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Alvin Sallay

Tai Po Dragons RFC youngsters prove they are a match for mighty All Blacks
The All Blacks were upstaged yesterday - not by arch-rivals Australia but a group of youngsters from the Tai Po Dragons Rugby Club.
The budding players performed the haka in front of Richie McCaw and his All Blacks, who will do the real thing on Saturday before the ANZ Hong Kong 2008 Bledisloe Cup kicks off at 4.30pm at the Hong Kong Stadium.
'The hardest thing to teach the kids were the words, but they got the hang of it after two lessons,' said a proud Taiapa Tomlinson, Valley's imported prop this season who taught the Dragons the haka.
The traditional Maori dance was the showpiece of an adidas sponsor's function attended by the All Blacks who had earlier in the day trained in hot conditions.
Watching a bunch of Chinese children perform a ritual which is synonymous with All Blacks rugby would have given skipper McCaw a humbling insight into how   outsiders perceive the world's number-one ranked team.
And that is how McCaw would like the All Blacks to be positioned at the end of the Hong Kong and grand slam tour of Britain which  has been described by coach Graham Henry as the toughest challenge an All Blacks team have ever faced.
McCaw said: 'We are playing five teams in the top eight. It is even harder than the World Cup because  you always have a weak team in your group. It's a big challenge and it's going to take getting every week right.  If we do it right, we've got to give ourselves a chance [of the grand slam].  It would be nice at the end of the year if we were to remain at the top of the rankings. We always aim for these sorts of goals,' McCaw added.
The All Blacks have brought a huge squad of 36 players. But for Saturday's game, Henry has resisted the temptation of making too many changes and has pretty much stuck to the same starting line-up which figured in the Tri-Nations decider against the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Henry realises it's crucial to have a solid start to the tour. If they build momentum right away, then the task of repeating the All Blacks' 2005   sweep of the four Home Nations becomes so much easier.
McCaw agrees: 'It is important we get the first one out of the way.'
Despite having the Bledisloe Cup under lock and key back home, the pressure will still be on, insisted lock forward Ali Williams.
'It is still an All Blacks v Wallabies game and there is no love lost between us. We definitely want a win. There is no such thing as a dead rubber,' said Williams. 'I'm looking forward to it. It will be exciting.'
The excitement will be tinged with a hint of uncertainty for both teams as Hong Kong neutrality will provide a level-playing ground for the first time in the history of the Bledisloe Cup.
'We don't have a clue who the crowd will support. I hope there are 35,000 Kiwis and 5,000 Australian fans in the crowd,' Williams smiled. 'But definitely there is no ground advantage. It will be the same for both of us.'
It is a mouthwatering prospect, even though nothing is on the line with the All Blacks having claimed the Bledisloe Cup this year. But the 'very different' nature of this game will provide the perfect backdrop to hopefully another thriller.
'Yes, Hong Kong is different. I understand the philosophy behind having this game here,' McCaw said. 'The main thing is the guys are excited, and it is better to be excited than not.'
And the excitement was revved up yesterday by the sound of the haka - even if it came from a bunch of kids whose only notion was that it was linked to the famous All Blacks.
'I'm looking forward to doing it for the first time as an All Black,' said debutant winger Hosea Gear.
'All new players are taken through the drill and shown how to do the haka. But in my case, I knew it anyway.'



Hong Kong kids in haka heaven