Sam Whitelock applauds after a test at the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Photo / Photosport
OPINION
Chris Rattue runs through the best and the worst from the sporting weekend.
WINNER: An All Blacks captaincy debate... Sam Whitelock
Hey, let’s have a captaincy debate, following the news that Sam Whitelock may come back early from France to bolster Razor Robertson’s All Blacks squad.
New All Blacks coach Robertson wants Whitelock in his squad, meaning the test record holder would have to leave Pau after just one season.
Whitelock’s test career appeared over, but maybe not.
As can occur with outstanding players - in this case Whitelock and Brodie Retallick - positional domination can hurt succession planning.
Apart from Scott Barrett, the locking cupboard is bare.
Great test teams need great locks, and they don’t come better than this legend. Whitelock’s presence and guidance would be priceless.
This also raises the captaincy issue.
I had to refresh my memory over Ardie Savea’s status. It’s hard to keep up, with so many stars going overseas, and New Zealand Rugby operating all sorts of rule tweaks.
And yes, loose forward whirlwind Savea is available for all tests this year, even though he is playing in Japan.
Savea has the inside running as the new captain to most minds, but I’m not so sure.
He’s an all-action hero best left to his own devices. Much will depend on how Robertson and Savea gel together.
Then there’s Sam Cane, although he is also contracted in Japan where information on his back injury is scarce. Robertson may not see Cane as an automatic starter.
Moving on... Crusaders lock Scott Barrett must also be a captaincy chance. Savea would trump Barrett on status and seniority, and Barrett probably knows that.
For my money... Whitelock is the outstanding choice for now, even at the age of 35. His presence, mana, and control on the field are exceptional.
Whitelock is unlikely to make it through to the next World Cup... but you never know and modern players are experts at taking care of their bodies.
Robertson faces a tough time forming a quality pack out of Super Rugby Pacific’s looser style.
Whitelock, the sole survivor from Richie McCaw’s Crusaders-led school of uncompromising standards, could play a massive part in helping Robertson find his feet in the international arena.
And All Blacks coaches need a good start because public negativity can quickly take hold making the job harder.
LOSER: Rugby’s (latest) reorganisation talk
Rugby is always banging on about issues like governance. Other professional sports highlight stars and personalities.
Just saying.
WINNER/LOSER: Sir Russell Coutts v the Lyttelton Harbour dolphins
There’s no such thing as bad publicity in sport and Sail GP got a wonderful lift thanks to the cancellation of Saturday’s racing in order to protect Hector’s dolphins.
SailGP boss Coutts was furious.
And like all good Kiwi sailing magnates (think America’s Cup supremo Grant Dalton here), he is threatening to take his toys somewhere else if the venue won’t play by his rules.
No mammal sanctuary was going to foil this all-conquering yachtie without a fight.
Sir Russell the Rager versus the Hector’s is an odd look.
But Coutts has never seemed overly bothered by what the masses think.
WINNER: A Warriors victory.
Whew. They are finally on the board in the NRL after a third-round win over Canberra.
WINNER/LOSER: Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
The raw-boned Warriors wing has been so impressive in the opening rounds. His relentless charges must be inspiring to teammates.
His cross-field run and pass to set up Luke Metcalf’s try was crucial to the win over the Raiders in Christchurch.
But Watene-Zelezniak has also found himself an unwanted spot in history, as the bloke Xavier Coates flew over for the famous try in Melbourne. Those photos and video of Coates zooming over DWZ will never go away.
LOSER: The NRL’s favourite word
The use of “superstar” by NRL commentators has to be the most overworked word in sport. Three rounds in, I’m already sick of it.
WINNER/LOSER: Formula One.
Finally, a hiccup for early race casualty Max Verstappen and Red Bull, but the Aussie Grand Prix was still a bore, according to my motor racing fanatic friends. They are still waiting for another one of those rare seasons when the rules and car development meet in perfect, action-packed harmony.
WINNER: This book... you have to read it
I’m reading Here’s to Life, and all that jazz about the remarkable Kiwi sportsman Dave MacCalman.
