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| Painful Rugby Postures |
With respect to the current GG, the announcement of his appointment at the time was greeted with "who?" by a great number of New Zealanders. Sir Anand Satyanand was not a household name but he has fulfilled his duties admirably.
As to the role itself, it is a hangover from colonial days and Singapore has replaced this head of state role with that of President.
What ever you call it, the position is largely ceremonial as the real political power lies with the elected government of the day.
Our new Governor General is to be a recently retired Head of Defence Force, Lieutenant General Jerry Matepara, soon to be known as Sir Jerry Matepara, as a gong goes with the appointment.
Having been in the SAS at one stage of his army career the new GG will no doubt be a dab hand with the sword, which may come in handy for investitures.
The second item of interest is the news that the huge rugby stadium in Christchurch has been badly damaged in the recent earthquake.
This is a real blow to a province that is passionate about its sport and equally adamant that they should retain hosting privileges for the forthcoming Rugby World Cup 2011.
Quite apart from the stability of the stadium itself it appears that the playing pitch has been subject to liquefaction, even creating a bulge in one place.
There may a positive about this raised mound of earth. Perhaps it could replace the plastic kicking tee that the goal kickers use?
At least it would speed up the game if this was done as I for one get tired of watching English backs spending forever in strange postures as they line up the ball for a goal attempt. Their first five, Johnny Wilkinson, always looks as if someone has slipped him a suppository when he crouches over the ball.
I was surprised to discover when we lived in the Republic that rugby is a popular game from a number of Singaporeans. Even though I enjoyed playing the game in my younger days I don't think I would have wanted to do so in the tropical heat
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