Top five columns of 2019: Patrick McKendry

2019 was a big year for the All Blacks. Photo / Mark Mitchell

As we say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in 2020, it's a good time to catch up on the very best of the Herald columnists we enjoyed reading over the last 12 months. From politics to sport, from business to entertainment and lifestyle, these are the voices and views our audience loved the most. Today it's the top five from sports writer Patrick McKendry.

The incredibly dangerous tactic the Wallabies got away with in win over All Blacks

Following the All Blacks' August defeat to Australia in Perth, the team would have been horrified by not only how many defensive errors and penalties they gave up which contributed to a big Bledisloe Cup setback, but also what the Wallabies got away with at the breakdown. According to Patrick McKendry, it was lawless - "a throwback to the times before television match officials when anything went as long as the referee didn't see it".

The real reason Steve Hansen snapped at TV reporter Andrew Gourdie

When the All Blacks lost to England in the Rugby World Cup semi-final, skipper Kieran Read looked badly shaken, with a "thousand-yard stare and glassy eyed look" reminsicent of Richie McCaw in Cardiff in 2007. After the match, coach Steve Hansen reacted angrily to a question from TV3 journalist Andrew Gourdie - and McKendry theorised on why he had this reaction.

World Cup is a mess - and one man is to blame

Rugby, with its intricate laws, is a funny old game at the best of times but the performances of the officials at this World Cup are threatening to turn it into a laughing stock, McKendry wrote midway through the tournament. A series of controversial calls by referees angered rugby fans during the World Cup and McKendry concluded it was time to show some empathy and consistency.

There weren't many props like the talented Mike Tamoaieta

In March, 23-year-old former Blues prop Mike Tamoaieta died suddenly, and Patrick McKendry reflected on his talents in a column. While props traditionally avoid the spotlight, Tamoaieta wasn't your usual prop - and his skills were outrageous and daring.

Fitting beginning to World Cup as Japan overcome Russia

Two-and-a-half hours before the first ball of the Rugby World CUp was kicked, Japan Air Self Defence Force jets roared overhead trailing smoke and turning heads. The display of extreme power and aerodynamics was a fitting beginning to the official opening ceremony of the ninth World Cup and first in Asia, wrote Patrick McKendry.