ENGLAND v. NEW ZEALAND

England opened their autumn campaign against the southern hemisphere rugby nations with a 26-16 loss at Twickenham to New Zealand, the current world number one ranked team. It was their ninth defeat in a row against the All Blacks; and, despite a stirring second half in which they created some chances, they never really looked like ending that dismal run. Too often the ball was knocked on at the crucial moment; while in fly-half Dan Carter, New Zealand had the classiest player on the pitch.

Rugby is a minority sport in Denmark, so I couldn't watch the game on television, despite my 40 channels. However, I managed to watch it on my computer, courtesy of www.myp2p.eu. I have never quite worked out how they manage to show live - and free - something which Sky Sports have paid quite a lot of money to broadcast, and which they presumably wish to keep exclusive. But hey, I am not complaining, if it works, it works.

Football, on the other hand, is not a minority sport here, and my 40 channels include, apart from the Danish matches, live Premier League and Championship ties, plus the best from La Liga in Spain and the Bundesliga in Germany. After the rugby, I watched the second half of Derby v. Portsmouth from the Championship. Since Derby were my boyhood team and they won 2-0, it sort of made up for the England defeat.

Walter Blotscher