Upsets and more upsets

As much as anyone can know – I am an All Blacks fan. I love my Kiwis. And as much as it’s as wrong as us Canadians cheering for our southern neighbours in any sporting event – I do still love the Wallabies. I would rather the Wallabies win the World Cup than see it go to England or back to the Southies for another four years. So with than in mind – I need see my love to Drew Mitchell. He plays wing for the Waratahs and for Australia and he dislocated his right ankle and broke his right fibula after falling awkwardly/getting cut off by Scott Higginbotham from the Reds this last weekend. Drew Mitchell is one of the wingers on my Dream 15*…and now he’s in a battle with the timeline to get back in time for the RWC in September.

They sedated him and relocated his ankle before they moved him off of the field. He was in so much pain. Higginbotham and Mitchell have played together as Wallabies in past tests. You never want to see bad injuries happen to good players. And you never, never want to see injuries what happened to Drew Mitchell - especially not 4.5 months before the World Cup. And truly, he has been in some of the best shape that I've seen in the last two years.

The follow-up stories have gone from 'no hope of returning in time for the World Cup' to possibly returning to training a month before the World Cup starts. Now - a month is not really enough time to be fit for all the games but maybe...just maybe. He's a highly motivated man and is in excellent condition. Here's to hoping and I wish you a speedy recovery Drew (that's right, I'm on a first name basis).

Another upset was the Crusaders losing to the Highlanders (18-24). Granted Dan Carter, Keiran Reid, and Richie McCaw were not on the roster and Brad Thorn and Andy Ellis both went out with injuries (calf tear and broken/dislocated thumb respectively). That left the most experienced player on the field to be who? Meathead? I think not. Well - it was kind of a toss up between Isreal Dagg, Sean Maitland, and Zack Gilford (totally kidding) - all who are under the age of 23...Or there was SBW - but he's been playing like poo with Dan Carter feeding him the ball. Nope - they went with Chris Jack...the practically ex-pat Chris Jack. Super.

I gotta say - I was getting very concerned for Ma'a Nonu, the way that SBW started out. But the more I see him play and really not see him making an impact in the games when he's not running off of "good players" makes me wonder if Nonu is really in as much trouble as I thought. Nonu had a terrible start to his season. No fire, no spark, no smashy smashy. What is Nonu, really, if he's not smashy smashy? The Hurricanes may have lost (again) this last weekend (Sharks 40 - Canes 24) but Nonu looked more like himself. Running over guys and breaking the line. Keep it Ma'a...you're going to need it if you are to start over SBW.

Other upsets - The Force beat the Bulls (26-21). The Bulls are really spinning their wheels right now. DuPreez, Spiess, and Matfield are all playing like crap. I barely notice Kirschner out there...I've said it a couple times lately but the "Big Guns" of the rugby world seem to be coasting. And I have to wonder if some of these injuries are not happening because of this desire to save themselves for the RWC - and yet...they're all getting injured. O'Connell played courageously and they got their rewards for it. It's so SO good to see Richard Brown back...now all we need is Pocock and the Western Force may be able to snag a few more wins yet this season.

Here's the other games:

Blues (40) vs Rebels (23)

Lions (30) vs Chiefs (24) - this was a tight one...and guess what? Duck was back at 10. I say, put Delany or nobody at 10...and you'd be better off.

Reds (19) vs Waratahs (15) - tough, tough game for the 'Tahs. Drew Mitchell is now done for the season and Phil Waugh also went out with injury and will not be playing this next weekend.

I just really need these boys to stay on the field and away from the hospitals...please...no more upsets, okay?