Talk » anner we did today was pleasing in many ways.

When Michael Cheikas Wallabies couldnt stop the All Blacks on the field, you have to wonder if his achievement of the night was taking the steam out of the world record celebrations with his press conference comments.While it was an occasion for the All Blacks to celebrate a significant feat, winning the plaudits of all concerned, the mood of the party was affected by the lack of graciousness by Cheika.It was a massive let-down and it was little wonder that Steve Hansen, who spoke after Cheika, said the press conference had been hi-jacked.The defining moment in the game took the wind out of Australias sails. Whether they would have lasted or not well never know, but it was a defining moment in the sense that there was a kick to come, they could have taken the lead, and who knows, the adrenalin and self-belief may have kicked in.It was the same situation as in last years Rugby World Cup final when they got within a touch of the lead. They couldnt carry on then, and would they have been able to this year?The difference between the sides was the All Blacks superior skill-sets while it was Australias skills that let them down. They turned a lot of ball over through mistakes and errors.It was ironic that shepherding denied Australia a try, yet when something worse happened, when Bernard Foley got tangled with Dane Coles at the other end of the field, it wasnt at least the subject of a penalty.You have to ask just how good some of those players were in the All Blacks side. Julian Savea woke up, and didnt he want to play? He didnt want the final whistle to blow - he wanted his hat trick. His self-belief was evident. You could almost see him say to himself, right, Im doing it. There was no indecision in his game. It was like, I know what my role is, give me the ball I want to run. That was the Julian Savea of old.It was one of the better Test matches of 2016, theres no doubt about that, and there were moments when Australia were in the game and the All Blacks were having to rally the troops.There was no love lost and the niggle was there, and you would expect nothing less from Australians. Its that rivalry, its been around forever. They are a team who can only get better from where they are. They are largely an inexperienced side.But you do have to love the way Steve Hansen is so composed and goes about what he does while remaining a cool, calm and collected character. Mud doesnt seem to stick to him.I dont know what Michael Cheika was trying to achieve. He needs to sort his own backyard out. You have to ask what outcome he is after. Are we going to become chums and stop sledging one another? Is George Gregan going to take back the four more years comment?Were neighbours, were very close in all other areas. But sport is what both countries love and the niggle and jibes are just part of the relationship. And you learn to take it with a grain of salt and a sense of humour.Ive got Australian mates who I cant wait to text every now and then, but you can be assured when the boot is on the other foot they are the first to let me know. Every New Zealander has got an Australian mate like that and every Australian has got a Kiwi mate like that. Thats just life.I thought the clown cartoon was funny. And when you get both Cheika and skipper Stephen Moore upset about it you know it had the desired effect. Theres nothing worse than a joke that goes flat, but when you get the reaction you want that is great.It was certainly a fall from grace for the coach of the year from last year. What does Steve Hansen have to do to get coach of the year this year? Within 12 months hes won a World Cup and broken the world record for most consecutive Test wins with potentially more to come.If the All Blacks get through this northern tour with two Tests against Ireland and one each against Italy and France then they have an extra edge for the three Tests against the British & Irish Lions next year.To suggest New Zealand Rugby were in collusion with the Auckland newspaper was ridiculous. In the media, everyone is out for a different story -- thats just how it works. Why would New Zealand Rugby [NZR] even need to be involved? Youve got to be very careful making accusations with no foundation behind them. The media are your best friend and your worst enemy.NZR have found that in the last month. Coming off the field everyone loves them but during the week and in the build-up theres someone doing something as we have seen. The danger now is that the All Blacks are getting pushed further and further up that pedestal and theres always someone, especially in the media, at the bottom with an axe looking to chop it down.Its finals weekend in New Zealand coming up and it would be fair to say that it is the form teams who are coming through.In the Mitre 10 Championship final, North Harbour are a team who have hit form and are quite exciting with some young talent coming through and some older experienced hands. Its a great injection for a struggling union over the last decade and good to see.Otago started the competition as a form side and again delivered the goods, so it will be an interesting square-off between those two.In the Premiership final Canterbury just keep rolling on; you can take players out and put new ones in but they keep on winning. There is a mixture of talent in the side and it was great to see both the Barrett brothers (Scott and Jordy) get their feet in the door and once that door opens for them Im sure theyll take it. Weve mentioned Scott several times this year, hes had a great season and it is good to see thats been recognised, while Jordy is targeted for bigger things when he fills out and gets older.Tasman are a class side with some very good players. It is interesting that Marty Banks has been such a servant to New Zealand rugby and you just get the feeling that theres a lot of players who will be wanting to send him off overseas on the back of a big performance.Tasman will not be easy-beats and Canterbury are going to have to be on their game.They are partners in the Crusaders region and you have to wonder if some of their ethos has drifted up the road to Nelson.It is also a reflection on rugby in the South Island with three of the four finals teams from the South Island. 