Kiwiblog

Yesterday:

• Scotland 15 v Georgia 6. I thought Georgia did really well and its great to see the minnows playing so far above their normal levels.
• Canada 25 v Tonga 20. An upset but worth noting their world rankings are 14 and 12 respectively so not a huge upset.
• Samoa 49 v Namibia 12. Samoa shaping up very nicely

Today

• USA v Russia at 7.30 pm. Relive the cold war!

Tomorrow

• NZ v Japan in Hamilton at 8.00 pm.

Heh. Someone has done a Downfall mashup about the Rugby World Cup organisation. Not the best Downfall parody out there but still pretty funny in parts, and topical.

Phil Quinn has an amusing take on the fictional press conference:

I would like to extend my heartfelt apologies to the members of the Australian Rugby Union contingent for my behavior at the corporate facilities at North Harbour Stadium during the Wallabies’ frankly unconvincing win against Italy on Sunday.

My conduct was unbecoming a government minister, let alone one charged with the duty of hosting overseas guests even if those overseas guests happen to be Australian.

The barrage of abuse I hurled against not only the playing fifteen, but the very character of Australia and Australians — while at times hilarious and often technically accurate — was not acceptable, and for that I sincerely apologize.

“Cheating convict scum” is not an expression I should have used.  If I had my time over again, I would allude to Australia’s past as a convict colony, along with its historical propensity to violate the rules and spirit of rugby, in a more dignified fashion.

I have called James O’Connor — who I can confirm is absolutely not Justin Bieber’s gay twin — to apologise directly.  Similarly, I tweeted an apology to Quade Cooper — whose name is spelled Q-U-A-D-E  and not Q-U-N-T as I may have implied a few dozen times on Sunday.

Heh.

Stuff reports:

The Government will use special powers under Rugby World Cup legislation to take control of the Auckland waterfront set aside for the celebrations during the tournament.

Rugby World Cup Minister Murray McCully will this afternoon outline his intention to tomorrow call up reserve powers available to him under the Rugby World Cup Empowerment Bill.

It has been revealed, ahead of the announcement, that McCully has ordered Government officials to write a new plan to manage the waterfront beyond its own Fan Zone at Queen’s Wharf.

The plan, which turns responsibility from the Auckland City Council over to the Government, will expand management measures and create more space for partying.

“Some of my critics have been suggesting I should take responsibility, well I am. I am stepping in to a space that the Government has not previously occupied,” McCully told Stuff.

“We’re getting on the front foot here and showing a determination to provide a larger footprint and a wider range of measures to assist with the management of crowds and the delivery of amenities.”

About 200,000 turned out to the Auckland waterfront for the opening of the Rugby World Cup on Friday night. Only about 12,000 were allowed in the Queen’s Wharf fan zone, where there were no problems.

McCully said he felt the preparations for outside of the Queen’s Wharf area – made by the Auckland City Council’s responsible group – were “thoroughly inadequate in respect of the crowd control and amenities”.

“It would be fair to say there was not adequate provision made for toilets and for other amenities and that was a significant contributing factor to the problems,” McCully said.

“Neither were there proper arrangements for the flow and management of people which led to difficulties.”

The new Government plan was being finalised this afternoon and McCully had been advised the only way to give the new plan legal effect was via special reserve measures in the RWC Empowering Bill.

So as I understand it the Government was managing the Queen’s Wharf fan zone and the Council the rest of the waterfront, and as with any split responsibility things fall through the cracks.

I imagine the thinking of the Minister is that if the Government is going to be held responsible for what happens on the waterfront, they want to be able to manage it. Who wants to be held accountable for something they do not control?

Of course the risk is that if problems continue, the accountability will clearly be with the Government. So it is quite a ballsy move.

Hopefully any problems will be minimal, so as many fans as possible have as great a time as possible.

Danya Levy at Stuff reports:

Australian media have dubbed an unnamed Government minister as the “New Zealand Minister for Bad Manners” after he allegedly made a scene in the official Australian box during the Wallabies opening Rugby World Cup game. …

The newspaper quotes insider “Jeeves” as saying “He booed and abused the Wallabies all game”.

“He was yelling out, ‘f–ing cheats’ and other offensive remarks, and then when the Wallabies started to get on top, he suddenly left.”

The Australian Rugby Union representatives and their partners in the box were “gobsmacked”, the newspaper said.

One of the Australians had asked a local government official who the man was, saying his behaviour was “right over the top”.

