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With cricket’s World Cup completed, the time is overdue for the ICC to address some obvious flaws their Decision Review System continues to struggle…
The sight of MS Dhoni walking onto the field to dispute the umpire’s decision during the middle of an over in the IPL last…
One of the fascinating sub-plots to David Warner's fall from grace has been the opportunity his ban has given his Sunriser's Hyderabad teammate Kane…
Tiger Woods has returned to Augusta this week. And get ready, because Tigermania is likely to reach a level we haven't seen before. It…
After the first one-day international between Australia and New Zealand on Sunday, Kane Williamson copped a lot of criticism for not using the decision…
Jarryd Hayne's decision to leave rugby league back in 2014 was a massive story, and his decision to retire from the NFL to link…
Kiwi cricket lovers have known for years of Kane Williamson's potential to become the country's greatest ever batsman, but 2015 was the year that…
This week many prominent people criticised the $300,000 salary Mal Meninga will reportedly receive in his new role of Kangaroos coach. Phil Gould wrote…
The All Blacks' Rugby World Cup victory has given New Zealanders a chance to celebrate success in our national game again, but it should…
Last summer was massive for New Zealand cricket, making the final of the One Day World Cup. This season has the potential to be…
Having rugby as our national sport can be a good and bad thing for New Zealanders. At its best it's given the New Zealand…
They say a week is a long time in sport and that rang true for the All Blacks at Twickenham in the World Cup…
Jarryd Hayne, Anthony Mundine, Sonny Bill Williams and Israel Folau have the obvious common ground of being some of Australasia's greatest cross-code athletes. Many…
When the All Blacks' World Cup squad of 31 was named on Sunday, the selection of their outside backs was a key area that…
The All Blacks' 27-19 loss to the Wallabies last weekend has yet again ignited the debate around the benefits of losing. Most people tend…
The State of Origin concept is a very simple yet successful formula. However, for many years, each time the series approaches many people have…
As the 15-man game continues to struggle with its rules, rugby league has a chance to solidify its claims to being the greatest game…
It was refreshing to hear someone on the other side of the Tasman pumping up the New Zealand Warriors' potential for 2016 this week,…
You used to hear phrases like 'Don't write off a Champion' a lot. We don't seem to hear that sort of comment or come…
It seems stunning that in the year 2015 one of the main topics of debate in rugby and union continues to be the irresponsible…
True Paul. In New Zealand the selectors made the tough decision to leave Jesse Ryder out of the National team. Even though Ryder is renowned as one of the country’s most naturally gifted batsman of all time It’s probably been the correct decision for the sake of the team’s culture. With Australia’s superior production line of cricketers to New Zealand’s there’s possibly an even greater case for Australia to move on from Warner. The decision is probably dependent on how many of Australia’s regular team members have similar views about him and his behavior to what I do!
Williamson shows a very different way to win from Warner
Yes we shouldn’t discount that Richie MIGHT be the best available number 6 or 8 available if he plays on. Kaino was brilliant through the finals at the World Cup but lacked consistency through the season – and it remains to be seen if Read was just carrying an injury or fatigued, leading to his slump in form this year… My preference would be to give Ardie Savea or Matt Todd more opportunities in the number 7 than Cane. I tend to think that given half the chance Cane has been given Savea could / might be world-class – where as currently I’m not convinced Cane would be anywhere near the class of someone like Hooper even with a whole season in the 7 AB jersey… and yes Muz is the old man 😉
The end of an era for the All Blacks
It can be a bit hard for Australians ( and many Kiwis I guess too! ) to relate to the way many New Zealanders view our rugby team at times. That was part of the reason I posted this article about 6 months ago about McCaw and Carter – and it surprised many people this ‘debate’ was even taking place: http://www.theroar.com.au/2015/04/25/people-writing-off-mccaw-carter/
While it’s one thing to say that they were playing well below their best ( which most people agreed was the case ) it was very different for so many people in NZ to be calling for McCaw and Carter to be dropped PERMANENTLY from over the last year or two…
This is a Wallabies team that New Zealanders should respect
I should provide a bit of perspective here. The match against South Africa was close because the All Blacks played well-below their potential – not because South Africa played amazingly. If we played that poorly against this Australian team near to their best we’ll lose the final.
Yet I hear round New Zealand some of the same arrogant tone that creeps in at times ( especially during this last decade where mainly Aus and SA haven’t had the consistent class that was there in the teams that people like Nick Farr-Jones and Joost van der westhuizen played in ) where people are even dismissive of the Pocock-Hooper threat because of their over-confidence in the All Blacks and lack of respect for opponents. Former England lock Paul Ackford was atleast one view I could agree with this week:
Writing in a column in the Times of London, he claimed the All Blacks were “strangely lacklustre” in the semi-final win over South Africa.
“New Zealand’s problem for much of the tournament has been that the opposition hasn’t been good enough to worry them. Much has rightly been made of the All Blacks’ glorious run since the previous global competition, a gallop during which they have lost just once each to South Africa, Australia and England. But lurking under the radar are two draws in that sequence, both against the Wallabies. At present, Australia are the only side on the planet equipped to probe New Zealand’s rugby intelligence and cope with their physicality.”
Ackford said Australia’s strength at the breakdown was another bonus and that he did not think the Wallabies would have the scrummaging problems against the All Blacks that many are predicting.
“It (the scrum) is a weakness that is not life-threatening. New Zealand’s pack do not possess the power Argentina generated at scrum time. They see that phase more as a restart than a penalty generator.”
But Ackford stopped short of predicting an Australian victory.
“The wonderful truth about the final to come is that only a fool would predict the winner with any confidence.”
This is a Wallabies team that New Zealanders should respect
It’s the interesting thing about any player in any position – especially on the wing – you are only as good as your team-mates help you to be. Most people would argue there have been a lot more complete wingers than Manu – but when used well he’s been up there with the most devastating in league. Lomu had even more prominent strengths and weaknesses than Manu. As I alluded to, probably Manu’s greatest achievement has been the way he’s been such a crucial part of the Warriors club’s survival. Ofcourse there’s the ‘what-if’ that we ask with many players : What if he hadn’t been so loyal and had gone to a more consistent club who were capable of using him even more effectively?
Vatuvei's double hundred a Manumental moment for the Warriors
This was an interesting article a few years ago relating to New Zealand probably continuing to not select Kyle Mills:
http://www.cricket.geek.nz/2012/07/why-dont-we-like-kyle-mills.html
New Zealand unlikely to be jinxed by the ghosts of 1992
Generally I was trying to explain how the flaws in the DRS in its current form placed all sorts of unnecessary pressure on Erasmus even before the final started. If we trusted the ball tracking technology’s decision-making 100% it might make the odd mistake with whether a ball is clipping the stumps but it’d also be consistent by also making the odd mistake judging whether balls miss the stumps. Currently the huge margin of error given to the umpire actually brings an unnecessary big element of inconsistency in to the ball tracking system that does the players and umpires no favours.
A review of cricket’s Decision Review System is overdue