Week Three Retrospective - Andrew

Lessons from Round Three:

TR stars: Mtawarira (300), Sivivatu (395), M. Steyn (480), McCaw (325)

TR slackers: Botha (55), Thorn (60), J. Smith (70), De Villiers (95), Habana (70), Pietersen (55), F. Steyn (45)

New Zealand rugby is in a shambles, with the All Blacks making more rudimentary errors than the average schoolboy side, but Graham Henry and the Kiwi masses can surely take some solace in their team's Test Rugby performance. En masse they outscored the Springboks, had more players in the top 20 earners this round, and the highest scoring LK, LF, CT and top three OBs. The lesson being, even if you think the Wallabies will lose next week, don't shy from picking them.

Morne Steyn's goal kicking was tremendous and only a fool would denigrate him, but... subtract the points for those kicks and that gift of a try and he only made 155 - by comparison, McAllister scored 100 in his 35 minute appearance when the same formula is applied. In my opinion, Steyn's distribution, defence and attack threat are still lesser than Pienaar's, who'll hopefully reclaim his starting spot next week but probably won't.

I feel vindicated in predicting not a single pass reaching Habana and Pietersen. I certainly didn't see one, unless you count the pass that De Villiers chucked ten feet behind Habana late in the second half - but that may have been intended for the assistant ref. It's a crying shame when one of the world's best players doesn't put a foot wrong and still makes half the points of a hamfisted (possibly drunk?) Rokocoko. The stats don't lie and this round the All Blacks' backline scored a combined 655, compared to a whopping 170 from Habana, Pietersen and F. Steyn (thank you Morne Steyn). Scarcity of transfers means I'll still have Habana in my team next week and I'd love to see him rack up the points but I don't hold out much hope. For future reference, follow the example of their teammates and avoid Bok wingers like the plague.

If you haven't bought some Wallabies yet then do it while you can. Their prices are rising fast and will continue to do so. I gambled on most of the positions and have nearly a complete team for next week. It may come back to haunt me, but my team value has increased by over $400,000 already.