Last Word: Seems everyone is talking about Otago rugby

A conversation...
Two little fairies, one called Positive and one called Negative, met in the forest near Logan Park to discuss the Otago rugby team this week.

I eavesdropped.

Positive Fairy (PF): Hasn't Otago done well this year?

Negative Fairy (NF): Have you been at the nectar again? Explain how Otago is doing well.

PF: Well, the Otago boys are playing with a bit of pride, which is nice to see. Apart from the Canterbury blow-out, they've been really competitive. And they're well in the semifinal hunt with six weeks to go.

NF: In the semifinal hunt! The points table in front of me shows Otago sitting in 10th place with a rank record of two wins from seven games. And since when does pride compensate for a lack of urgency and spark?

PF: Hey, they've scored heaps of bonus points, though. Most in the competition.

NF: Woop-de-do. Nothing like those bonus points for being gallant losers.

PF: You have to admit Otago came close to winning the Ranfurly Shield in the opening round. And how exciting to think a third challenge is a possibility.

NF: That's like saying it's exciting to think about the possibility of watching a third test between the Black Caps and Sri Lanka. You know what the result is going to be.

...about Otago rugby
PF: Boy, that Alando Soakai has had a great season. And Jason Macdonald and Hayden Triggs have been good value, too. As for Ben Smith, he's one of the two best fullbacks in this competition.

NF: Good observations. Just a shame Otago has weaknesses at prop, No 8, first five, second five, centre and one wing.

PF: Karne Hesketh, excitement machine.

NF: Karne Hesketh, score one try and concede two.

PF: Can you believe Otago plays four of its last five games at Carisbrook? Bring on the semifinals!

NF: Carisbrook's hardly been a fortress in recent years. Crowds are so small they rope off some of the stands. Bring on the Glasshouse.

PF: You can't deny Steve Martin has worked hard, sometimes with limited resources, as Otago coach.

NF: Fair call. But you can't deny Otago, under Steve Martin, has won six out of its last 17 games. That's hardly great form for a big five union.

PF: Otago, fifth in the Air New Zealand Cup.

NF: Otago, 11th in the Air New Zealand Cup.

The alliterative XV
The Last Word had a cracking response to its challenge of naming an All Black XV containing players whose first and last names started with the same letter.

Special mention has to be made of Margaret Clearwater, of sunny Oamaru, who named her side plus had a venue (Suncorp Stadium), a referee (Joel Jutge), two assistant referees (Kevin Kelleher and Steve Strydom) and a manager (Samuel Sleigh).

And South Otago reader Ron Neilson got just a little cheeky when he suggested Valerie Vili could be a reserve forward ("You'd only need one") and Harry Houdini might be useful to bring off the bench to "get out of tight spots".

My team follows.

Note I only considered players' common names, so W. "Billy" Wallace was out but W. "Billy" Bush was in. Christian Cullen, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Mils Muliaina, Mark Mayerhofler, Bill Birtwhistle, Bob Burgess, William Wright, Murray Mexted, Maurie McHugh, Jamie Joseph, Albert Anderson, Sam Strahan, Billy Bush, Ian Irvine, Wilson Whineray (captain).

Reserves: Doug Dalton, William Watson, Steve Surridge, Ron Rangi, Tim Twigden, George Gillett, Ben Blair.

Matching numbers
You might have seen the story in the ODT about the Johnston brothers, Ian and Keith, running the Dunedin marathon in memory of their late father.

Keith finished in 3hr 58min 50sec and Ian was right behind in 3hr 59min 1sec.

But what was extraordinary was the correlation between the brothers' race numbers and their placings in the masters men's division.

Keith wore No 38 and finished 38th. Ian wore 39 and finished 39th.

Running for Phil
Another group of runners had a special reason for running the marathon, relay-style, on Sunday.

Fourteen runners, each completing about 3km, ran in honour of the late Phil Cox, the oral surgeon and keen runner who was killed in a car crash in March, aged 58.

Runner and close friend Peter Ashton said the "Runners Remembrance" team was formed from about three different running groups.

They ran to honour Cox but they also had thoughts of about 20 other running mates who had died over the past couple of decades, Ashton said.

The team, running under one number, finished in a combined time of 3hr 29sec - "Some of the guys are now trying to claim that as their personal best."

Arthur Blondell, who was driving the car when he and Cox were hit by a drunk driver near Millers Flat, was part of the team.

He carried the baton across the finish line and presented it to Cox's widow, Jane, Ashton said.

Food of the century
A glossy brochure landed on my desk this week outlining the corporate options for the Tua-Cameron Fight of the Century next month.

After a brief pause to shake my head at the foolishness of PR people who think the ODT sports editor is on silly money, I browsed through the pages.

Various tables are available for the Mystery Creek fight, with Diamond ($16,545 for a table of 10) the most expensive and Platinum ($10,545) the cheapest.

The price includes a five-course meal, with the options including chorizo frittata, salmon fillet, chicken saltimbocca, Turkish fudge torte stack and seared scallop tartlet.

Let the eating, I mean the fighting, begin.

hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz