For decades the sad fact is that officials from
a vast range of sports have been prepared to accept what amounts to dirty cash.
The first, and to this day probably the most disgusting, example of sportswashing, was surely the International Olympic Committee agreeing to Hitler’s Nazi Germany staging the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
New Zealand Rugby taking money from Ineos is in a completely different league compared to the IOC’s decision on the ‘36 Games, or the grovelling to Saudi Arabia by the likes of Greg Norman when LIV Golf was set up.
But the unpalatable fact is that if you deal with a cold, ruthless, penny-pinching businessman like Ineos’s Sir Jim Ratcliffe, don’t expect fairness and decency.
At the risk of heaping more weight on the shoulders of NZR chair David Kirk, hopefully, his lengthy experience of successfully swimming in corporate shark-infested waters will ensure better, more sustainable deals in the future.
A call for Ghostbusters?
You could hardly have blamed the Crusaders last year if they’d started to wonder if some ancient curse had descended on their St Albans headquarters. Every week seemed to bring a new injury to a squad member. There’s already a hefty casualty toll this year too.
For the Crusaders the return of Will Jordan at fullback is potentially game-changing, while in the three-quarters two men whose stars dimmed last year, wing Sevu Reece and centre Levi Aumua, have the chance, on what should be a firm field with a dry ball, to show they still have explosive attacking qualities.
However, the side that faces the Hurricanes in Christchurch on Friday night certainly has enough experience to suggest that 2025’s opening game could be a tough contest.
The Canes will field a terrific loose forward trio, of Du’Plessi Kirifi, Brad Shields, and Braydon Iose. This trio gives them the luxury of having All Black Peter Lakai in the reserves. Any turnovers they win will be delivered to the best halfback in the country, the dynamic Cam Roigard.
Welcome back
For Highlanders’ fans the sight of Tony Brown, back in Dunedin for a few weeks from his job with the Springboks, and head coach Jamie Joseph running a training session must have sparked decade-old memories of when the ‘Landers, with Joseph and Brown in the coaching box, took the 2015 title.
The team of ‘25 doesn’t have world-class backs, notably Aaron and Ben Smith, the legends of ‘15 did. But for their late Friday night game in Sydney against the Waratahs the pack looks full of potential. Ethan de Groot will be on a mission to regain his All Black spot. Lock Fabian Holland, the 2.04m giant who came here from Holland as a 16-year-old six years ago to play rugby, starts a season that may well end with him taking a permanent spot in the All Black squad.
The $1.75 million man
The game in Sydney will be the first in Super Rugby for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii. Still only 21, he’s bounced from the Australian schoolboy rugby team to playing for the Roosters in the NRL as a 17-year-old, to making the Wallabies test team before he’d pulled on a Waratahs’ jersey.
He signed his staggering $1.75 million a year contract early in 2023 with the Australian Rugby Union, to start playing rugby at the end of 2024. It didn’t make him popular with some league diehards. Veteran league coach Phil Gould said, “Go now. Don’t let the door hit you on the arse on the way out”.
It’s still a moot point whether Suaalii is a smart signing for rugby.
But when Wallabies’ coach, Joe Schmidt, a clever and grounded man, rushed him into the Australian team for last year’s northern tour, you got a good hint that there’s more to Suaalii than headlines and big pay cheques.
The big guns
It will be fascinating to see how big a crowd is drawn to Eden Park on Saturday for the biggest match of the first round, the Blues facing the Chiefs in a repeat of last year’s final.
There are plenty of interesting selections. In the Blues’ Harry Plummer, who was a major factor in 2024’s title win, retains the first-five jersey, with Beauden Barrett starting at fullback.
Barrett said during the week that he sees hints of a French style of play with coach Vern Cotter at the Blues. If that attitude involves speedy counter-attacking, the Blues have plenty of players to do the job.
For the Chiefs Damian McKenzie will be at fullback, not first-five. There is certainly the potential for a terrific game. The Blues have real weapons in the three-quarters in Caleb Clarke, Mark Tele’a, and Rieko Ioane. The Chiefs can afford to have two All Black backs in Anton Lienert-Brown and Emoni Narawa on the bench.
In Ardie we trust
So much feels right about Ardie Savea bringing his huge talents and boundless enthusiasm to Moana Pasifika, who will play the late Saturday night (NZ Time) game in Perth against the Western Force.
But it won’t be an easy match. Heat stroke warnings have been issued in Perth for Saturday, and the predicted temperature at kick-off (4.35pm Perth time) is 34C. Reasons to be hopeful for Moana? They beat the Force 22-14 in Perth last year.
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Phil Gifford has twice been judged New Zealand sportswriter of the year, has won nine New Zealand and two Australasian radio awards, and been judged New Zealand Sports Columnist of the year three times. In 2010 he was honoured with the SPARC lifetime achievement award for services to sports journalism.
