The Blues celebrate a try for Hoskins Sotutu against the Chiefs. Photo / Photosport
Chris Rattue has been a journalist since 1980 and is one of the most respected opinion writers in New Zealand sports journalism.
OPINION
WINNERS/LOSERS: Hurricanes/Chiefs
The Hurricanes are in the box seat for a rare Super Rugby title, finishing as top seeds with home-ground advantage.
They have played dynamic rugby and further promoted players like Ruben Love towards All Blacks selection along the way. They will run riot over the Rebels in their quarter-final.
The Chiefs set an exciting pace early in the season but lost their way.
LOSER: Referee’s failure to red-card Luke Jacobson
Hoskins Sotutu was sin-binned for an admittedly lazy, stupid piece of obstruction on Damian McKenzie, who was never going to reclaim a poor chip kick near the Blues line. There was another soft offside-related yellow card against the Chiefs.
Yet Chiefs captain Luke Jacobson stayed on the field despite performing a double flying head butt in the final-round match at Eden Park.
Baffling beyond belief.
Rugby must try harder to keep it as a game of 15 v 15, and take the truly dangerous stuff more seriously. Jacobson’s act was one of the worst I’ve seen in rugby for a long time. Referee Ben O’Keeffe HAD to produce the red card.
Jacobson drove his head into Ricky Riccitelli, and kept going into Finlay Christie’s head, making contact before Riccitelli had lifted him. It was awful.
Chiefs coach Clayton McMillan made the situation even worse, in terms of rugby credibility and safety.
“I was surprised it was a penalty to be perfectly honest,” McMillan claimed afterwards.
Not even a penalty? Are you serious?
Professional sports coaches have no shame when it comes to promoting their causes. Sad.
LOSER: Rugby’s bonus points
Never liked them. Random tries have undue influence. I don’t think they add anything apart from confusion.
The Hurricanes ended up in top spot, helped by the last-gasp consolation try to Josh Ioane for the losing Chiefs against the Blues.
But did that try add to the excitement? I don’t think so. All seemed a bit stupid, quite frankly.
A team who won a big match were made to feel as if they had lost – over something completely irrelevant.
On a similar note... I can’t see the point of the NRL’s messy ladder system that allocates points to teams who have had a bye.
This makes it hard to work things out at a glance.
WINNER: Scott Dixon... our IndyCars stars
Scott Dixon leads the famous series after his 58th career win in Detroit, where fellow Kiwi Marcus Armstrong put his name in neon by finishing third.
“Leave it to the smoothest, coolest driver in the series to put an end to the chaos,” is how one motorsport writer put Dixon’s victory.
The 43-year-old, chasing his seventh IndyCars title, is nine short of A.J. Foyt’s race-win record.
Peerless fuel management is the ace up Dixon’s sleeve. Along with Scott McLaughlin, they give IndyCars a remarkable Kiwi presence.
It’s unlikely, but might there be a day when Kiwis fill an IndyCars podium? That would be something very special.
WINNERS: Real Madrid... but
Won the Champions League, with a Wembley victory over Borussia Dortmund. The Spaniards may not be getting the credit they deserve, this being their sixth title in 11 seasons. It is a staggering record.
WINNER: European stars in the NBA
Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić and Victor Wembanyama... giants in the American basketball league.
Dončić was awesome as the Dallas Mavericks crushed the Minnesota Timberwolves to make the NBA finals, where they will face the Boston Celtics.
The Europeans aren’t just stars – they often have unique games. And iconic coach Doc Rivers is among those who say they tend to be better team players than the Americans. The ratio of European players is steadily rising.
LOSER: Nelly Korda
Could anyone beat Nelly Korda? That was the question going into the US Women’s Open golf championship.
As it turned out, the answer was a definitive yes. The person who beat Korda was... Korda.
“Disastrous par three” hardly covers the situation. Korda finished with a 10 on her third hole of the tournament, instantly playing her way out of contention.
Korda, seeking her seventh win in eight tournaments, didn’t even make the cut in Pennsylvania.
LOSER/WINNER: Rafael Nadal
The Spaniard has dominated the French Open in a way that probably no competitor has ever owned a major tournament in sport.
The 37-year old was a first-round loser to Alexander Zverev this time, which naturally heightened the retirement speculation. But there was fighting talk from Nadal and particularly his coach Carlos Moya afterwards.
Injury comeback allowing, he may be back at Roland Garros.
WINNER: Rob Burrow
The former Great Britain and Leeds rugby league star lost his battle with motor neurone disease (MND), aged 41.
The little halfback was adored for the way he dealt with MND. Burrow’s career highlight probably came against the Kiwis in 2007, when he starred in the 3-0 series victory. It’s hard to remember a rugby league story getting so much coverage in the mainstream British press.
WINNER: Gilbert Enoka
The iconic Kiwi mental skills bloke has bobbed back to the surface. New South Wales league coach Michael Maguire has brought him into the Blues camp for the State of Origin series, which starts on Wednesday night. Maguire discovered Enoka in his role as Kiwis coach. Enoka quit the All Blacks last year after 23 years, involving nearly 300 tests.
After the World Cup final loss to the Springboks last year, Enoka said: “We didn’t lose that game because of refereeing errors – we had the opportunities to still get away with a victory, which we didn’t take in that moment.”
A breath of fresh air compared to some of New Zealand rugby’s boorish excuse-making.
WINNER: PGA Tour
Scottish golfer Robert MacIntyre won the Canadian Open – his first PGA Tour title – with dad Dougie as caddy.
MacIntyre had run out of caddies and gave his father an emergency call just before the tournament, with Dougie making the hurried trip from Scotland.
“I just can’t believe I’ve done this with him on the bag,” a crying MacIntyre – a Ryder Cup player – said.
Commentators recalled maybe the most famous father-son golf victory, when Jack Nicklaus won the 1986 Masters with his eldest son on the bag.
Veteran Sam Cane is given his farewell test appearance.