The cop-outs are gone, now its about playing and having fun, and the way you have fun is by | Forum

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -- Captain Richie McCaw is "looking strong and ready to go" against the Springboks at Ellis Park, assistant coach Ian Foster said on Tuesday, boosting the All Blacks hopes of clinching the Rugby Championship title at a ground where they havent won in 16 years. Brandon LaFell Jersey . Its also a venue where the 119 times-capped McCaw has surprisingly never played a test, but where he could add another significant achievement to a colossal career. McCaw, missing for the All Blacks last two matches -- the home win over South Africa and away victory in Argentina -- is on course to recover from a knee injury to start in Saturdays decider, Foster said. Having travelled and trained with the team last week in Argentina, McCaw will have to come through full contact sessions in Johannesburg to prove his fitness. "Hes done well. He had a really good week last week in terms of his preparation and training," Foster said. "Clearly we have got a couple of runs this week where he will be tested but hes looking strong and ready to go." The experienced and canny flankers expected return comes as the top-ranked All Blacks look to seal a 12th title in 18 seasons in style at a ground South Africa treasures because of its 1995 World Cup final win over its archrival. But its also a stadium where the New Zealanders are especially motivated to succeed at. "In the sheds after the (Argentina) game there was a sense that the boys are pretty excited for this challenge," flyhalf Aaron Cruden said. "We know its going to be a massive one, the Springboks at Ellis Park. Yeah, theres been a bit of talk about it." While the famous 95 final often forms the backdrop for tests at Ellis Park, New Zealands record at the intimidating 65,000-seat cauldron is not great. It last won there in 1997 and has lost three out of four since the 95 final. The Springboks have always drawn inspiration from their achievements at Ellis, yet New Zealand has overcome almost every challenge and every big game it has faced since winning the World Cup two years ago. "Yeah, we keep having lots of those (big games). The media keep telling us its the next one, the big one," assistant coach Foster said. "Im not going to debate it. You can call it what you like. Quite frankly it is a big game. Theres a title on the line, theres a whole lot of things on the line. Weve had a few of those and weve just got to keep climbing the mountain." Despite the All Blacks needing only a losing bonus point to win the Rugby Championship, Foster said there was no question they would still go for a sixth win from six in the competition: "We like getting the ball and playing. Thats what we train for," he said. Vontaze Burfict Bengals Jersey .com) - The Montreal Canadiens embark on their first road trip of the season as they head out west to battle the Calgary Flames on Wednesday night. Ryan Hewitt Bengals Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. http:///...Hewitt-Elite-Jersey/ . Vettel was 0.168 seconds faster than Red Bull teammate Mark Webber around the Suzuka circuit. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg was two tenths of a second off Vettel. "The car balance is decent, but I think we can still improve," Vettel said.TORONTO -- Rudy Gay had no idea how bad his vision was until he went to renew his drivers license last year and nearly failed the test. "They said Do you wear glasses? I said no. They said, Well you need to wear glasses," Gay recounted, with a laugh. He wasnt laughing at the time. For a guy who makes his living tossing a ball through a hoop from a distance, the news was rather disconcerting. So after a brief and unsuccessful experiment with corrective goggles, the Toronto Raptors small forward underwent surgery to correct his vision during an off-season that was otherwise devoted to improving his shooting, and beefing up his body. One day into training camp, and Gay said hes feeling like a much-improved player than the one who led the Raptors in scoring last season but also had career lows in both field goal and three-point percentage. He joked that any improvement in his game this season will be credited solely to his better vision. "Honestly, I was talking to my trainer, and he said if you come out and have a great season its going to be because of your eye, not because of the work you put in," Gay said. The 27-year-old Gay wouldnt wear contact lenses, as he had an aversion to touching his eyes. The Raptors medical staff provided him with prescription goggles but he wasnt keen on those either. So he underwent surgery early in the summer, which he said wasnt fun. "Recovery was horrible, it was terrible," Gay said. "Probably (lasted) about two weeks. First week I couldnt see, second week I could. And then months and months of putting eye drops in. "But it was one of those things that needed to happen if I wanted to continue my career." Gay averaged 19.5 points to top Toronto in scoring after he was acquired from the Memphis Grizzlies in a mid-season trade. The Raptors went 16-30 prior to the trade, and finished 18-18 with Gay on the roster. Still, he was far from his best, shooting a career-low 40.8 per cent -- down from his career high of 47.1 per cent two seasons earlier -- and 31 per cent from three-point range. So he committed every day of the off-season, he said, to being a better shooter. "I started from the basics. . . form, worked on my form. From there just rhythm, shooting, shooting, shooting, becoming comfortable with it. "I made about 300 shots a day, sometimes more, on a light day probably 300." Gay has been criticized for taking low-percentage shots -- namely long two-pointers. But at the urging of Raptors coach Dwane Casey, he sounds like hes starting to see the light when it comes to shot selection. Casey said hes been drilling Gay and Torontos other sharpshooter DeMar DeRozan about higher percentage shots. "Corner threes, paint, get to the rim, get to the free throw line, and subsequently shooting percentage is going to ggo up," Casey said. Wallace Gilberry Bengals Jersey. Gay spent a lot of summer working on his three-point shooting, and pointed out that at the end of Monday mornings practice, the entire team was doing a three-point drills. "I got it from the coaches that were going to be a team thats going to get a lot of threes up, and obviously if it comes from the top, youve got to practise it," he said. Gay also said he put on 20 pounds of muscle working with his trainer Dustin Gray back home in Baltimore. "Hopefully you can see it," Gay said laughing, puffing out his chest ever so slightly. "Maybe I should do some push-ups or something. "My trainer basically lived with me." The weight gain, said Casey, was by design, and with the intention of using Gay at power forward rather than small forward. "We talked about it, because when you look at the Eastern Conference, youve got Carmelo, LeBron, big threes playing fours, and he wants to do that and it fits us really well too, him going to the four," Casey said. "What he doesnt want to do is gain a lot of unneeded weight, just some good solid (muscle), which hes done. Hes really solid in his upper body. You can see it, it looks good. If it helps him psychologically, making contact, getting to the rim, its great. "Its going to help him be in the paint a little bit more. When you get caught outside in that non-paint area, to drop that shoulder, use your body to get into the paint to create a foul, contact, and get to the free-throw line." Casey calls Gay one of the top offensive players in the league, and said the main thing missing that could make him an all-star is winning. "Winning gets you in that conversation of being one of the top players in this league," Casey said. "The league rewards winners." Granted training camp is only a day old, but Gay has seemed more at ease, cracking jokes with reporters. When someone pointed out to Casey that Gay seems happier than he did last season, the coach said everyone was. "I think theres a different vibe," Casey said. The coach said it starts with Masai Ujiri, the Raptors new president and general manager. "Masai gave them an impassioned speech (Monday) night about what he expects from them, the passion guys have to play with, leaving all the problems all the issues, check them at the door. It sets a tone, and thats been huge," Casey said. "Hes empowered everybody to do their job. The cop-outs are gone, now its about playing and having fun, and the way you have fun is by kicking peoples butts and competing." The Raptors practise at the Air Canada Centre until Thursday and then training camp moves to Halifax for two days. They open the pre-season Monday at Boston, and are back home to host the Minnesota Timberwolves next Wednesday. Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys ' ' '