Rugby scrum heats up...

    

Everyone's going a bit mad about rugby and it's not even started yet! With eight months to go before New Zealand hosts the Rugby World Cup, and Christchurch city officials have already plonked a huge countdown clock in the middle of town. It's as if a giant is secretly bedding down in Cathedral Square every night and forgetting to put away his alarm clock and humongous chess pieces (they come up to about thigh level) in the morning. Air New Zealand is embracing what will be a furore, and - having launched its inflight safety video (featuring NZ rugby stars, see above) that has been making customers chuckle - it has now painted one of its new A320s  in the colours of the country's national rugby team - the All Blacks. This is not a particular surprise as the airline sponsors the NZ Rugby Union. The aircraft is decorated black and white with a silver fern sweeping across the body onto the tail. Apparently it was a bit tricky to achieve as black planes heat up more quickly when sat on the runway than those painted in lighter colours. Visibility was also an issue as black doesn't show up so well, so they painted around the doors and other key locations on the plane. As it sticks out like a sore thumb it's now also going to be getting a more frequent washing - so no 'please clean me' will get scrawled in the muck on the paintwork.