Rugby

Rugby blogging: Warren Gatland has coached in the English premiership, the Super 14 and been Ireland's coach. And he's still surprised that people in Wales think being Welsh coach is a big deal? New Wales coach Warren Gatland says he has been surprised by the level of media interest his first week in charge has attracted. The 44-year-old revealed the scrutiny has been far greater than anything he has ever experienced in his native New Zealand, another hot-bed of rugby. "I suppose I'll just have to come to terms with the level of interest and media interest in the game," he said. This is odd. The intense pressure that comes with coaching the Taffs is one reason plenty of sane people would be leery of taking the job.

Rugby World Cup blogging: well, that was a disappointing weekend wasn't it? For the second tournament in a row both semi-finals went the way I didn't want them so. Such is life. So England vs South Africa it is. Both semi-finals demonstrated that it is easier to win games form a defensive posture than was the case even four years ago. The balance between defence and attack, out of kilter for much of the last decade, has been restored. One could add France's victory over New Zealand and Scotland's at home to England in 2006 as other examples of this trend. On the whole this is healthy for the game.

Sympathy? You gotta be kidding me. The New Zealand press has not - suprise! - taken France's stirring victory in Cardiff yesterday very well. Of course, like their neighbours across the Tasman Sea they're not quite so insufferable in defeat as they are in victory. Even so, schadenfreude* demands that one scour the Kiwi press today: Shattered All Black rugby fans can ease their mental pain by sticking with the World Cup until the bitter end, psychologist Marc Wilson says. Ignoring the tournament in the wake of yesterday's shock 20-18 quarter-final loss to France would not help people get over the All Blacks' early exit, said Dr Wilson, deputy head of Victoria University's psychology school. "I don't think you want to go cold turkey," he said.