Msgr Bell, from St Mary's Catholic Church, was assigned as chaplain to the French rugby team for this year's tournament and while Les Bleus didn't seek his involvement, he still felt compelled to support the players.

Speaking at a Rotary Club of Wanganui meeting yesterday, Msgr Bell said he set about "loitering with intent" at the team's hotel and training sessions in the North Shore.

Pupils at St Pat's Town in Kilbirnie emerged from the school hall chanting "All Blacks" after the school called an early end to their punishment this afternoon.

When things got worse after the rout by Tonga, the faithful took out their weapon of last resort: they invoked St Rita, the patron saint of impossible causes.

And they have Mary on their side too, Notre Dame du Rugby. If the oval ball has a home of the soul, it is Our Lady of Rugby, a tiny chapel near the village of Larriviere-St-Savin, a shrine to rugby as an example of the Christian spirit, it has a stained-glass window where the Virgin Mary gazes beatifically at a scrum at her feet.

They ranked the 20 countries competing in the international rugby competition based on various social indicators, pointing to social equality or inequality.They then compiled all the rankings for each indicator to arrive at an overall ranking for each team.

They say they are not knocking international sporting competitions. But they want to see the positive values on the sporting field - fairness, an equal chance of success, unbiased refereeing - reflected in the social world. So that everyone has a chance, on a level playing field, to fulfil their potential.

Lakan is a Year 8 student at Thorndon School in Wellington and a rugby fan. He attends Mass at Te Kainga Catholic Marae. Here is his blog.

For all of you who are still moaning at Wales vs France. Wales may seem to be a fairer team on the field but when we look at the stats of equality, Wales gets knocked out like Kevin Mealamu and Tana Umaga clearing Brain O'Driscoll out of the ruck.

France is ranked no.5 on equality, while Wales is ranked 9th. In most countries rugby union is only played by the richer classes and soccer is more working class. Even though rugby is the national sport in Wales, it still has an effect. What does that mean? It means the gap between the rugby players and the football players is much smaller. No wonder Wales kicked like the pass of a Japanese hooker.

France also ranked No. 2 on gender inequality and No. 3 on happy planet which means they had a whole penny to enjoy, not a Halfpenny. Neither team is very innocent when it comes to military spending, but yet again France salutes its hands and smashes the ball right out of the line-out and into their hands. Wales only managed to break the line and get some points on the board is because Wales is a more peaceful country, has a less corrupt government and something that deserves a try, they are great at working with aid.

Wales lost. Get over it. If Wales were the great team we've been raving about then they would have been able to play without Sam Warburton. Yes it damaged their scrum and line-out, but wasn't it Mike Phillips who was the magic man?

Wales had at least 3 scoring opportunities in the game to take the lead but they Sonny Billed them like they were Quade Cooper. So if you look at the facts again you'll see a much different score. Instead of France skimming up a close encounter with a 14 man squad, they get away with a comfortable victory and a well deserved spot in the final.

France won and I cheered.

Go All Blacks!

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Image: Fox Sport

"I'm no wowser" says Nathan Burdon. "During my playing days I enjoyed the social side of rugby as much as anyone, but I was very much an amateur, with few pretensions about ever going any further in the game".

"Call me naive, but the stories of boozing rugby teams that have come out during this World Cup have left me baffled," he says. "If you were asked whether you would give up six weeks of the sauce for the chance to become a living legend, a figure to be revered for generations to come, what would your response be?"

There are those who say things are much better than they used to be so "get real". Martin Johnson says he has drawn three main conclusions from controversy that engulfed him:

1. International rugby will be a sadder, sorrier place if players cannot knock back one too many at the bar on a rare free evening. "Rugby player drinks beer: shocker,"
2. With mobile phone cameras clicking a hundred times a minute and security videos finding their way on to the internet in the time it takes a man to swallow the last of his spirit-based shots, drinking is very different in New Zealand now, than it in was when the Lions were here in 1993.
3. If the attention on leading players becomes such that managers have no option but to keep them away from the general sporting public, by locking them in their rooms if necessary - he would rather push off and do something else. "I'd rather be at this kind of event and enjoy the atmosphere around it."

Senior Islamic figures say people are seeking them out for insights into the All Black's preparations for the Rugby World Cup.

While refusing to comment further on the matter, a member of Australian team management confirmed that the directive, with specific reference to biblical passages, was included in the IRB's most recent weekly update circulated to all teams.

Wallaby winger Digby Ioane, a devout Christian, said: "I don't write Bible passages on my strapping but I know a lot of guys from other teams who do.

"They are saying that you can draw a cross but any words you have to write down and take it to the manager who has to show it to the IRB. I'm just glad they haven't told me to take my tattoos off."

Pompallier Catholic College principal Richard Stanton said the school term changes would disadvantage this year's NCEA students. "Instead of having four weeks at school in term four to work towards external exams, students will have only eight school days," he said

"This is far from an ideal learning situation for students sitting exams and may detract from our usual excellent results."

