Phil Gifford: Four reasons to be rosy about New Zealand rugby

Northland enjoy their historic win over Auckland. Photo / photosport.nz

OPINION:

It's been a grim time for rugby in New Zealand for more than a year.

Early in 2021 there was a bitter divide between the players and New Zealand Rugby over the Silver Lake deal. At the end of the year the All Blacks were beaten by Ireland, and then whipped by France.

There are still huge issues facing rugby here, from the struggle to retain players at club level, to the tedium of using mauling to score tries, to the often sadly small number of people who go to provincial games, to the stress of erratic test results.

But without getting naively starry eyed about the state of rugby's health, there may be signs of spring sunshine breaking through, and I'm not just talking about the convincing way the All Blacks demolished Argentina in Hamilton.

In no particular order, here are four encouraging issues around the national game:

Fun that won't break the bank

Admission to the Farah Palmer Cup final in Christchurch between Canterbury and Auckland will be $5 for adults and free for children. Add in the forecast of a sunny afternoon, and it should be the best value sporting event of the weekend.

I've rarely enjoyed a game as much as the 2020 final, when Canterbury edged Waikato 8-7. The rugby was impressive, and there was a fantastic sporting democracy on the bank, where in the first half I watched with then Speaker of the House Trevor Mallard (whose daughter had been a Black Fern), and in the second chatted with a charming woman whose daughter Grace Brooker was vice-captain of the Canterbury team. Call me sentimental, but for 80 minutes it felt like travelling back in time to when rugby erased all social lines.

Canterbury celebrate a try in the semifinal. Photo / photosport.nz

The World Cup is near

If you're a little old to know how big a deal it is that Rita Ora is singing at the opening of the women's World Cup next month, be assured she is a huge star, with more British top 10 singles than any other female singer, including Adele, and, for more mature readers, Shirley Bassey.

As well as the musical entertainment, the Black Ferns have the chance to set the tournament alight the way the Black Caps did at cricket's 2015 World Cup. If they can counter the forward power of the northern hemisphere teams it'll be a revival for the ages.

The Taniwha rise again

Talking of revivals, Northland have been a revelation in the NPC, going from winning just one game out of nine last year, to beating Auckland, 23-22, in Whangārei, and heading into tomorrow's game with Canterbury having won four out of five matches this year.

Many teams talk of involvement with their community. Not all walk the walk. Northland have. They've made great decisions for their fan base. Admission all this year to games in Whangārei has been free to 2021's season ticket holders, after they missed out last year on two home games that because of Covid outbreaks had to be relocated to Rotorua. Kids 14 and under get in free too.

A determined effort to get the players invested in the team's legacy includes the high-tech gym having photos on the walls of every Northland centurion, going back to Ted Thompson, a powerful midfielder from the 1950s and 60s. They've been rewarded with vastly improved tenacity on the field, and kids still lining up for autographs 30 minutes after the historic win over Auckland.

Hands across the ditch

We won't know until there's an announcement, but the pretty weird cloak and dagger nature of meetings in Adelaide last weekend between New Zealand Rugby chief executive Mark Robinson and Australian officials won't matter if they can find some common ground over future transtasman competitions.

Now South African teams have gone from Super Rugby we need to keep Aussie sides in the mix.

The Covid-enforced Super Rugby Aotearoa in 2021 was hugely entertaining, but it left, after two months of local derbies, our best players physically battered.

Australian rugby's chairman Hamish McLennan presents as a man with all the collegial warmth of their former CEO, John O'Neill, who we once mocked for his car salesman slickness. But when we lost co-hosting rights to the 2003 World Cup we realised not all Aussie bluster is just hot air. A warming of transtasman relations needs all the encouragement it can get.