The Mike Hosking Breakfast

Cameron McMillan looks at five takeaways from the All Blacks' 16-16 draw with the Wallabies in Wellington.
Drop goals continue to be ignored
With the scores locked up and time expired, amazingly both teams had it there for the taking. Australia shaped up for a drop goal but didn't take it before the All Blacks went down the other end and did the same thing.
Richie Mo'unga briefly stood in the pocket with the posts right in front of him but he didn't receive the ball. Instead the test ended with the ball being spread out wide and knocked on metres short of the line. Sound familiar?
You only have to go back to 2018 when the All Blacks lost to the Springboks also in Wellington. Gregor Paul wrote a column at the time headlined 'All Blacks need to change mindset when it comes to drop goals' and the side appeared to when Beauden Barrett kicked two in consecutive tests against England and Ireland later that year.
If the All Blacks aren't going to kick a drop goal five metres out right in front of the posts with scores tied and time expired, then I'm not sure when they ever will again.
Let's stop with the one-hand groundings
Bridge passing on his outside to Rieko Ioane on the left-hand wing and it appeared having three world-class wings on the field was a masterstroke by Ian Foster, although replays showed Ioane was lucky to get away with putting a foot in touch in the lead-up to Jordie Barrett's five-pointer.
Ioane then produced a clanger with his botched grounding on halftime. Instead of the All Blacks going up possibly 15-3 at the break it remained 8-3 because of the pointless display of showmanship.
He's still got a decent strike rate after pulling it off 25 out of 26 times but it's probably time to put away the one-hander grounding and switch to the classic breadbasket dive.
88 minute games are better than 80
The test did have its moments but the final eight minutes from Reece Hodge hitting the post to Jordie Barrett's final knock-on, was real heart in your mouth stuff. It was pseudo golden point and seemed never-ending.
Here's a brief breakdown post the post being hit:
- The All Blacks recovered from defending on their own line after an Ardie Savea turnover (which arguably saved them from defeat).
- The All Blacks botched an attacking lineout (a rare set-piece mistake in a crucial spot).
- The Wallabies got to halfway before knocking on.
- The All Black surged to five metres short of the tryline before Karl Tu'inukuafe knocked on.
- The Wallabies lost it again after a short advantage.
- The All Blacks managed to knock it on one more time to end the test.
I can't think of a more compelling stretch to finish a test match, let alone any game of rugby where both teams had a chance to win it after the 80-minute mark.
Sam Cane is going to lead by example
The new All Blacks skipper made 25 tackles, nine more than anyone else in the test. An impressive workload for the All Black number seven who didn't miss any tackle attempts. He also beat more defenders (one) than second-five Jack Goodhue who had a very quiet test with four metres gained from his four carries. Aaron Smith's performance was also noteworthy. He was outstanding during Super Rugby Aotearoa so it should be no surprise that in his ninth All Blacks' season that the halfback remains one of the best on the field.
Day time rugby is the best
Apologies to Northern Hemisphere fans who had to get up in the early hours on a Sunday but 4pm Sunday is a great time for test rugby. A shame the test wasn't a sell-out but maybe we could put that down to lingering Covid fears in the capital. It was also great to have the Wellington gale playing its part once again.

Was the biggest winner Dave Rennie?
Last time I looked at Australia and their rugby side, I didn’t take them that seriously. Australian rugby pre-Covid had been in a world of trouble from the top down.  Raelene Castle, Israel Folau, sponsors, losses, the Rugby Championship, Australia was in a world of pain in a country where league and AFL trounced union.
Rennie, assuming they carry on to play like they did yesterday, is proof coaches make a genuine, tangible difference.
And what yesterday was about for most of us, I think, was some sort of return to normality. All Black rugby was not a forgone conclusion this year, it was possible that Ian Foster and Sam Cane would have new jobs, but would not actually execute them before year's end.
It was a return to normality in front of a crowd. And it was a reminder of sport that's played well and heavily contested is no forgone conclusion. The greatest joy is you don’t know how it's going to end. Like Australia as a country, and Australia as an economy, when they do well, we enjoy it.
There is no fun in making fun of a country that can't play the game the way they used to, and there is no fun in knowing how it's going to end.
So those last 10 or so minutes are as good as it gets. When you're kicking from behind the halfway line and it hits the post and the game is on the line, that's what you live for as a fan. The only sadness was Australia kicked it out to end the game, which was a chink in the psychological armour. Why didn’t they back themselves? Sides of old would have, sides of old would have rather have gone down fighting than choose a draw.
But on the bigger picture, the crowd, where were they? 35,000 isn't a massive stadium, this is the All Blacks, and their first match all year, so why no sellout? Was the grey day, the rain and the wind, and the empty seats a sign of what we have become? A fearful nation in a world of psychological and economic pain?
Something is wrong when a Bledisloe Cup test doesn’t sell out. When the All Blacks play to empty yellow seats, it's not right. Let's see how Auckland goes on Sunday.
But take those 10 or 15 minutes at the end, take Australia and their ability to reinvent, take Dave Rennie and know he's yet another one of ours plying their trade globally at the highest level, and all in all, that was an awesome Sunday afternoon.

