Test rugby is back this week – and Saturday’s game can’t come soon enough.
Our domestic sport has collapsedall over the place, leaving league’s rejuvenated Warriors to provide most of the spark. And even then, the overly long NRL is a bit of a slog at this time of year.
The All Blacks have always delivered a whole new level of anticipation and excitement.
And the thought of the new-era All Blacks facing an England team that means business – unlike some of their predecessors – has got the juices flowing.
Now is the time to start finding out if a new All Blacks broom can extract more from the players, although the rise of other nations means New Zealand won’t ever dominate the way they did under Sir Steve Hansen.
As for Dunedin on Saturday, England are in with a terrific chance of scoring just their third victory on New Zealand soil. They are better prepared than the All Blacks, who are underdone.
The home side will face one of the world’s strongest teams minus any warm-up game, a new coaching regime and captain, key players Ardie Savea and Beauden Barrett jetting in from Japanese clubs, and questions around the halfback/first five-eighths combo.
With the great Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock gone, the engine room faces stern questions, particularly as reborn lock Patrick Tuipulotu’s miracle knee recovery for the Blues seemed too good to be true.
And all this playing away from the Eden Park fortress.
LOSER: The over-optimistic Marcus Smith fan club (and I’ll throw in Damian McKenzie with that)
The sparky England No 10 is overrated (famous last words).
England talk up No 10s with a bit of flair, no matter their real ability or lack of. Previously, Danny Cipriani got extraordinary coverage for a bloke who played just a handful of tests over a decade.
Smith stands out because he goes against type compared with the players around him. The All Blacks will target Smith for sure, and he will wilt.
Smith isn’t the only overrated player. Damian McKenzie gets a free ride in this country despite his lack of test guile.
He’s a little man with a big smile and pep, which has taken him a long way.
Image is a funny thing. Another mercurial talent, Carlos Spencer, was a way better player but copped a lot of flak that McKenzie seems to avoid.
Despite his small-town origins, playing for Auckland and the city-based Blues probably didn’t help the magical Spencer, who played with an arrogance that irked the provinces.
Now is the time for McKenzie to prove he is a ruthless match controller, if he gets the No 10 nod.
WINNER: Te Maire Martin... moving on from S.J.
The Warriors halfback is having a brilliant season... but only when fast-fading Shaun Johnson is not alongside him in the halves.
Te Maire Martin orchestrated the win over Brisbane at Mt Smart, to keep the Warriors’ season alive. He is forming a likely halves combo with Chanel Harris-Tevita, in which both can shine.
Johnson may have played his last game for the club if the new halves pairing stays fit and coach Andrew Webster has got his head screwed on.
Meanwhile, Johnson isn’t the only 2023 star who is struggling.
Some of the key Warriors performers last year – Addin Fonua-Blake, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Tohu Harris – are down on their contributions.
But a feature of the win over a depleted Broncos outfit was how the load was shared throughout the Warriors’ 17.
WINNER: Euro 2024... finally
The European football tournament has burst into life, with England’s dramatic Round-of-16 escape against Slovakia, and a sparkling game between favourites Spain and fast-breaking Georgia.
England’s booming young midfielder Jude Bellingham may not be fully living up to expectations, but he is scoring vital goals and the nick-of-time leveller against Slovakia – a bicycle kick – was superb.
The tournament lost its sparkle as the groups went on but is back in a great place.
Jude Bellingham of England celebrates scoring a late equaliser against Slovakia. Photo / Getty Images
WINNER: Technology, maybe
Perhaps sports tech will reach such a sophisticated stage that it can break free of all the controversy.
The sensor inside Fifa footballs is so sensitive that it correctly detected a very slight hand touch, denying Belgium a goal at Euro 2024.
So where will sporting microchips be inserted next?
LOSER: The Football Ferns... time for heads to roll
What a complete mess... the national football administration needs a clean-out.
Coach Jitka Klimkova, who survived an employment investigation, has stepped aside from the team again, which means she will be absent when they take on that little assignment known as the Olympics.
There has been one coaching problem after another with the Ferns, who are eternal underperformers.
None of the few people I know in and around football have faith in CEO Andrew Pragnell’s administration.
New Zealand Football flies so far under the radar that from a distance, it is very hard to know if it does a good job. But it may be time to find out if someone can do better.
WINNER: LeBron James
The basketball superstar has so much clout that the LA Lakers drafted his son Bronny.
It’s a wonderful story in many ways – the younger James survived a cardiac arrest last year, and it would be an epic story to have a father-and-son combo on an NBA court.
Bronny – the oldest of James’ sons – is apparently a humble hard worker who could become an NBA journeyman.
WINNER/LOSER: America’s Olympics trial system
It’s a tough deal, even for the very best, in the US of A. Athing Mu won’t be able to defend her 800m Olympic Games gold medal in Paris after tripping in the American trial. There is virtually no leeway given for anyone finishing outside the top three. It probably works on one level and fails on another, as in this case.
LOSER: F1 friendships
Champion Max Verstappen and rising British star Lando Norris are reportedly no longer mates after both lost the plot while tangling in the Austrian Grand Prix.
WINNER: State of Origin... and Michael Maguire
The new Blues coach orchestrated a demolition job on Queensland, to send this year’s league series to what no doubt will be a breathless decider – on and off the field – in Brisbane. And the Blues appear to have uncovered great Origin-quality talent, led by backs Mitchell Moses and Dylan Edwards.
LOSER: Diving
Oh no. Now we’ve got diving in cricket, after Afghanistan slip fielder Gulbadin Naib took a fall to slow down their T20 World Cup game against Bangladesh. He was trying to engineer a win under the Duckworth-Lewis points system for weather-interrupted cricket matches.
On that note... Tony Lewis died a few years ago while Frank Duckworth was spared the sad sight of his system being misused, having passed away just days before Naib’s theatrics.
LOSER: All of us...
Unbelievable. The Dutch volleyball team have selected convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde for the Olympics. Yes, the crime – committed against a 12-year-old – occurred a decade ago. But there are some offences so horrific that all should never be totally forgiven. It is far more important to send out a message about child abuse by banning him from Olympic selection forever.
LOSER: Golf champs
First, the world’s best player Scotty Scheffler was incorrectly arrested during a major tournament. Now the best female golfer, Nelly Korda, has pulled out of defending a title in England because of a dog bite.
