Midweek Fixture: Coutts' T20 of sailing is more cool than 'crap'

Sports Editor at Large·NZ Herald·

13 Jun, 2017 11:48 PM5 mins to read

Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling runs across the TNZ boat. Photo / Ricardo Pinto

While we gush about the action on the Great Sound, it seems the sailing community is split.

Using a scientific sample of two old, monohull salts with decades-long ties to the sea, they could not have been more divided about the Bermuda showpiece.

One described the technology in Bermuda to me as "interesting" and the racing as "crap". When I put this to another he said: "Wrong. The racing is technically stunning, the boats are technically stunning, the application of New Zealand technology is great and don't discount the risk element."

The original yachtie remained unconvinced, believing that the America's Cup was now what T20 was to cricket.

Which is a decent analogy, but one that potentially only strengthens the argument that Rusty Coutts has got it right.

In a world where younger generations want to live their life in a neverending stream of digital highlights, T20 was designed to attract new fans and to keep hold of time-poor ones, not to appeal to dedicated purists.

It has been a stunning success.

Coutts has applied that same concept to sailing, recognising that the sport cannot grow by pandering to an existing, niche sailing community.

He's created an event high on adrenaline and highlight-package potential. He's gone out and found a bunch of new fans.

If the guardians of sailing's more traditional communities had any gumption, they'd be thinking of ways to keep these fans engaged. The first yacht club in Auckland that can come up with a way to get into schools with fast-paced, affordable, inclusive multihull racing is the one we'll still be talking about in 20 years' time.

The ones that stick to their knitting, I suspect, will be the ones who memberships will, literally, die out.

In all reality, the result against the Crusaders was far more significant to the overall health of the Lions than their one-point loss to an admittedly understrength Highlanders, but that can't absolve Warren Gatland from the one big problem of his own creation: he is carrying an undercooked captain.

It was widely anticipated that Gatland would select familiarity and pick Welshman Sam Warburton as his skipper for the tour but there is a real danger in choosing a leader in a highly contestable position, and the former Waikato hooker is about to enter that minefield.

Fine workhorse player as he is - and a clever individual try against the Highlanders added a splash of colour to what had been a grey display to that point - Sean O'Brien is more dynamic... and less whipped. The All Blacks would never publicly admit as much but they would rather see Warburton in the seven jersey than O'Brien.

Gatland could engineer a range of scenarios in his back row, including starting both O'Brien and Warburton, but that would mean leaving their best No 6 out of the 15.

Blindside Peter O'Mahony and O'Brien were instrumental in disrupting the All Blacks at Lansdowne Road in 2013, a match they everything to win until the clock ticked 80, and were equally effective against the Crusaders in Christchurch.

Warburton' history against New Zealand teams is less gilded.

Captaincy is one of those things that always matters more than it should. By definition they are the leader, the tone setter. To hear Warburton talk of accepting the fact he might not be picked for the test at Eden Park in 10 days was curious. Selfless or defeatist? Depends which set of ears you choose to wear, perhaps.

By not selecting Warburton as his starting seven in the first test, Gatland sends a signal that he made a mistake back in April. By selecting him, he sends a signal that he is prepared to double down on that error.

Don't read too much into New Zealand's early exit from the Champions Trophy, but don't dismiss it as an irrelevance either. While the rapid-fire format of the tournament and vagaries of the English summer saw qualification for the knockout stages become skewed, the Black Caps had a chance to manage their own destiny and folded weakly against England and were worse against Bangladesh.

Most of the problems lie with the "allrounder" slots. It is something Mssrs Hesson and Larsen can no longer keep ignoring.

It has been a long time since Corey Anderson has done anything to justify his place with either bat or ball. He averages 20 or less in ODI cricket against Australia, England, Pakistan and South Africa, and 25 against India. That's a poor return on his talent. More shockingly, he has failed to pass 35 in his 15 innings since the World Cup semifinal against South Africa.

After a slow start to his ODI career, James Neesham has shown flashes of talent with the bat, catches terrifically but goes at an eye-watering 6.5 runs per over with the ball.

Mitchell Santner's issue is slightly different. He usually occupies No 7 or 8, so his opportunities are limited, but his strike rate of 86.6 is way too low for those hitting positions. Despite his difficulties at the Champions Trophy, his white-ball bowling is sound and of the three, his long-term future is the most secure.

Good allrounders are blue-chip cricketers who add balance and game-winning abilities to any format. The stark truth is New Zealand's are under-performing to the point that they're just lengthening the batting tail and complicating captain Kane Williamson's options with the ball.