Well I found it eventually, the USA beat Russia in last nights 'cold war' clash, and it was cold and very wet and windy!

This was relatively unimportant news compared to the news that a few All Blacks have stiff legs and won't be taking the field tonight against Japan.

Today’s New Zealand Herald front page reads ‘Rugby Hell-Oh no, not again – star All Blacks injured” and Rugby Heaven reads ‘What’s Going On Ted’ and open question to All Blacks coach Graham Henry. The articles basically read that with injured players, interruptions and unexpected setbacks the anxiety levels are rising in the All Black’s camp – come on guys you’ve only played one game against Tonga (7 days ago) whilst the likes of Namibia, Canada and ourselves have already played two games and preparing for our third. That’s a reality of the World Cup for the less developed rugby nations, the USA pool games will be all done and dusted in a 16 day period, the top tier teams take a more leisurely pace…stopping at places like Queenstown to recover on their way!

We are not moaning, we are having a great time, enjoying every minute of this awesome event, we understand the realities and are happy to embrace the challenges that our schedule brings.

So back to the All Blacks, they have 4 of their starting line-up sidelined for tonight’s game against a second string Japanese team, the game should be a walk in the park, the injured players will have another weeks recovery and normal service will be resumed. Today’s newspaper does however highlight a certain vulnerability that will not be missed by the players and coaches of South Africa, Australia, England, France and others. It doesn’t appear to take much to knock the All Blacks out of their rhythm, the media sensationalize, the people of New Zealand have their say and the team become anxious – a spiral they need to avoid at all costs.

As for the Eagles, they had a wonderful evening last night beating Russia 13-6 and to be honest making life harder for themselves than they needed to, but a game against Russia at anything is going to be fiercely contested. Congratulations to the whole team, coaches and management for their performances to date, you are a credit to the game in the USA.

As for the supporters, in France in 2007, it was sometimes hard to see a USA Flag amongst the see of the Tier 1 supporters, well not at this World Cup – the USA supporters are probably one of the highlights of the event. They arrived in New Plymouth this week dressed in red, white and blue. Last night they stood on the terraces singing their hearts out in the pouring rain….we are all so proud of you and the support you have given to the team.

This morning the players have a pool recovery session, then it’s a well earned day off and a chance to relax and take things easy. Next stop is Wellington and the Australians, one thing is for certain we will get massive support from the locals, as will anybody playing Australia at this years event!

Just a very special night in Taranaki, and a huge thanks to our hosts in New Plymouth.