Join host Alex Chapman with special guests Buck Shelford & Michaela Blyde as they review the Semi-Finals of RWC 2019 - All Blacks v England - South Africa v Wales. VIDEO/Spark Sport/RWC/Mark Mitchell/SNTV/AP/Photosport/Gettyimages
COMMENT:
Getting on a plane to go back to Japan, and the Rugby World Cup, after the All Blacks were bundled out by a team that totally humbled them, is not really going to script.
It was meant to be a fantastic Friday morning flight, ready to hook up withall my old university mates and overseas-based Kiwis who are in Japan for the final. But most of them are selling their tickets, going to the pub instead, or some have even gone home early.
Adding to that - the day I got back to work on Wednesday last week, the TVNZ building in downtown Auckland had to be evacuated due to the SkyCity fire, with the Rugby World Cup semifinal build-ups for TVNZ and Spark Sport under serious threat as no one knew whether the TVNZ buildings and studios would be safe enough for anyone to go back into.
After some toxicity tests and intense cleaning and filtering, and the World Cup team was back in the studio by lunchtime on Saturday. That meant we had all our feeds from Japan available, all our graphics, our set, our analytical tool and our augmented reality props.
Our production team did one hell of a job because I bet most viewers wouldn't even have noticed a thing out of place.
Spark Sport and TVNZ's broadcast team in Japan. Photo / Photosport
Meanwhile, I stayed away from the studios - only critical crew were required - and watched the semifinals up in Taupo Bay with about 20 other adults, my kids, and one Englishman.
I'm not too sure about the details but I think someone tried to burn his flag. We all congratulated him afterwards which shows how much we've all grown up.
I admit my emotions have been ping-ponging between depressed and morose but I've picked myself up as I am going back to Japan to judge the Player of the Year at the World Rugby Awards on Sunday. We have one last vote that counts which happens after the final. I know I'm absolutely privileged to be in this position and so I'm revving up for the weekend again.
It's been a difficult task as there is so much rugby you have to watch to make sure you look at as many players as possible, and you have to leave your own bias behind when it comes to assessing the All Blacks against the rest.
The All Blacks after their loss to England. Photo / Photosport
The way the voting works is you vote after the Northern Hemisphere season, then again after the Southern Hemisphere season or pre-World Cup games, then again after round-robin play at the Rugby World Cup. The last vote comes after the final. The double voting at World Cup is more than likely designed to give world-class players who have a big impact on the game's biggest tournament the opportunity to get recognised for that.
It's similar to the Halberg Awards in that each panel member is genuinely assessing the players themselves, without undue influence from other more senior members, and it is spread out across the entire year. Also, with access to player statistics, there is data to back up your analysis which makes the process more scientific.
The panel for men's Player of the Year is more diverse than ever before which in my mind is a positive because different countries are represented.
The three new members this year are myself, former Samoa centre Seilala Mapusua, and Ireland captain Fiona Coghlan. We join some big names in England's Maggie Alphonsi, Fabien Galthié, George Gregan, Richie McCaw, Brian O'Driscoll, Agustín Pichot and John Smit.
The players' association also has a say which means current players' opinion is also taken into account.
So, who have I chosen? I'm not allowed to say. The names that end up being top of the pile are absolutely confidential until the finalists and winner are announced on Sunday night in Tokyo.
But here's a clue - since 2003 the winner of the Player of the Year has been selected from the World Cup final, with only Theirry Dusautoir (in 2011) winning the title from the losing team.
