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The first annual Trans-Tasman Championship stands at 10-7 in favour of Australia, with three rounds remaining. This confirms, categorically, that Australia is the best sporting nation that shares the Tasman Sea.
Earlier this week I got to thinking: “Gee, it feels like Australia and New Zealand have played each other in a lot of different sports this year.”
>> AUSTRALIA VS NEW ZEALAND FIRST TEST LIVE SCORES
And after doing a bit of research, my thought bubble was confirmed.
The national teams of Australia and New Zealand, across both men’s and women’s sports at the elite level, have played against each other 15 times in just over 10 months. This is across a broad spectrum of sports: one day cricket, rugby league, rugby union, basketball, netball and lawn bowls.
There could very well be more, both Australia and New Zealand played in the Softball World Cup, but didn’t face each other. Lawn bowls was another rabbit hole I went down, to find that there was actually an annual trophy for elite men’s and women’s lawn bowls between the two nations.
There hasn’t been a soccer friendly between Australia and New Zealand since the green and gold upped stumps and planted themselves in the Asian Confederation.
Not content with keeping this remarkable revelation to myself, it’s time to get this thing down on paper.
Introducing… the Trans-Tasman Championship! (Feel free to help a brother out… naming isn’t my strong suit.)
Here’s a brief run down of the rules:
– The Championship is run on a calendar year basis.
– Every time an elite sporting competition occurs between Australia and New Zealand, a point in the Trans-Tasman Championship is up for grabs. That goes for both men’s and women’s competitions, and for individual and team sports.
– Only direct head-to-head match-ups count – there is to be no sullying of this competition by the inclusion of Great Britain or The United States or Tajikistan, or other, less Tasman Sea-adjacent nations.
– The winner of a match scores a point.
– Winning the overall trophy in a particular sport counts for nothing. This is mostly to downplay the significance of the Bledisloe Cup.
– We’ll make an exception for golf, because golf is fun, and hard, and winning a major tournament is worthy of a point.
– The country with most points at the end of the calendar year wins the Trans-Tasman Championship.
The prize is a novelty cheque that will most certainly bounce, my Under-11s T-ball participation trophy but with Trans-Tasman Champion scribbled on with a Sharpie, and the sense of satisfaction that comes with winning such a prestigious competition.
Stakes = high.
So where do we stand in 2015?
The current score, according to my in-depth quantitative modelling and research (otherwise known as 30 minutes of solid Google time and a piece of paper), sees Australia currently lead the 2015 Trans-Tasman Championship 9-6 in the head-to-head ties.
If we add the achievement of a golf major win to both sides, we get to the current score of 10-7.
Here’s the leader board.
| Australia | New Zealand |
| ODI Cricket World Cup Final | Bledisloe Cup 2 |
| Bledisloe Cup 1 | Rugby World Cup Final |
| Constellation Cup Leg 1 | Constellation Cup Leg 3 |
| Constellation Cup Leg 2 | Constellation Cup Leg 4 |
| Mens FIBA Oceania Championship Leg 1 | Rugby League ANZAC Test |
| Mens FIBA Oceania Championship Leg 2 | Womens Trans Tasman Lawn Bowls |
| Womens FIBA Oceania Championship Leg 1 | The Evian Championship (Lydia Ko) |
| Womens FIBA Oceania Championship Leg 2 | |
| Mens Trans Tasman Lawn Bowls | |
| PGA Championship (Jason Day) | |
Right now, it appears Australia’s dominance in the FIBA Oceania Championships, which served as the route for direct qualification to the Basketball World Cup for both men and women, is the difference between the two countries.
New Zealand has dominated the rugby battles; although Australia pinched one of the two Bledisloe Cup ties prior to the World Cup is coming in handy, too.
Where does that leave us heading into the final two months of the year?
By my reckoning, the three-Test series between Australia and New Zealand, which starts today, is New Zealand’s last chance to salvage a tie, and force a hacksaw being taken to my Under-11s trophy. Either that, or some fancy countback methodology will have to be developed.
Unless there’s some face-offs I’m missing, sports fans?