The All Blacks go down to South Africa in a tight encounter, NZ Rowing has it's worst medal haul in 15 years and we chat to an ex All Black on the pressures of becoming a professional rugby player
With the drop goal debate back in the national conversation, Chris Rattue looks back at how the magnificent Zinzan Brooke's kicks gave New Zealand a major drop on the rest of the game.
You've heard of Dan Carter but maybe not Archie Strang.
In 115 years of All Black rugby, they are the only players to have landed a winning drop goal, as in nailing the final points of a match to secure a victory.
Strang, the little southerner, landed his four-point goal to beat the Springboks at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.
The NZPA correspondent on the tour, Graham Beamish, noted prophetically that: "Our game is to score tries, yet when it comes to winning a match by a pot at goal, when opportunity is throwing itself at a player, the chance is ignored, and in many cases forgotten altogether. We had the value of the potted goal brought home to us very forcibly when we won the second test with Strang's field goal."
It was another 84 years before Carter, having missed earlier with his weaker right foot, broke a 19-all deadlock with Ireland in Christchurch.
On a bitterly cold night, with steam rising off the forwards, and 30 seconds left on the clock, Carter stabbed the ball low as a screen of Irishmen hurtled towards the famous No 10.
After landing a significant drop goal in the narrow World Cup semifinal win over South Africa at Twickenham in 2015, Carter said the All Blacks worked hard at the set play even if they rarely used it.
"It's not really in the New Zealand psyche ... we were looking for one at the end as well but the forwards were doing such a good job we decided to hold on to it and wind down the clock," he said.
The Man...Dan Carter. Photo / Brett Phibbs
The drop goal debate was back after the All Blacks steered clear in defeat against South Africa in Wellington.
To drop or not stands there with the other great sporting debates, like those over Richard Hadlee's run-up, Justin Marshall's pass, Anton Oliver's throw-ins.
This, after all, is what sport is all about, a distraction from the realities of life, or even a Trump-ish world.
So to get on with the debate, are the All Blacks really such reluctant drop kick exponents?
Well yes, statistically, if you judge it by the number landed.
They have potted 91 at a rate of one every 6.4 games. France, who have had at least three players known as Monsieur Le Drop, lead the way at a rate of one every 3.4 matches. South Africa, who have a bit of a reputation in this department, go at one every 4.7 games, while England dial in at 5.2.
But to suggest the All Blacks have totally shunned drop goals at all costs is nonsense of course.
Maybe the chief curio came from Bryan Williams in early 1973, with the All Blacks leading by a converted try against England at Twickenham. Receiving the ball near the touchline, he sidestepped his famous sidestep and instead slammed over the final points of the game with an impressive drop goal.
According to the alleged script, a great All Black wing would instead have launched himself towards the tryline rather than beat England at their own game.
But there is a much more famously unexpected exponent than Williams.
New Zealand's Zinzan Brooke celebrates win against South Africa. Photo / Photosport
No 8 forward Zinzan Brooke was rightly lauded for the art. His sharply angled pot against England in the 1995 World Cup semifinal was estimated at anything from 40 to 47 metres and "a million miles out" according to one of Keith Quinn's finest TV commentary moments.
But Brooke's most significant drop goal was at Loftus Versfeld in 1996, sealing the first series victory in South Africa. He added a third for good measure against Wales the following year at Wembley, revealing a penchant for landing goals at famous stadiums.
It means Brooke, who practiced with both feet as a kid in the family backyard, landed more test drop goals than Beauden Barrett (0 so far), Aaron Cruden (1) and Carlos Spencer (0) combined.
Spencer, Cruden and Barrett have been joys to watch and stretched rugby's horizons. In other words, their failure to kick drop goals isn't a failure at all, but more a reflection of how they saw rugby, and they saw it in the best possible way.
It is important to remember that Carter also failed with a late attempt in defeat against South Africa in 2008 which was nothing compared to Andrew Mehrtens' last-gasp failure in the 1995 World Cup final.
It could be argued that driving for a try is the better percentage play because initial failure doesn't mean game over, and a simple penalty might ensue. But there is no statistical way of analysing this.
The age of rationalisation wants to isolate absolutely everything and turn it into a number, but sometimes you need a little faith.
What we do know is that the All Blacks' general attitude has served them increasingly well, because their dominance has grown with a ball-handling mindset. (And hey, no one told Jack Nicklaus to change his swing because he missed a couple of fairways).
Pot luck...Andrew Mehrtens, right, after failing to snare the 1995 World Cup final victory. Photo / Geoff Dale
Compare that to South Africa, who held a slight edge over New Zealand before the Springboks were sidelined from international rugby because of their country's abhorrent apartheid system.
Both England and South Africa have won World Cup finals via famous drop goals, but they have paid a big price for failing to push beyond these methods.
When Strang landed his drop goal in 1928, the Springbok backline included Gerry Brand, credited with the longest drop goal in test history, and Bennie Osler, a kicking-obsessed legend of South African rugby who laid down the blueprint for almost every first five-eighths who followed in the green jersey.
Those still losing sleep over the Great Drop Goal Failure last Saturday night could settle the nerves by looking at it in a more organic way.
Opting against the drop goal might lead to the All Blacks' downfall now and then, if there is a way of gauging that. But New Zealand's approach based on ball movement and scoring tries works exceptionally well.
Brooke's famous two drop goals – the one against Wales isn't well remembered – were actually part of a higher calling.
They were symbolic, pointing to a future where even tight forwards like Brodie Retallick, Dane Coles and a surging Codie Taylor play with the flair an old back would be proud of.
If ever someone changed the way forwards are viewed, it was the multi skilled and creative Brooke.
His knack for landing drop goals won't be repeated, but those kicks became embedded in the Kiwi rugby psyche and removed narrow positional job descriptions.
