A break from my usual NASCAR posts for this is sporting story truly worth mentioning.

Last night in Hamilton, New Zealand, the Canadians took on the All Blacks in front of a sellout crowd in what is akin to a little league team playing the Yankees; a whitewash (or "blackwash" since the All Blacks wear, well, all black).

This is a sport where there is only a handful of top teams while the rest get whipped whenever they play the 'big boys' due to Union being only semi-professional in some countries (Canada) and fully-professional in others (New Zealand). Graham Henry, the All Black coach, has come under fire over the last year for deciding to pull 22 players (a full team, including those on the reserve bench) for eight weeks of the Super 14.

The Super 14 is a competition played with 14 teams from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia; three powerhouses in world Rugby. It is all but one step below International level so the standard of play is high as is the skill level. To cut 22 guys from the NZ teams was a bold move and it hurt the Super 14 as the usual high standard of play was missing from the whole tournament...lest us forget about the crowd numbers being down since the best players weren't playing.

When these guys did come back, they were horribly out of form and some of the clubs decided they couldn't afford to have them in the team since they were fighting for playoff spots...so the guys who needed game time weren't getting any; a catch 22 situation in World Cup year.

So leading into the first All Black test a few weeks ago against a depleted French team, we had the situation where some guys were only playing their very first match of the year. A rusty performance was expected and that was exactly what we got...it took a good hour for the AB's to pull away and nearly everyone around where I live where cheering for France (we like to support the underdogs, even if it's at our expense sometimes). The next game was a little bit better, but the team were still woeful in getting their combinations together.

On to last night's match...and boy were we in for a surprise. The All Blacks appeared to be very much "up" for this match if their pre-game Haka was anything to go by (you could almost see the fire in the eyes of Byron Kelleher) and they set about dominating possession and territory for the entire match.

All Black scrumhalf, Byron Kelleher (front left), laying down the challenge in the Haka

Sounds all rather impressive doesn't it?

Thank heavens the Canadians forgot to read the script as they played their hearts out and were tackling like men possessed. The defence on their goal line was outstanding and it was only due to the team being semi-professional that the scoreline didn't do justice to the match.

However, the most incredible story was that moment in the first half; the All Blacks were on full attack, 20 yards away from the Canadian goal line when their flyhalf, Dan Carter, saw an opportunity out wide. Canadian fullback, Mike Pyke, rushed up, desperate to stop the play before it could reach its conclusion and intercepted the pass. He then outpaced the Kiwi speedster, Sitiveni Sivivatu, over the next 80 yards to dot down at the other end and send everyone in the bar where I was watching the game totally wild. James Pritchard kicked the conversion and the score was just 12-10 in favour of the All Blacks.

Canadian fullback, Mike Pyke, busts through the defence

Alas, it was short-lived as the fast pace of the game took its toll and in the second half the Kiwis ran away to win by 64 points to 13.

But those first, magical, 40 minutes will forever live in the minds of all those watching who love nothing more than seeing little brother beat up on big brother.

So have a SoBe (or a Molson) on me boys...you truly deserve it after that stirling effort.