Editorial: Bright side to weekend washout

The important thing is to stay positive.

As sporting weekends go, it seemed like a bit of a washout.

In fact, if there was a word for the opposite of a hat-trick - a reverse hat-trick, perhaps - that's what we achieved this weekend.

The first blow was on Saturday night when the All Blacks decided to give our Rugby World Cup hopes a shake-up by playing against the Wallabies like they weren't very good. And they deservedly lost.

The Chatham Cup slipped away from Napier City Rovers in the final at Palmerston North yesterday, being snaffled instead to spend a year with Wairarapa United after a 2-1 loss.

Then, to rub salt in the wound, Hawke's Bay lost the chance to hold the Log o' Wood for the first time in more than four decades after Taranaki convincingly won the Ranfurly Shield clash in New Plymouth.

That's a lot of disappointment for one weekend.

But the important thing to remember is that there's a lot to be proud of, too.

Napier City Rovers put in a fantastic effort to reach the final of the Chatham Cup.

And we may not have lifted the Ranfurly Shield but we've still got an ITM Cup championship final to look forward to next weekend, and we're backing the Bay to do us proud against the Manawatu Turbos.

And a bright note for the future is Napier Boys' High School's third-equal result in the schools competition, and Levi Guildford's selection for the New Zealand Schools squad.

Congratulations to everyone involved in the weekend's big and small games - top effort all round.