“The local suit replied: ‘Sorry. I can’t do much about it. He’s a government minister,’” the newspaper said.

iPredict have stocks on who will be identified as the Minister. Current probabilities are:

• Jonathan Coleman 65%
• Other/None 35%
• Wayne Mapp 2%
• Steven Joyce 2%
• Phil Heatley 2%
• Murray McCully 2%
• Craig Foss 2%
• Gerry Brownlee 0%
• Tim Groser 0%
• Bill English 0%

UPDATE: Ministers Coleman, Mapp and Williamson have all categorically denied it was them, and said they think the story is made up. This may be right, as it was an anonymous second hand story.

No matches until Wednesday but some great games yesterday.

• Australia 32 v Italy 6
• Ireland 22 v USA 10
• South Africa 17 v Wales 16

The US are only the 18th ranked team in the world, and I thought they played a great game. Credit to Ireland for the win though.

And oh we were all Welsh last night. They came so close. James Hook almost won it for them.

I’m going to do a RWC post every day, so those interested can discuss and dissect outside of General Debate.

Results from 10 September:

• France 47 – Japan 21
• Scotland 34 – Romania 24
• England 13 – Argentina 9
• Fiji 49 – Namibia 25

For me the highlight was Romania playing so well, and coming so close to an upset. Would have loved to have seen Argentina win also.

Today’s Matches:

• 3.30 pm – Australia v Italy
• 6.00 pm – Ireland v USA
• 8.30 pm – South Africa v Wales

Today we are all Welsh Italians!

Would also love to see USA win – not because Ireland is a threat, but for obvious sentimental reasons.

Normally 41-10 is a good result, but the three previous times NZ played Tonga the average margin was 74 points, not 31. To be fair Tonga has got better over the years, and are now ranked No 12 in the world.

There are four matches on today:

1. Scotland v Romania 1.00 pm
2. Fiji v Namibia 3.30 pm
3. France v Japan 6.00 pm
4. Argentina v England 8.30 pm

Scotland is ranked no 7 and Romania no 17, so I’m picking Scotland.

Likewise I’d call Fiji to beat Namibia. Mind you if I was at the game, I’d cheer for Namibia.

I doubt anyone expects Japan to beat France (in fact you can’t , but hell if they do we’ll allow them to hunt all the whales they want

The big clash should be Argentina v England. They should put the Falklands up as the prize

Magnificent, simply magnificent. It blew me away. World class beyond doubt.

I loved it all, but was especially intrigued by the women doing a haka as it is such a rare sight.

Kate Chapman at Stuff reports:

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard has told the Wallabies they better do well so she can get back at John Key for his “perpetual abuse”. …

She told the players that Key had been using every opportunity to rib her about the All Blacks during the Pacific Islands Forum which both leaders attended this week.

“We better make sure we’re in a position to be giving some mocking back at the end of all this.” …

“At every stage, I cannot describe it to you, any issue before the forum, any direction somehow Prime Minister Key would find a way of working in a sledge.

“I’ve had it for two days.”

Superb.

My column at the NZ Herald is on how the Rugby World Cup may affect the election. An extract:

Now of course it was not the current Government that bid for the Rugby World Cup. The bid was led by Helen Clark around six years ago, and it was her Government that agreed on the timing with the IRB. It is possible that a motivating factor was the thought that if Labour had won a fourth term, then this could help them win an unprecedented fifth term, making Clark the longest serving Prime Minister.

Jack, aged 85, rang Sean Plunket’s show today on Newstalk ZB with a great idea. He proposed the ideal Ambassador for the Rugby World Cup. A devoted fan who swam 4,000 miles to be here for it, came dressed in the All Black colours, and has been enjoying first class Kiwi hospitality.

So if you are sick of all the corporate brands trying to associate themselves with the Rugby World Cup, lend your support to making Happy Feet the Grass Roots Ambassador by liking the Facebook page.

Sent in by a reader.

UPDATE: And Telecom have pulled the campaign. A good call.

This is the first of the videos for the Abstain for the game campaign by Telecom’s Backing Black campaign. What do people think?

Vernon Small writes:

There is nothing kind about being cruel to a city so battered. I will be glad to be wrong, but there is a growing inevitability Christchurch will not be ready to host the Rugby World Cup games. …

If the final report on AMI stadium, due by March 15, is negative, or public liability insurance is refused, it will make life easier for Mr Key and the rugby tsars. Because at the next level the decisions are more subjective and therefore more politically fraught.

I don’t think it is inevitable Christchurch will not host RWC matches. I think it is all about the stadium. If the stadium can be made ready and safe in time for the RWC, then all the other problems (accomodation etc) are solveable. If the stadium can’t be made ready and safe in time, then that is the one problem you can’t solve.

