All Blacks eye Grand Slam

November 24, 2005

Full results of last weekend's international test matches here.

The Springboks opened with a convincing victory over Wales at Millenium Stadium, and the Wallabies got off the schnide beating Ireland.

The big news of the weekend was the All Blacks titanic 23-19 victory over England at Twickenham while playing the game's last quarter a man short through three successive yellow-cards. The tough battle will have done the All Blacks a world of good, and you could tell from the delight on their faces when the final whistle blew that this was not an easy contest. Predictably, some peevish British journos are spitting the dummy and calling the Kiwis "cheats" and all sorts of unsavory epithets, but the reality is they were the far superior team, the only side that looked dangerous with the ball, and defended heroically. New Zealand now travels to Murrayfield in Edinburgh to face Scotland and a chance at Grand Slam glory. Right now there are rumours of a freezing blizzard hitting that part of the world, so let's keep our fingers crossed the test isn't cancelled. All Black coach Graham Henry has selected a new lineup with 13 starting changes from the side that played Saturday.

The IRB Awards will be named this weekend...