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Yeezy Boost 350 Fake China . -- Kyrie Irvings last-minute 3-pointer helped seal another victory for Cleveland -- and the Cavaliers longest winning streak since LeBron James left. Saracens 27-12 SaintsSaracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: We were second-best in the first half. We allowed some things to get under our skin a little bit. Their line speed was tremendous, and we couldnt get any quick ball.We werent quite ourselves in the first half, but I thought in the second half we did a phenomenal job. The most encouraging thing today was that we found a way to win while not being at our best.Northampton director of rugby Jim Mallinder: I thought we did pretty well for 55 minutes, or so. We put them under pressure, and we defended with the passion and intensity that we needed to.They were spilling ball and we were beginning to get into them, and then a moment of madness, really, from Alex Waller started our downfall.Bath 37-22 Worcester WarriorsBath director of rugby Todd Blackadder: We were certainly put under the pump. Worcester were outstanding in that first half. We let them play around us too easily but well take a lot out of that.It wasnt a rant and a rave at half-time, just about simple things to put our game right -- to carry hard and have really good clean-outs and quick ball.Worcester Warriors head coach Carl Hogg: The game obviously swung on a 10-minute window in the second half when we made back-to-back errors and someone of George Fords quality exploited it.We showed great endeavour in our first two games against Sale and Gloucester, predominantly defensively. But ball in hand we showed real threat and looked very lively. In the second half we didnt get so many opportunities. We did enough to get something out of the game.Exeter Chiefs 36-25 HarlequinsExeter director of rugby Rob Baxter: I cant deny that we were told before the season started that if you flash a foot in a ruck and connect with a persons head then a red card may follow. Tomass [Francis] shin appeared to catch Danny Care on the back of the head.We have been under a bit of pressure after two losses but it was fantastic to win and get a bonus point as well. Luke [Cowan-Dickie] is playing flat out, he is bang on form and hopefully he can take that form into the Autumn Internationals.Harlequins boss John Kingston: We gave away two soft tries in the middle of the first half when we were 6-5 up. One of them was a simple overthrow and the second came from poor tackling from the first phase.It was very difficult to come back from there and we didnt start the second half as well as we would have wanted. It was a question of too little, too late and the bottom line is that we were ppunished for too many errors at key points.ddddddddddddale Sharks 13-26 Gloucester RugbySale director of rugby Steve Diamond: We were second best by a country mile tonight, we just couldnt get any control. When we got control of field position our basic skill let us down.We lost [Dan] Mugford in the second half and weve got a nine playing 10 so that confused the issue a little bit, but I thought we were playing quite well there. The most disappointing thing in the second half was that when we got to within four points, we gave those soft penalties away.Gloucester director of rugby David Humphreys: Weve obviously been very disappointed with the two results this season. We knew coming to Sale we had to be very strong defensively and we knew we had to be disciplined.Although we gave away too many penalties, our defensive maul was absolutely outstanding and for me that was the winning of the game, along with our general defence.For us, weve got 12 players unavailable in game three of the season and weve said so many times to be competitive in this league you need a depth to your squad.Wasps 70-22 Bristol rugbyWasps director of rugby Dai Young: I was really pleased,clearly to score 70 points youve got to have done quite a lot right.Three wins on the bounce and 14 points from a possible 15 so you cannot ask much more at this stage, but theres lots of scope for us to improve.Bristol director of rugby Andy Robinson: We knew we were going to have games like this.You have to understand we are playing a top three side and this is the gulf between us and a top three side.They were streetwise and they had physicality. But I have confidence these players can make the improvement.Newcastle Falcons 13-14 Leicester TigersNewcastle Falcons director of rugby Dean Richards:We came away with a bit of a tanking at Bath last week, so turn it round in the manner we did today was pleasing in many ways.We should have won the game and clearly the lads are disappointed, but there is an element of pleasure in the way the guys have bounced back from what was a pretty tough lesson.Leicester Tigers director of rugby Richard Cockerill: If wed have lost today then no complaints because we didnt play well enough to take them out of the equation.Everybody is embracing the new way we want to play but sometimes it just isnt clicking.Weve got to be a lot better next week when we play Bath. ' ' '