The Herald reports:

Dozens of homeowners are asking more than $20,000 a week in rent for the Rugby World Cup and at least one website is now threatening to remove those charging exorbitant prices.

Who cares? There is no monopoly supply which forces people to pay such a price. The question is whether there is such a shortage that people are agreeing to pay $20,000/week.

The number of top-end listings continues to grow on accommodation websites but many remain unrented despite being advertised for months.

So problem solved.

Many Auckland homes, especially near Eden Park, are being offered for up to $1500 a night and, in some cases, even more than the $20,000 a week.

One website, Luxury Rentals 2011, has around 65 Auckland homes for rent during the Cup; nearly half are listed in the $20,000-plus category. The exact prices are by inquiry only.

Its a website specialising in luxury rentals. If some rich person is willing to pay $20K a week for said house, then good on them.

What would be interesting is what is the cheapest accommodation still available, not what is the most expensive?

The Dom Post editorial:

Fans who cannot afford tickets won’t be left out. The council is planning a “fan zone”, complete with giant screens, on the city’s waterfront, so visitors and Kiwis alike can celebrate – or commiserate – together.

Part of the attraction, city fathers hope, will be proposals for free wireless internet on that very waterfront. Last week, the council indicated that Wellingtonians – and anyone else in the vicinity, barring commercial operators – would have free access to high-speed wireless internet from December.

The initiative is Trade Me’s – like The Dominion Post, part of the Fairfax Media empire. The online auction company and the council will jointly foot the bill, with Trade Me’s chief executive saying it wanted to give back something to a city that had given rise to its success.

The first free wi-fi spot will be available to people between Queens Wharf and Te Papa, within reach of a waterfront server in the NZX building. But the local authority hopes that free wi-fi along the entire waterfront, from the stadium to the Embassy Theatre in Courtenay Place, will be in place by the time the World Cup starts. It now also wants expressions of interest to provide the service permanently along the Golden Mile.

The free wi-fi proposal reinforces how integral all forms of technology have become to life in the second decade of the 21st century and sits neatly alongside the Government’s goal of having ultrafast broadband available to 75 per cent of New Zealand within 10 years. It reinforces, too, the role digital technology plays in all life’s spheres, including tourism and rugby.

Wellington has its party central nicely sorted out.

The SST reports:

POLICE will boost security for the USA’s first pool game in next year’s Rugby World Cup because it falls on the 10th anniversary of alQaeda’s deadly September 11 attacks in 2001.

Cup police operations head Superintendent Grant O’Fee said police had not been involved in the draw but were “aware of the significance of the date”, and might put in place “some different arrangements than we have for normal games”.

The pool game, against Ireland, will be played at New Plymouth’s Stadium Taranaki.

I might give that game a miss.

Bob Brockie writes:

But three Californian economists – Andrew Healy, Neil Malhotra and Cecilia Mo – have just shown that completely irrelevant events can swing public voting. They matched up top American college football and basketball results between 1964 and 2009 with results from senate and presidential elections.

The economists found that local wins and losses affected voters’ choice of candidates. More exactly, they found that a win in the 10 days before election day gave the incumbent candidate an extra 1.6 per cent more votes. The effect was most noticeable where sports teams had a big following of fans.

So if the All Blacks continue with this form, John Key will call the election for Saturday 29 October 2011

Of course the PM will not have the election campaign overlap with the Rugby World Cup. I believe the likely date is the last Saturday of November. I suspect that six weeks after a sporting event, any impact on how people vote will be minimal.

The Libertarianz say:

Libertarianz leader Richard McGrath today nominated the British octopus known as Paul as replacement for ex-All Black Andy Haden, whose utterances could not be kept under tight government control.

“Paul is the sort of useful idiot Lenin would have loved,” said Dr McGrath. “A spineless creature of subhuman intelligence who can only choose between options selected for him by his masters. Ideal fodder for the political ends of John Key and Murray McCully.”

That’s not  bad idea. Paul could do all the draws etc. The only problem is I’m not sure Paul is expected to be alive by the time of the RWC.

Paul ended up with a perfect record of 7 from 7. The chance of him having just guessed randomly is 1 in 128.

The Dom Post reports:

Rugby pundits are urging Murray McCully to bring back Buck, as the Rugby World Cup minister considers whether to replace departed rugby ambassador Andy Haden. …

However, veteran broadcaster Keith Quinn, who labelled Haden’s resignation “unfortunate”, suggested Shelford as a candidate.

“He was one name I looked for on the [original] list and was surprised he wasn’t there. Shelford was, after all, vice-captain of the team that won the World Cup in 1987.”

