Niall Guthrie in action during the Hamilton Sevens. Photo / Getty
Niall Guthrie in action during the Hamilton Sevens. Photo / Getty
Newstalk ZB rugby commentator Elliott Smith analyses the latest from the world of rugby.
A prediction...
Niall Guthrie won’t be the last sevens player to go to Aussie league and New Zealand Rugby should be wary of the threat the NRLW poses.
The deeper pockets of those sides leveraging offthe men’s teams could decimate the core of the Black Ferns Sevens, especially a year out from the Paris Olympics.
Going from a six-team model to a 10-team competition will see teams chasing established players from the other code to fill their rosters for this season where they may not necessarily have existing pathways.
Aussie star Charlotte Caslick played NRLW previously while Kiwi Gayle Broughton impressed for the Eels last year. The speed of sevens seems a ready-made pipeline for the NRLW and NZR would do well to make sure the likes of Michaela Blyde, Sarah Hirini, Tyla Nathan-Wong and young star Jorja Miller are under lock and key as if Guthrie goes, there’ll be chequebooks out for those players too.
Sarah Hirini was all smiles during day one of the Sydney Sevens. Photo / Photosport
An explanation...
It wouldn’t surprise to see some Aupiki players also have a crack at NRLW – which is why an expansion with the Australian SuperW competition needs to happen sooner rather than later. It feels like the early 1990s over again with league picking off rugby union talent and some of our household sevens names could the next Gallagher, Ridge, Botice and Schuster.
An observation...
Your reaction to Ardie Savea’s throat-cutting gesture probably depended on where you set your moral compass. I found it hard to get too worked up about it and found the pearl-clutching over the top.
Weirdly, the fact he was playing the Rebels and the game being played in Australia probably didn’t help his cause. If he did it against a New Zealand team I think it would have been considered much less of a deal in a ‘derby’ game. He should have saved it for a team that justifies their place in the competition.
Having said all of that, a week is probably about right just for the idea of dissuading kids from doing it around the backyards and rugby fields around the country. As a 9-year-old when Andrew Mehrtens did his (still very funny) iconic pulling of the fingers against the Bulls in Pretoria in 1999, it was all kids were doing for months.
Ardie Savea makes a throat-slitting gesture towards a Melbourne Rebels player. Photo / Sky Sport NZ
A suggestion...
The Super Round should never be held in Melbourne again. To see key fixtures like the Crusaders and Highlanders played in rush hour on a Friday in Melbourne or the Blues playing their biggest Australian rival in the Brumbies, having sneaked home against them twice in 2022, in front of a smattering of fans in a Melbourne scorcher on Sunday afternoon was farcical.
A question...
So where should it go – if it survives? Brisbane has been mentioned as one area, perhaps Perth or somewhere in the Pacific. However I’d take it to Hawke’s Bay in 2024. The region post-cyclone could do with a boost from tourism and teams spending dollars in the region. There’s no Super Rugby affiliation but there is a lot of Magpies players across the New Zealand franchises. It’d be a feel-good story.
