Tah's and Wallaby hooker resigns with Australian rugby
“For me, personally I need to get to know (how it feels to have a girlfriend) because that’s obviously what makes them better gentlemen, but I am looking for one for myself. Hopefully, Hanmer can provide.”
– Wallaby Tatafu Polota-Nau dropping a subtle hint to the single girls of Hanmer Springs that he is footloose and fancy free.
“As soon as I got here my rugby mind switched off. I put my feet up on the coffee table, chucked some logs into the fire and just ‘kumbaya-ed’ all night long.”
– Polota-Nau lets any potential girlfriend know he can relax on a Saturday night and have a romantic campfire singalong.
“We lost the toss so we’re playing in black on Tuesday, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of support.”
– Canada coach Kieran Crowley (NZL) hopes the Napier crowd will back them against Japan.
“I think it was a gun of some sort. For security reasons he wasn’t allowed in the stadium with the gun.”
– All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen on captain Richie McCaw’s gift from the players to mark his 100th Test cap against France at Eden Park.
“From my point of view, just because I’ve played with about eight players in the French team, actually I think it’s more like 10, and I know them all personally, I don’t think that was their best team against the All Blacks. So you can’t read too much into that.”
– Tonga captain Finau Maka suggesting then best is yet to come from France.
“We’ve definitely been taking in the environment, the culture, just living and breathing rugby, and watching all the games together. We have a really good team atmosphere and culture so we’ve been enjoying everything.”
– USA captain Todd Clever on why there’s more to rugby than just winning.
“Although we’ve lost, I’ve thrown 100 per cent at every game. If there was one word, it would be, ‘be confident’. Or is that two words?”
– Japan coach John Kirwan (NZL) is down for the count.
“As I’ve said before it’s about the fit blokes. History doesn’t record who played, history records the outcome and there are 22 lucky blokes who get the chance to play. There could be 30 fit blokes and only 22 will get the chance to play. We will have 22 fit blokes.”
– Australia coach Robbie Deans on why he still fits the bill for the Wallabies.
“Go to hell with your question. The goal was and still is to qualify.”
– France coach Marc Lièvremont gets touchy after being asked whether his side can still win the RWC.
“Fifty games for a place like Canada is like 100 matches for any other country. It’s a massive achievement.”
– Canada coach Kieran Crowley on Ryan Smith celebrating his 50th cap.
“I feel sorry for Samoa. We did not put up a good enough fight, so apologies for that.”
Fly half Nicky Little (FJI) extends perhaps unnecessary sympathy to his side’s opponents after Fiji went down 27-7 to the Samoans.