THE BEST BITS IN A SILLIER PACKAGE (from Monday's Mike Hosking Breakfast) Who Wants to Be a Plant?/Another Better Breakfast/Unimpressed By Test/Entertainment Is Dead/Why Are We Still Here?

President Donald Trump on Sunday declared he was healthy enough to return to the campaign trail, a day after the White House doctor said he was no longer at risk of transmitting the coronavirus but did not say explicitly whether Trump had tested negative for it.
Trump, who was poised Monday to host his first rally after his COVID-19 diagnosis, declared he was now "immune" from the virus, a claim that was impossible to prove and comes amid a series of outstanding questions about the president's health.
"I'm immune," Trump said in an interview on Fox News. "The president is in very good shape to fight the battles."
In a memo released Saturday night by the White House, Navy Cmdr. Dr. Sean Conley said Trump met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention criteria for safely discontinuing isolation and that by "currently recognized standards" he was no longer considered a transmission risk. The memo did not declare Trump had tested negative for the virus.
But sensitive lab tests — like the PCR test cited in the doctor's statements — detect virus in swab samples taken from the nose and throat. Some medical experts had been skeptical that Trump could be declared free of the risk of transmitting the virus so early in the course of his illness. Just 10 days since an initial diagnosis of infection, there was no way to know for certain that someone was no longer contagious, they said.
The memo followed Trump's first public appearance since returning to the White House after being treated for the coronavirus at a military hospital. Hundreds of people gathered Saturday afternoon on the South Lawn for a Trump address on his support for law enforcement from a White House balcony.
Trump took off a mask moments after he emerged on the balcony to address the crowd on the lawn below, his first step back onto the public stage with just more than three weeks to go until Election Day. He flouted, once more, the safety recommendations of his own government days after acknowledging that he was on the brink of "bad things" from the virus and claiming that his bout with the illness brought him a better understanding of it.
His return was a brief one. With bandages visible on his hands, likely from an intravenous injection, Trump spoke for 18 minutes, far less than his normal hour-plus rallies. He appeared healthy, if perhaps a little hoarse, as he delivered what was, for all intents and purposes, a short version of his campaign speech despite the executive mansion setting.
"I'm feeling great," Trump told the crowd, adding that he was thankful for their good wishes and prayers as he recovered. He then declared that the pandemic, which has killed more than 210,000 Americans, was "disappearing" even though he is still recovering from the virus.
In either an act of defiance or simply tempting fate, officials organized the event just steps from the Rose Garden, where exactly two weeks ago the president held another large gathering to formally announce his nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. That gathering is now being eyed as a possible COVID-19 superspreader as more than two dozen people in attendance have contracted the virus.
His return to full-fledged rallies will be in Florida on Monday, a comeback that comes with the president facing stubborn deficits in the polls. The Trump campaign and White House has not indicated that any additional safety measures will be taken to prevent the transmission of the virus among those traveling on Air Force One or at the rally site.
As Trump returned to the public stage, Dr. Albert Ko, an infectious disease specialist and department chairman at the Yale School of Public Health, said that the White House appeared to be following CDC guidelines for when it is appropriate to end isolation after mild to moderate cases of COVID-19.
But Ko cautioned that those who have had severe cases of the diseases should isolate for 20 days. He...

Every Friday morning, Mike Hosking is joined by Tim Wilson and Kate Hawkesby to wrap the week in news.
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New South Wales' impressive streak of no locally acquired cases of coronavirus has been broken.
Up to 8pm on Tuesday, the Australian state recorded three new cases, all from returned travellers in hotel quarantine – but after that recording period three additional, locally acquired cases were uncovered.
The new locally acquired cases are not believed to be linked to each other, and are spread across the Parramatta, Camden and Wollondilly areas – two women and a man, all aged in their 50s.
Contact tracers are racing to identify close contacts of the new mystery cases.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said testing numbers across the state were too low, especially considering the new cases.
"Our suspicions the virus is always lurking in the community are founded – and we wouldn't have said it if we didn't mean it," she said.
The news comes after NSW Health issued an urgent warning to nearly half a million residents living in south-western Sydney and the Hawkesbury areas to come forward for testing.
Recent samples of sewage in the areas uncovered traces of the virus, despite no recent cases in the area.
This break in the state's 12-day streak with no community transmission resets the clock for the border between NSW and Queensland to open, which Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said would take 28 days of no locally acquired cases.
Berejiklian delivered a stinging barb to her northern counterpart, suggesting there is no way the state would ever be able to go four weeks with no local cases.
"We have to assume during the course of the pandemic that from time to time, we're always going to have this," she said.
"We're always going to have cases pop up because we're in a pandemic, but also in an economy that is open … where we don't have borders but for Victoria.
"So I say to the Queensland government, I appreciate you'll probably come out today and say the 28 days is ticking again from the start, but I will put to you – until the end of the pandemic, it's highly unlikely, highly improbable that NSW will ever get to 28 days of no community transmission, because that is not how a pandemic works.
"Queensland and WA have the luxury of closing their borders, so they have a higher chance of having zero community transmitted cases."
Berejiklian said Wednesday's news would not stop the government working to ease restrictions over summer, noting: "We'll never be out of the woods until there's a vaccine."
"We want to continue to work with industry, continue looking at what restrictions we might be able to ease over summer, but we will have more confidence to make those decisions if we see a high rate of compliance [from businesses].
"What is also top of mind for us is our success has been borne from a combination of good advice from the experts, but also an outstanding response from the community."

