From the Touchline

A lighter look at Rugby World Cup 2011.

Numbers

3 - Pool-winning teams were eliminated in the quarter-finals at RWC 2011, a record.

36 - Brad Thorn became the oldest All Black (36 years 249 days) to score points in a Test match when he went over for New Zealand's second try against Argentina on Sunday.

126 - The total points scored in the weekend's four quarter-finals was the fewest at this stage of any RWC.

He said it

"He was whitebaiting when I talked to him today. He's been running up and down the side of a river. One of the criteria of selection was two pound of whitebait. So there's always some benefits."
- New Zealand coach Graham Henry on the preparedness of fly half Stephen Donald, who is joining the All Blacks squad as a replacement for the injured Colin Slade.

Matt's not finished

Australia media manager Matt McIlraith was asked shortly after his team's heart-stopping quarter-final against South Africa in Wellington whether he would be organising any media opportunities for the victorious Wallabies on Monday.

“Probably something in Auckland later tomorrow but who knows,” he said. “A moment ago I was thinking we’d be doing something in Sydney. Ten minutes is a long time in this business.”

Sock it to him

Springboks inside centre Jean de Villiers gets the award for good guy of the quarter-finals after giving a young fan his match socks.

The little fellow was leaning over the tunnel and asked for a souvenir as de Villiers signed an autograph after his team's defeat to Australia. Two minutes later de Villiers emerged from the dressing room in bare feet to toss the rolled-up garments to the grateful lad, who has an almost unbeatable, if somewhat smelly, show and tell for school this week.

Dave's a rave

If you have ever wondered what assistant referees do when they are waiting in the tunnel to go back on to the field after half-time, ponder no more.

As he waited for Sunday night’s hostilities at Wellington Regional Stadium to resume, England’s Dave Pearson played air guitar with his flag to Bon Jovi's  Living on a Prayer, which was belting over the public address system.

And after their improbable 11-9 triumph, the Australia squad could be forgiven for thinking they are "halfway there, living on a prayer".

Tuilagi's charity swim

Manu Tuilagi's dip in Auckland harbour on Sunday night has at least produced a small windfall for the RWC Christchurch Appeal.

The England centre's leap into the water from the Waiheke Island ferry earned him a warning from police for disorderly behaviour and a 3,000 pounds sterling (6,000 New Zealand dollars) fine from his team managers.

Samoa-born Tuilagi, who was released without charge, expressed his remorse. “I’m really sorry. It was a silly thing to do and I apologise to everybody for any inconvenience caused.”  England manager Martin Johnson said: “Manu has been disciplined internally and I have warned him about his future conduct."

The fine will be paid to the fund which was set up last month to help restore Canterbury's rugby infrastructure after the 22 February earthquake.

Anyone for cricket?

Could it be that England's Dylan Hartley and James Haskell are thinking of changing sports?

After being stumped for answers on how to beat France, the pair were seen poring over the cricket equipment in an Auckland sports store.

Minutes later England manager Martin Johnson walked in looking much calmer than he had on Saturday night, when his players might have been hit for six had a sturdy willow bat been at hand.

Putting the 'bot in

Standing more than two metres tall and boasting legs of steel, a high-tech rugby robot matched All Blacks legend Andrew Mehrtens in a goalkicking competition at Auckland's Victoria Park on Monday.

The former fly half and three specifically engineered robots were each given four chances to slot a place kick. Mehrtens and a challenger called Robo Dan both managed to get three through the posts.

“It's a tough ask for the robots because I've been doing this all my life and they were probably only born a few weeks back. I didn't want to make them feel too bad," said Mehrtens.

The robots, designed by students at Canterbury University and Massey University, did not just kick the ball, they also showed off a few familiar mannerisms.

“We looked at the mannerisms of players like Jonny Wilkinson, which might be why we only got a draw," said Professor Johan Potgieter of Massey University.

“But we tried to copy them. Moving eyes, looking at the posts.

“A draw is not bad. Our robot is pretty young and Andrew is not so young so we’re pretty happy with the result. Next time Andrew won’t be so lucky.”