OK, so first cab off the rank this week, your favourite, and mind, Chris Rattbrain, who still has his anti Henry ulcer brewing nicely.  The English scribes don't have to come up with excuses for their losses these days, they have their pet human Rattfink to do it for them.  Perhaps Rattface is in fact S Jones, but then he's not actually clever enough to be ole Walrus Face in disguise.  The opning paragraph gives it away - you know it is all going to go downhill from here;

"Largely clueless and bumbling England were robbed at Eden Park, not of a definite victory of course, but certainly of any remote chance they had".

Anyway, Rattshite gives the All Blacks a 21 point bufffer thanks to the match officials.  Sivivatu's foot in touch from the kickoff (All Blacks scored try from the next scrum), the Nonu forward pass to Muliaina (know your laws Chris, before you spout shite), and the 'knock on' from Carter.  I supose he could call that one, he did after all have a much better view of the incident than the three match officials who were on the paddock.  Anyway, another pile of poisonous bile from the man we love to hate.  Or just hate...  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10516529

Wynn Gray seems to have fallen off the hate wagon this week, and like the rest of us, is probably enjoying watching rugby, and being able to report on that, instead of news that is months, and months, and months old...  A pretty balanced piece worth reading.  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10516528

Gray saves up his ammo for an attack on England though in a piece that will make interesting reading for the NH lads of the Fern;

"England remain one of rugby's great frauds".

He's not far off the mark though, 2003 side being a blip on the radar - a bloody good blip though if you're a Pom.  A few itnerseting comments and quotes from the Cartel - the All Blacks operating at 50% at the moment has got to send chills through the backbones of the English...  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=10516531

Steve Deane gets hard for the new look All Black midfield pairing;

"Two tests, two convincing displays from the new All Blacks midfield pairing of Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith."

True too, and more good comments from the Cartel, Nonu certainly seems to be in the good books at the moment.  Fair enough too, the makeup is gone, the decision making has arrived, and his defence has been strong over the two tests so far.  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=10516527

More of the same from Gregor Paul - the midfield really getting the wraps from the media, and more importantly, the Cartel...  http://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/story.cfm?c_id=116&objectid=10516443

McCaw promises a better performance next week in Christchurch, writes Jim Kayes.  Hansen also promises a better lineout performance, which is pretty handy, as winning 13, and losing 7 is not a great percentage...  http://www.stuff.co.nz/4584903a10295.html

Big Jim also brings us Henry lambasting the England scrum;

"If both sides went out to scrum, you would get a much better platform to use the ball from and it would be a much better spectacle. It just makes it messy if you are not competing all the time at scrum time."

Harsh calls from Henry, but certainly not off the cuff, already starting the mind games before the second test in Christchurch...  http://www.stuff.co.nz/4585026a10295.html

Still on the subject of Nonu, he seems to be fitting into the 12 jersey nicely - Chris Barclay gives us some background info...  http://www.stuff.co.nz/4585428a10295.html

Duncan Johnstone brings up an interesting point - where has the depth gone in New Zealand rugby - well, we know where it has gone, chasing pound signs, but thanks to rotation, we have a second tier of players who have stepped into the breach, but after that, the cupboard is bare;

"The loss of top talent has given a rather flimsy look to Henry's overall squad for the first time in his reign."

How to fix this, can we fix this, time to start rotating perhaps, but not on such a large scale...?  http://www.rugbyheaven.co.nz/4585770a22363.html

Greg Somerville the stop gap at tighthead before he heads north at the end of this year.  Not all bad though Hansen does not seem too concerned;

"We shouldn't forget John Afoa – he played bloody well last week, and we're pretty lucky at the moment."

A good article on the yeoman All Black prop though, and he'll be one of the few All Blacks that gets wished well when he leaves these shores - unlike our mates Nick Evans and Luke McAlister...  http://www.rugbyheaven.co.nz/4584810a22363.html