Rico Gear...a name that many on this site will be scratching their heads over since he doesn't play sports over there. To those who do know who he is, forgive me as I take the time to give a little background information on him.

Rico Gear is a Rugby Union player who plays the game in New Zealand. He is 29 years old so he has another 5 years or so in the sport before he would seriously consider retirement. He's played 17 matches for the All Blacks and was considered by many to be the best winger in the world a couple years ago.

At that stage Rico was playing for Canterbury in the Super 12 having switched from Auckland as he wasn't getting much game time. To do this without creating controversy, he first had to transfer provinces (which Rico duly did by leaving North Harbour for Nelson Bay a couple years ago). Since that time, the provincial competition expanded and Nelson Bay merged with another team and became Tasman.

As an All Black, he doesn't tend to get much game time with his province since he's generally on international duty. In fact, in the last two years Rico has only played six games for Nelson Bay/Tasman. However, his form has dipped a bit and he missed out on selection for the New Zealand World Cup squad which was announced a couple weeks ago...but even allowing for the slight drop off in performance, many thought that choice was rather harsh.

Rico's contract with New Zealand Rugby runs out after the World Cup this year and he has decided to pack up his family and head to Europe (about 20 000 miles away) to play for the Worcester Warriors on a three-year deal.

Now you're probably sitting there going "yeah, so?"

Here's the thing. Rico has kicked up a fuss about having to play for Tasman this year in the provincial championship, so much so that the club has just let him go and play for Canterbury instead as Tasman don't want someone who doesn't want to play for them in their team. He has said that it was too hard on his personal life to travel to and from Nelson to see his family.

Ok, I can respect that.

But it's less than a two hour flight between Nelson and Christchurch...and you only play three games a year for Tasman...and you're making a far bigger move by going overseas in a few months anyway...you're a hypocrite, Rico.

More than that, you have lost my respect and from what I've heard on the radio today, a heck of a lot of other fans' respect too. People have come out and said they hope you never play for the All Blacks again and that they're very glad you're leaving in a few months.

The sadist in me is hoping he plays for Canterbury in the game against Tasman...and he better wear earplugs and protective equipment because it ain't going to be pretty.

Rico Gear, you get my vote for #### of the year.

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.