A round-up of today's other Rugby news in brief...
All Black connections
IT'S A matter of considerable pride on Dublin's northside that former All Black and current Leicester Tigers centre Aaron Mauger once played a season for the Suttonians club as a teenager. The family connection with Ireland doesn't end there though. Aaron's older brother, Nathan - he won two caps for New Zealand - broke his leg while playing against Ireland in the 1999 Under-21 World Cup in Argentina.
Stretching the link still further, the Maugers are nephews of former All Blacks Graeme and Stephen Bachop. The latter benefited from the lax laws regarding representing more than one country to play for both New Zealand and Manu Samoa, but he also found time to play some club rugby in Ireland with Blackrock College.
On the up in Upper Hutt
NEW ALL Black Alby Mathewson, called out to replace the injured Andy Ellis, becomes the second player in the New Zealand touring party to have been born in Upper Hutt.
Situated 30km north east of Wellington, Upper Hutt is the smallest city in New Zealand in terms of population but the second largest in land mass.
There's no doubting its two most famous sons now, fullback Cory Jane and Mathewson. The latter is really looking forward to hooking up with the squad and - when he gets back - to a party in Upper Hutt.
"I've been texting (fullback) Cory Jane a bit and he says they're all friendly and make you feel welcome. So it should be quite easy to fit in. The Mayor (of Upper Hutt, Wayne Guppy) actually rang me this morning. He said he's going to hold a function for us when we got back. Cory keeps saying he's the mayor of Upper Hutt and I'm his PA."
Definitely not a Barnes stormer
THE IRB referees' boss Paddy O'Brien may have given English referee Wayne Barnes a pass mark for his officiating of the weekend's Test between Scotland and New Zealand at Murrayfield on Saturday but he is definitely in a minority.
All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen was diplomatic in his appraisal of Barnes' performance. "If I said what I thought I'd get fined. There's no point trying to bag someone, it's not good for the game, for us or various referees that you're frustrated with.
"It's pointless me sitting here moaning about the ref. We can't control what the ref does. We can talk to Paddy (O'Brien) and give our views and if he sees issues, he'll work with his refs. There are proper channels and we'll go through those proper channels."
The New Zealand Herald journalist Gregor Paul was less circumspect, his view shared by several of the Scottish media too. Paul wrote: "The Blacks will leave Edinburgh having failed to answer some key questions. They got the job done in terms of producing the desired result but it was only half a performance.
"The enterprise and resistance of the Scots was a big factor in diluting the quality of the All Blacks' work, as was referee Wayne Barnes, who really should be thanked for his contribution and then encouraged into a new career - one that doesn't afford him any authority."
South African Mark Lawrence will referee Saturday's game between Ireland and New Zealand at Croke Park.
Ireland hold on to eighth place
WHILE THE defeats of Scotland and Italy by New Zealand and Australia ensure that Ireland remain in eighth place in the IRB world rankings, France's 12-6 triumph over Argentina in Marseille has seen them climb one place to sixth, with the Pumas sliding one to fifth below England.
The narrow victory increases France's rating points to 80.13 and sees them swap places with Wales, who suffered a 20-15 loss to world champions South Africa. Argentina had occupied fourth position, albeit only by two tenths from England, and so defeat by a lower-ranked side means these two swap places.
The IRB world rankings as they stand on November 30th will be used to seed the 12 automatic qualifiers from RWC 2007 for the Pool Allocation Draw for the 2011 tournament the following day.
Doubles up but must try harder
TWO IRELAND players have managed to score a brace of tries in a single Test match against New Zealand. The former St Mary's College centre Vinny Cunningham achieved the feat in the first of two Tests in the summer of 1992, a match Ireland lost 24-21.
They weren't given a snowball's chance but in the end came agonisingly close to breaking the Irish duck.
Five years later at Lansdowne Road, Keith Wood scored two tries, a fine personal effort but no doubt massively diluted in the context of the match.
Ireland were thumped 63-15 by the All Blacks.
• We don't take down the scrums; we try very hard to keep them up."- New Zealand coach Graham Henry is a little riled by an accusation that the All Blacks don't play by the rules.