Other Northland College principals agree with Stanton, but all are also agreed that there have be some positives spin off's from the World cup competition

Source

• The New Zealand Herald
• Image: AKT

In the course of Britain's colonial rule so many Indians were imported to work in the cane fields, that by the time independence came around there were, in Fiji, almost equal numbers of indigenous Fijians and ethnic Indians. They lived in separate communities, their children attended separate schools and they practised different religions. Their political system was organised on racial lines, so that no matter what the outcome of the election, one group felt excluded.

Read Denis O'Hagan's Blog

Denis O'Hagan is a Marist priest and one of the editors of the online e-newsletters CathNews New Zealand and CathNews Pacific.

Godzone is a re-vamped version of the Gospel of Luke, featuring the text of the New Testament interspersed with the life stories of 10 international players whose lives have been transformed by their Christian faith.

Past and present players - including All Black Thorn, Fijian captain Deacon Manu, Black Fern Doris Taufateau, Scottish prop Euan Murray, Wallabies flanker David Pocock and former captain Nick Farr-Jones - describe their paths to faith in the book, of which 25,000 copies have been published.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

Caritas Aotearoa New Zealand's rankings rate Japan champion in terms of social justice and equality. While being one of the world's richest nations, Japan and its corporations have done remarkably well with the national distribution of this wealth, making it the most equal of all 20 nations in this tournament. Japan is a global leader in this respect - to the point that the Wall Street Journal and economists like Amartya Sen say that Japan is ‘the only communist nation that works'!

Read Nick Borthwick's Blog

As the chaplain assigned to the Italian rugby team which meets Russia at Trafalgar Park tonight, he will be quietly praying for a better result than a fishing expedition he took part in on Tasman Bay last Saturday.

Equippers Church in Masterton has set up a cinema screen to watch the rugby action in an alcohol-free, family atmosphere.

In his column Brian Rudman points out that God is getting in again via the back door as it were as a result of the growing practice of involving the Tangata Whenua in civil rituals.

With the epidemic of blessings that has erupted as part of the rugby circus, "jet-lagged visitors could be forgiven for thinking the pilot had taken a wrong turning and landed in the Vatican Republic by mistake." he says

Read Rudman's Column
Image: The Fairfacts Media Show.

Brian Rudman is a journalist and regular editorial contributor to The New Zealand Herald, New Zealand's largest daily newspaper.

The service in St Andrew's Presbyterian Church was attended by US dignitaries, including the US Ambassador to New Zealand David Huebner.

Hundreds of people filled the church and the nearby hall and the service was full of emotional reminders of the significance of the day and of US patriotism.

The carrying in of the US flag, the rousing rendition of The Star Spangled Banner and the US Marine Corps Forces Pacific Band's trumpeter signalling Taps and Reveille were all moments appreciated by visiting Americans and their New Zealand hosts.

The welcome to the church for the Eagles squad drew a round of applause from the congregation.

Source

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Fox News.com

The topless parade featuring women riding on motorcycles, was scheduled for the same day as the Rugby World Cup game between France and the All Blacks, Saturday September 24.

The 30 strong squad features 21 overseas-based players. "It's a team literally from around the globe - all over Europe, Japan, France, New Zealand and Australia, as well as quite a few of us in the UK - and logistically it has been a bit of a nightmare getting us all in one place at one time," says captain Deacon Manu

"Services are important for us as a team. Training hard and then a church service has brought us close", says Manu, who was raised in Taranaki

"We are a team that play hard but we always take that spiritual aspect with us on to the field; it's part of the Fiji culture. It's different to a lot of other teams but it's a huge part of the guys' growing up."

Source

• New Zealand Herald
• Image: Yahoo Sport

"If Jesus was here today why wouldn't he come back as an All Black?" asks the Anglican Dean of Wellington Frank Nelson. Why is it that images of Jesus always seem to to show him belonging to another age? The renaissance artists did not hesitate to depict Him dressed as a man of their times.

The porteños, as the people of the citizens of Buenos Aires are known, are 90% Catholic and the main city cathedral is a magnificent building. In one ornate alcove stands a statue of Jesus that all Portenos know as Jesus Christ of Football Players, as every championship year the national team comes here to pray before heading overseas to contest the soccer World Cup.

Argentina won the Cup in 1928, but has not been able to repeat the victory since, hence the need for solemn prayer.

Nelson says the purpose of an icon in St Paul's was to make people think about one of the central beliefs of Christianity - that God, in Christ, became human.

• Buy statues of Jesus playing sport on Catholic Shoppe (Sorry no rugby ones)
• Watch an interview "Jesus comes out of retirement to coach Fantasy Football" - YouTube
• He played League too!

Source

• Capital Times
• The Wanganui Chronicle
• Have a look at orignal image