The Black Ferns celebrate a try against Australia. Photo / Photosport
The Black Ferns celebrate a try against Australia. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
LOSER: Black Ferns…and rugby cards
Yes, New Zealand won their World Cup opener against Australia. But it was not an overly impressive start to the tournament, and not a performance to suggest the hosts are capable of challenging the English juggernaut.
And once again, a major rugbymatch was heavily influenced by yellow cards.
The Black Ferns - who were outplayed early on - only began to draw away from the Wallaroos after the Aussies were reduced to 13 players.
The New Zealand tactics were brilliant at that point, eschewing frilly temptations and instead smashing Australia through power forwards Pip Love and co.
The Black Ferns celebrate a try against Australia. Photo / Photosport
But it still made for a hollow victory of sorts. Rugby needs to find a way of getting back to a place where it is almost always a game of 15 v 15.
A game of 15 v 14 is tolerable, but 15 v 13 needs to be avoided at all costs.
WINNER: Women's Rugby World Cup and women's sport
This is a transitional era for women's sport, where it is being positioned as a genre parallel - rather than an adjunct - to the well-established male arena.
Amazing strides have been made around the world, particularly in football.
At the moment, there is an onus on being positive about rising women's sports, but in truth the feel-good factor is not what has traditionally made pro-sport so enticing.
Fans love drama, controversy, scandal, and fierce team/personal rivalries.
Can a range of women's sports get to a point where they deliver that?
For now, events such as a big crowd at Eden Park for the women's World Cup represent a great step forward for women's rugby and sport in this part of the world.
The Black Ferns line up in front of the fans at Eden Park. Photo / Photosport
LOSER: Women's Rugby World Cup
On one hand, you hear the opening day triple-header at Eden Park, is a sellout.
On the other hand, the ground had lots of vacant seats, and even vacant sections. Huh?
There is also a lack of competitiveness in the tournament - the average margin in the opening six games was 30 points.
At least the Wallaroos' strong start forced the Black Ferns to dig deep, producing a contest that was better than the 41-17 scoreline suggested.
(Lucky) WINNER: Roger Tuivasa-Sheck…for now
The former Kiwi has made the latest All Blacks touring team, but only because of injuries to others.
And even then, I wonder if his selection is truly deserved or more a result of the profile he has received as a big-name recruit from the rival code.
For a fringe player, he lacks versatility, appearing to be an outside No 12 prospect only, at best.
He's clearly not seen as a test starter, yet doesn't appear ideal for the bench.
WINNER: Stephen Perofeta
Stephen Perofeta. Photo / Photosport
Would never have guessed it, a couple of years ago. But the versatile Blues playmaker appears to have leap-frogged Josh Ioane and Damian McKenzie as the third-choice All Blacks No 10. Never give up on your dreams - that's the message there.
On the subject of McKenzie, his career is falling short of potential.
For my money, McKenzie has remained a hit-and-miss player too error-prone for modern test rugby.
There is a required happy medium leaning towards calculation over risk, and the little wizard has had trouble sorting that equation out.
Still, his match-turning potential might still turn the selectors' heads next year.
WINNER: Cristiano Ronaldo
He's back, not that the Portuguese maestro ever went away.
The 37-year-old has spent a lot of time parked on the Manchester United bench of late.
A teammate's injury allowed him to make an earlier-than-expected entry into the English Premier League match against Everton.
The great man delivered an immaculate winner with sharp anticipation, impressive control and pace, and a calm finish.
The EPL is still a more interesting place with Ronaldo on the field, even at his age.
Kiwis Tim and Jonelle Price have made history, a married couple taking the top two spots on the world equestrian rankings.
Jonelle celebrated by saying: "Once upon a time, two small town kids dreamt that together they could take on the world. And they did."
They grew up in the South Island towns of Oxford and Motueka.
Jonelle and Tim Price. Photo / Photosport
WINNER: Shane van Gisbergen…and Kiwi motorsport
The Kiwi Supercars champion won his second Bathurst 1000 and broke compatriot Scott McLaughlin's season record with his 19th victory of 2022.
New Zealand has amazing traditions in motorsport, stemming back to the days of backyard boffins.
I recall the transtasman pioneer Jim Richards telling me that when he arrived in Australia, rival teams would even share spare parts such was the spirit of camaraderie.
It's a very different scene now, and Kiwis have kept pace across an amazing range of motor racing categories throughout the world.
LOSERS: Sports films
I finally decided to watch King Richard, the biopic centred on the fascinating Richard Williams, father of tennis greats Serena and Venus.
It stars Will Smith, whose violent Oscars night blowup put me off watching the film when it came out.
It proved to be a cliched effort, a hardly-revealing paint-by-numbers look at the tennis sisters' childhood.
The movie lacked grit. I felt it actually failed to get across the extent of the hurdles Williams and his daughters faced, going on what I've read about the formative years of their amazing tennis careers.
It also romanticised his obsessive, controlling personality without really delving into motivating forces and effects.
Here's a problem for movie makers.
They struggle to match the depth which TV series can achieve, in the era of Showtime, Netflix, ESPN, Disney etc.
The bar has been set very high by subscriber services.
King Richard was pallid, and felt rushed compared to series such as The Last Dance, Drive to Survive and Welcome to Wrexham.
Movies can leave you feeling short-changed compared to long-running series, which spend time developing and delving into themes and characters.
WINNERS: Brave Iranian sports stars…
…such as footballer Hossein Mahini, who are speaking up in support of the protests against the oppressive Iran regime.
