The Absolute Disgrace story has been up for a few weeks so it is time to change the story after the Wallabies superb defeat of the Springboks and with the Brisbane Bledisloe Cup match looming on Saturday. I did have the knives out for the Wallabies after the match against the All Blacks; I was shattered by the loss and the poor performance of the Wallaby forwards. There was some redemption with the 49-0 defeat of the Springboks and it was good to see the press not go overboard with the big win. The fact that the Boks again destroyed our scrum got lost in the euphoria of the record defeat of the Springboks. Bruce Holden’s hero Os du Randt absolutely destroyed Australia’s tighthead prop Guy Shepherdson.

Jake White’s performance at the after match press conference in Brisbane was a disgrace. He lost all credibility with his tirade against NZ Referee Honiss; the Springboks had just been beaten by a record score. It really goes to show just how bad the infighting is in South African Rugby with Jake White reduced to talking absolute rubbish in order to keep his job. The knives are flying thick and fast, back in South Africa with ex-players, politicians, media and the rugby public calling for the sacking of Jake White. It also has racial overtones now with Jake White also blaming the Transformation Policy (Black player quota) for the poor showing of the Springboks. Look for Jake White to get the bullet very soon; I despise a coach who will not share some of the blame for his team’s defeat.

We have a great match coming up this weekend with the Wallabies playing the All Blacks in Brisbane. The Wallabies hit some excellent form against the Springboks and the All Blacks just keep on winning. The All Blacks made a number of changes to team that beat the Wallabies in their 35-17 defeat of the Springboks last weekend. This so called A Team is again back on deck for the Test Match this weekend. I wish Centrebet could refund me the $100 I bet on the Wallabies in the first Test; the Wallabies definitely look better prepared for this match. We have a great backline, good backrow, if we can just win our own lineout ball and hold our scrum we will be in with a chance.

I am very happy that Knuckles has picked Rodzilla for this match and left out Guy Shepherdson. As you know I am no fan of Shepherdson his technique is terrible. He swims into the scrum, which means he lifts his right arm in a swimming action as he engages, this leaves the centre of his chest exposed and allows the loosehead an easy grip. He also has a weak engagement and gets knocked back on the hit every time. He does not close out which means he stays square and high after the engagement, which also allows the loosehead to slide under his chest and get a good grip with his left hand. Guy Shepherdson should look at some videos of Olo Brown, the former All Black tighthead, he had superb technique. For a player who never weighed more than 110kg he generated enormous power on the engagement. He was closed out before the hit making it really hard for the loosehead to get a grip and slide under Olo’s chest. His height was superb his right knee was an inch from the ground his right shoulder about 6 inches, he was tilted to the right, completely closed out with all the power of the scrum behind him transferring through his right shoulder to the back of the looseheads neck. He would make tall props like Os Du Randt literally eat grass as their heads disappeared up their backsides, awesome stuff.

Hard to predict a score this weekend, if the Wallabies come out and play like men possessed this weekend you never know what might happen. Scrum and lineout are vital; Rodzilla must hold his ground, if Tony Woodcock gets underneath him, get set for another long night. It will be almost impossible for the backline to get functioning if the Christchurch roller skates reappear on the forward pack. The All Blacks are favourites of course but I am hoping for something special from the Wallabies this weekend. Good luck to the lads, I hope they get Dave Brockhoff in to motivate them he always fired me up with his calls of a crow bar through David Jones front window and he loves a forward pack like 8 mongrel dogs hanging outside the butchers door.

I received an email from Captain Ron who was in Nigeria this week, where he was done over by pickpockets. You may remember Captain Ron from previous articles he likes visiting German Dungeons and I was worried about him disappearing in some third world country and his organs getting harvested for transplants. He is alive and well and fell prey to a well organised team in Nigeria, read on:

Well, it had to happen, sometime - and Nigeria is the place for it to happen. Yesterday, I was walking down the road with my mate. It was quite crowded on the footpath with street stalls selling everything from phone cards to body parts - underwear to leopard skins. The stalls are so prolific that you have to walk along the edge of the road, and it is very grubby. Imagine the dirty parts of Suva, and triple it - and yet it is colourful and exciting. We were walking along the edge of the road past all these stalls, as I told you, when about 2 metres in front of us, a Nigerian fellow stopped and pulled a snake out of a bag. It was a bloody cobra! Now you know how much I am terrified of snakes, so as the dozen people around me moved back and jumped away, I jumped higher and further away than all the rest. Wow, what excitement.

We then caught a taxi to another proper market, a bit like Suva market, only about 10 times the size. While in the taxi, I checked and realised that all my money was gone - about A$200 in Nigerian currency, because I had just been to the bank. The cash was in the side pocket of my cargo pants. They were quite clinical in that they just removed all the cash, but didn’t touch any cards or glasses or pens in the other pockets. Very, very slick, and I didn’t feel a thing. My mate said that the snake was a diversion aimed at me - the only white man within a kilometre of the place!It could have been worse - they could have knifed me! Saw a fellow done over with a bottle yesterday afternoon. Frightening.Flew overnight from Lagos to Madrid, and now am at the airport waiting for the connection to London. Will be glad to be in comfort, cleanliness, and decent food.

Hopefully Captain Ron will have another story for us next week, unfortunately I can’t print his German Dungeon stories as this is a family website. A big hello to Laurie Brown in Newcastle another Broadside reader, I have it on good authority that Laurie is the number one customer of the Wallsend F1 Hotel, in fact he even keeps a brochure rack in his house for the F1 Hotel. Laurie insists that these are for his visitors from Sydney. This may be a stitch up of course but John Cheer insists that all the facts are true and correct. Thanks John for the email always glad to stitch up someone on the Broadside.