Sky Sport commentator Grant Nisbett agreed.

“Buck’s given a lot to rugby since he retired. I think he’d be absolutely ideal.”

It’s not a bad idea, if for no other reason the headlines of “Buck is back”

Richard Boock writes:

I’m sure the save-the-sheds faction are right when they speak of the lovely timbers and structural beams within the buildings, even though the ARC initially described them as cheap and nasty. Chairman Mike Lee said he changed his mind after discussing the issue with friends who were “heritage advocates”. That’s right, before you could say “indoctrinate”, the cheap and nasty had taken on “genuine heritage value”. Not even Paul the Octopus could have seen that coming.

It’s surprising too, that a place apparently to be preserved because of its heritage value has not even been listed with the Historic Places Trust. Its worth has been calculated, not by the official arbiters of such assets, but by a cabal of what sounds like the ARC chairman’s dinner guests. Somehow he was able to be persuaded that a spot of character, rather than an official judgement of historic value, was enough to make a couple of huts sacrosanct. …

As Paul Moon, an Auckland University of Technology Professor of History, wrote in the New Zealand Herald a week or so ago, “to elevate (the sheds) to anything even resembling architectural merit is disingenuous”. He reminded us that the structures were designed purely along functional lines at a time when “aesthetic appeal in industrial buildings was even less important than it is now”. He’s right, you know. We’re being led down the garden path by a collection of snooty zealots.

I’m picking up considerable backlash against the u-turn by the ARC. It may affect Mike Lee’s bid for a seat on the new Auckland Council.

The Herald reports:

Now, on the same programme, he has this week commented on historic sex allegations against former All Black Robin Brooke, made by two unnamed women, one of whom subsequently laid a complaint with police.

“There’s a bloke called Hugh Grant. He got into a bit of trouble like this and I think if the cheque bounces sometimes, they only realise that they’ve been raped, you know, sometimes,” he said.

Haden said there were two sides to every story.

“It’s an equal society now, some of these girls are targeting rugby players and targeting sportsmen and they do so at their peril today, I think.”

Rape support groups have hit out at the remarks.

Minister responsible for the Rugby World Cup Murray McCully said he was only made aware about the comments last night and was now considering the issue.

The problem with Haden isn’t so much the issues he talks about, but the way he talks about them.

My 2c advice for Murray McCully is to consider whether he really thinks it is possible Andy Haden can go another 13 months without one or more utterances like this.

Do you want to sack him after the third, fourth, or fifth occurrence – or get it over and done with now?

I’m perplexed why the Auckland Regional Council would want to preserve a shed which only a few months ago its chair, Mike Lee, described as “old, cheap and nasty”.

People often think old means heritage and worth preserving. Very different things. Not all old buildings have heritage value. A cheap and nasty shed is not an historic building – it’s just an old shed.

God knows what the Government will do to get itself out of this cluster fuck. I bet they wish the new Auckland Council has been created a few years ago – at least that would save them from having totally contradictory stances from the Auckland Regional and City Councils.

There is now some talk of party central being at the Viaduct Events Centre. It’s not a bad idea, but time is running out to do proper due diligence on any proposals.

At the end of the day it won’t be the end of the world if there is no party central. Having such a venue will be a bonus for Aucklanders, but rugby fans will make their own fun, where ever they end up – at the game, at homes, in bars etc.

The HoS reports:

McCarten said hospitality industry workers should be paid a minimum of $15 an hour and hotel workers get a cut of room-rate hikes.

An employer who sets a permanent wage rate on the basis of a one off event, won’t be in business for long.

Rates will be higher during the World Cup. And unions are quite free to ask for a profit share. In fact I like profit shares. But they normally go both ways.

If there is a month with little demand for rooms, and hence room rates are discounted 50%, would Unite be willing to accept lower wage rates for that month?

Risk and reward are linked. If you want extra reward, you need to accept some risk also.

The workers earned low wages and would be expected to work long hours and extra days during the tournament.

Now there is one key thing missing from that sentence. The statement that workers will get paid extra money for every extra hour and extra day. Hotels are not going to (or able to) make people work longer hours for the same pay. So workers will be getting paid more during the RWC – by working more.

“They’re talking about room rates of up to 10 times what they’re charging now, so there will be a lot of money around.”

There’s talk, and there’s actual bookings,

And Tourism Auckland chief executive Graeme Osborne said no one would be making “silly money” from the tournament.

The industry had emerged from a “tough” few years, and the average room rate was about $140 a night, lower than it was five years ago.

As I said,if you want more money during the peaks, will you also take less money during the troughs?