In 1980, at the age of 21 and while on a basketball scholarship in America, MacCalman’s life was changed by a diving accident that broke his neck.
“Quadriplegia was not about to stop him from chasing dreams,” writes author Tom Hyde in the opening chapter.
MacCalman went on to become a pioneering Paralympian, from an age when disabled athletes received nothing like the support and respect they do now.
But there is so much more to a story that Hyde, whose career includes being deputy editor of Metro magazine, has taken some years to research and write.
It is an inspiring and fascinating read, available through RealNZBooks.
LOSER: This Pasifika Hall of Fame boo-boo.
The seven initial inductees announced last week didn’t include the great All Blacks loosie Sir Michael Jones.
Are you crazy, people?
Instead, the Ice (Great) Man was extensively quoted in his role as the new hall’s chairman.
It reminded me of the bizarre occasion in 1990 when the new national sports Hall of Fame bypassed our only F1 world motor racing champion Denny Hulme when it admitted more than 60 initial inductees. Instead, Hulme got to accept Bruce McLaren’s induction.
LOSER: Rugby
The Eden Park battle between the flailing Crusaders and slightly promising Blues should have been a classic. Instead, it was nearly unwatchable as the rain poured down and the offside calls mounted up.
WINNER: Stephen Perofeta
The Blues No 10 is an interesting test option. There will be a lot of noise for flamboyant Chief Damian McKenzie, but he’s a hit-and-hope type who struggles to play the test percentages. Perofeta’s passing game has wonderful subtleties and he uses those to create moments to run himself. They are attributes made for test rugby.
WINNER: Fate
A remarkable story, involving two-time Australian Open tennis champion Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
Her former boyfriend died by apparent suicide a week ago, with Sabalenka issuing a statement that it had left her brokenhearted.
Initial reports said Sabalenka and Konstantin Koltsov were still together, although following the tragedy, she said they had parted.
Sabalenka still opted to play the Miami Open, where she played Spain’s Paula Badosa, who just happens to be her closest friend on the tennis tour.
Sabalenka and Badosa describe each other as soulmates. They spend a lot of their tennis downtime together and are a doubles combination.
They both wore black. Sabalenka won in straight sets before they walked off the court with arms around each other.
WINNER: Scottie Scheffler... a man of the people.
A late surge saw the American win golf’s fifth major, the Players’ Championship.
When Scheffler putts well, he is borderline unbeatable.
Average golfers must love the way Scheffler moves around as he strikes the ball.
Or as a Golf Monthly story put it, his stunning ball-striking is achieved with “what many describe as a very agricultural swing and hugely unorthodox footwork”.
“[But] make no mistake about it... Scheffler is in the most dominant period of ball-striking the game has seen since strokes-gained statistics began, and that includes the great Tiger Woods at his best.”
The article described Scheffler’s consistency as “unrivalled and astonishing”.
As the writer Joe Ferguson, a PGA pro, said: “I absolutely love that Scheffler is showing irrefutably that there is no right way to swing a club”.
Hallelujah.
LOSER: Friends like these
The incredible Japanese baseballer Shohei Ohtani is mired in an ugly gambling controversy caused by his friend and now former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara.
Baseball pundits describe Ohtani as the greatest player since Babe Ruth because he is a top pitcher and an exceptional batter, a very rare thing.
There are a lot of mysterious elements to the story, centred on millions of Ohtani’s dollars being used to pay Mizuhara’s gambling debts.
It is hard to tell how much Ohtani - who has just switched from the Los Angeles Angels to the Dodgers – knew about the money transfers. Initially, he was presented as the victim of theft.
It’s a terrible start for the new baseball season, although it has put a sport struggling for old glories on the front pages.
One of the big questions is whether any of the bets were on baseball. Professional sports allow their players to gamble, but only on other sports.
Rapid public statement U-turns by Ohtani and Mizuhara have created an impression that something disturbing has gone on.
Gambling problems involving professional sportspeople are widely believed to be far more serious than is ever uncovered.
A scandal like this is always in the wind. That it should involve baseball’s most sensational player is almost beyond belief.
Veteran Sam Cane is given his farewell test appearance.