From the Touchline
A lighter look at what is happening at Rugby World Cup 2011.
The numbers
22 - Wales' Shane Williams has now scored 22 international tries since the end of RWC 2007, the most by any player in the world ahead of Japan's Takashi Kikutani (21).
13,000 - Jonathan Sexton's drop goal that put Ireland in front 6-3 against Australia broke the RWC 13,000-point barrier. The tally was 12,993 at the start of the match.
Dram fine vintage
Rugby fans keen on a wee dram are in for a treat with the release of a rare New Zealand whisky.
Pause, Hold, Engage is a single malt that has been maturing since 1987, the All Blacks' World Cup-winning year. Labelling portrays a rugby scrum and referee, while on the back label it says "NOT aged in French oak" in a not-so-subtle dig at New Zealand's RWC nemesis.
New Zealand laws do not allow the distillation of whisky and the cache, produced at the defunct Willowbank Distillery in Dunedin, is a leftover from the latter of the two periods, 1869-72 and 1973-97, when it was legal.
Seven barrels of the cratur were unearthed by the New Zealand Whisky Company, which is selling it in 750ml cask strength (53.3 per cent proof) and 150ml diluted (40 per cent proof) bottles.
Spokesman John Evans is hopeful connoisseurs will snap up stocks by the time New Zealand win their second Web Ellis Cup. After 24 years, that really would be something to drink to.
Piping up
The opportunity to play for the Scotland team at their community event at Lower Hutt on Sunday was greatly appreciated by the youngsters of the City of Wellington Pipe Band.
They couldn't wait to put bagpipes down and pick up their autograph books as the training and the raining both stopped at the same time and the players mingled with the hundreds of fans in attendance.
"We finally get to play for some actual Scots, and look who they are," gushed piper Megan Luckin, 17. "We get to play for them and meet them; it's fantastic."
Haka'd off
Springboks head coach Peter de Villiers was impressed to see a native haka and learn about its rich history on a team trip to Opotaka, site of the first performance of the ka mate challenge made famous by generations of All Blacks.
However, de Villiers went on to say that, on the rugby park at least, he thought the ubiquity of the haka was diminishing its intensity.
"People are becoming so used to it, it is not a novelty any more and they don't respect it," he said.
The coach’s comments regularly divide opinion and his views on the haka, naturally, were no different.
Asked for his thoughts on de Villiers’ comments, All Blacks centre Ma’a Nonu said: "That's one man's opinion. We do it because we want to and it's part of our history, our tradition and we're proud of it, so I don't really care what he thinks."
Clawed by Gorgodzilla
Georgia’s Mamuka Gorgodze is not someone you would want to meet in a dark alley ... or a floodlit rugby pitch, for that matter.
The giant forward, man of the match against England in Dunedin on Sunday, is strong enough and fast enough to play second row, number 8 and flanker. In case anyone doubts his fearsome credentials, his nickname is "Gorgodzilla". But he may have met his match.
As England’s Manu Tuilagi burst through for a try in his team’s 41-10 win at Otago Stadium, Gorgodzilla slashed his claws across the centre’s face as he ran past.
But a blow that would have left lesser men phoning their plastic surgeons had to be pointed out to Tuilagi the next day.
“I didn’t feel anything, I didn’t think anyone touched me when I scored,” the bemused centre remarked.
Aussies off the boos
There was a not a boo to be heard when Australia held an open training session in Wellington on Monday.
There were even gold jerseys and scarves being worn by some of the locals, including members of a Samoan family who said they "just wanted to support rugby, no matter what the team".
Quade Cooper and his best mates Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor were particular hits with the teenage girls in the crowd, while one girl with a map of New Zealand tattooed on one arm showed trans-Tasman loyalty by wearing a yellow singlet top with flanker David Pocock's name and number written on the back.
The write stuff
Bryan Habana does not need a ball in his hands to impress fans.
The Springboks flying machine provoked an awestruck reaction from spectator Darren Tiplady, who, along with his wife and four children, was among hundreds of autograph hunters who braved wet and gloomy conditions to meet the South Africa squad after training at Owen Delaney Park in Taupo on Monday.
"He even signs fast," said Tiplady after Habana scribbled his name on the back of his daughter's shirt.