he just kicked it quickly, no Snagglepuss - the moment was lost!
I found myself willing the Reds to win a penalty so I could catch the full monty.
This went against the grain a little but given the Chiefs dominance to this point, I felt it would be OK.
[It was not however and the Chefs eventual loss left me feeling full of guilt on the drive home].
Other
There are always things of interest going on in and around a big rugby match.
I caught up with injured Chiefs prop, James McGougan who has been frustrated by a niggling neck injury.
He was looking trim and very clean cut.
No remnant of the Barry White look of last year.
A very pleasant guy, we swapped stories of playing in England. Alecadoos and how players are only allowed in the member’s bars of rugby clubs by invitation.
TV sports presenter, Scotty ‘Sumo’ Stevenson was accommodating with his thoughts on rugby player hairstyles.
And then there was the after-match press conference with Ewen McKenzie.