A big weekend of events is on the cards for the capital with rugby, wine and music all on the agenda.
The All Blacks are playing Australia in a Bledisloe Cup match on Sunday, Benee is performing multiple shows and Winetopia is also on at TSB Arena.
This comes on top of the month-long Wellington On a Plate festival.
Wellington NZ events manager Warrick Dent says there's going to be a lot of people coming into the city.
He says it will probably be the biggest weekend for events since lockdown which is good for hospitality and retail.
Listen to the audio above as Wellington Hospitality Group manager Jamie Williams speaks to Mike Hosking

Drivers with expired Warrants of Fitness are being urged to get their vehicles checked.
WOFs that were temporarily extended due to covid-19 have to be renewed by tomorrow.
There are still about 800,000 vehicles that need to be checked, including those which have Wofs naturally expiring this month.  
The Motor Trade Association's Greig Epps says they're worried the condition of some vehicles out there, will be deteriorating.
He says some people use the WoF check as a reminder to do servicing and maintenance on their vehicle and there will be vehicles in sore need of a check if they haven't had a WoF for an extra six months.
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The All Blacks will be home for Christmas, after Sanzaar and its partners agreed to split a double header into two.
The move's been helped by the impending border re-opening to New Zealanders in New South Wales.
The December 12 game against the Wallabies has been switched to October 31, ensuring they can leave quarantine in time to open their presents.
New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson has probably has added a few names to his Christmas card list as a result, the Australian government, various premiers and Sanzaar boss and partners to name a few.
Listen above as former All Black Ian Jones speaks to Mike Hosking

President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that he is ready to resume campaign rallies and feels "perfect,” but the White House has offered little information about his condition one week after his diagnosis with the coronavirus that has killed more than 210,000 Americans.
Trump is trying to shift his focus to the election that's less than four weeks away, with millions of Americans already casting ballots. But the president has not been seen in public — other than in White House-produced videos — since Monday and his doctors have provided few medical details since before his release from a military hospital.
While Trump said he believes he's no longer contagious, concerns about infection appeared to scuttle plans for next week's presidential debate.
“I’m feeling good. Really good. I think perfect," Trump said during a telephone interview with Fox Business, his first since he was released from a three-day hospital stay Monday. “I think I’m better to the point where I’d love to do a rally tonight,” Trump said. He added, “I don't think I'm contagious at all."
The White House provided no information to back up Trump's claims. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says individuals can discontinue isolation 10 days after the onset of systems, which for Trump was Oct. 1 according to his doctors, suggesting he should not return to the road until Monday.
While reports of reinfection are rare, the CDC recommends that even people who recover from COVID-19 continue to wear a mask, stay distanced and follow other precautions.
The White House, meanwhile, continued to decline to share when Trump last tested negative for the virus — which would help pinpoint when he was infected. Strategic communications director Alyssa Farah said that information was Trump's “private medical history.”
Trump's campaign and the White House were already drawing up plans for Trump to resume campaigning, eyeing a visit to Pennsylvania on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday ahead of what was to have been next Thursday's debate.
But the Commission on Presidential Debates announced that event would be held “virtually” in order to “protect the health and safety of all involved.” Trump swiftly rejected that offer, and his campaign later called on the commission to delay the final two debates by a week to alleviate concerns about an in-person contest.
Over the objections of some aides, Trump returned to the Oval Office on Thursday, even though a workspace had been set up in the residential section of the White House. Aides were discussing a potential photo opportunity with the president at the White House either Thursday or Friday but plans had not been finalized, according to two White House officials not authorized to publicly discuss internal deliberations. Only a few senior aides, medical staff and security personnel have laid eyes on the president since he returned to the White House on Monday afternoon.
Trump also released a video Thursday morning, filmed a day earlier, directly addressing the nation's seniors — a critical demographic for his campaign that is also at greatest risk of poor outcomes from the virus — saying, “I want you to get the same care that I got."
On Thursday, Trump continued to credit an experimental drug for the seemingly quick pace of his recovery. He called his diagnosis a “blessing in disguise” in the nation’s battle against the pandemic.
Seemingly sensitive to the fact that his treatment course has been far more comprehensive than the care received by average Americans, he promised to swiftly get the drug approved for broader use — and distribute it for free — even though he does not have the power to order that himself.
Trump received an experimental antibody drug made by Regeneron through a “compassionate use” exemption, a recognition of the above-and-beyond standard of care he receives as president. The safety and effectiveness of the drug have not yet been...