All Blacks midfielder Roger Tuivasa-Sheck. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
Chris Rattue ranks the best sports to watch this weekend and beyond.
5) Rugby League World Cup: Samoa v France, Monday, 6am – Spark
This is the pick of the World Cup action, although Ireland could test the Kiwis (Saturday, 7.30am) if they continue to struggle finding top gear.
Samoa and France will go toe-to-toe in Warrington for a quarter-final place, where Tonga likely await.
France have had their moments in league history but make up the numbers these days, unfortunately.
French league has never delivered on the great promise it showed many decades ago.
The game was done in by devious rugby union administrators, who used their connections with Nazi collaborators during the World War II occupation to have league banned, and stole the rival code’s grounds and possessions to make matters even worse. French league has pretty much battled ever since.
Despite the advent of the Super League’s Catalans Dragons, France still tread water whereas Pacific nations and their NRL players have suddenly emerged as the new lifeblood at test level.
A high-quality Samoan squad buoyed by a romp against Greece should win this well, but France pushed in-form England hard before the hosts took control in the second half of their group game.
Bottom line: Most league fans will be desperate for a Tonga-Samoa quarter-final.
4) MLB World Series: Phillies v Astros, starts Saturday, 1pm – Sky
It’s hard to recall an American sports series final with such a clear Good v Evil storyline.
The Astros are the biggest baddies in baseball, a status not helped by their continuing success.
They do have a very popular manager in veteran Dusty Baker, who is chasing his first World Series title as boss.
But the cheating scandal of 2017, when the World Series triumph was swamped by revelations they illegally spied on opposition pitching signals, won’t go away.
The cheating system included relaying the information to batters by banging on a trash can. How quaint.
Scandal icons Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve are among the five surviving Astros, making it harder for Houston to live the shame down.
Which means just about everyone is banging the drum for the Philadelphia Phillies, the darlings of 2022 who started so badly they fired their manager mid-season.
The elevation of Rob Thomson to manager was the catalyst for a surge towards the World Series, helped by an expanded wildcard system.
And fate, sporting romantics claim, is on the side of the underdogs from a city with a famously blue collar image.
The Phillies have terrific hitting, led by their “$330 million man” Bryce Harper. The Astros pitching is supreme, including the great Justin Verlander and a scary deep bullpen.
All games in the best of seven series start at 1pm, with Monday the first day off as the baseball season finale moves from Houston to Philadelphia.
3) Rugby World Cup: Black Ferns v Wales, Saturday, 7.30pm - Spark
Rugby honchos have got vital aspects of this tournament badly wrong, including New Zealand’s quarter-final going up against the All Blacks test against Japan.
This represents some of the dumbest scheduling in history and I’m guessing the All Blacks will win out with most fans, particularly as the World Cup broadcasts are tucked away on the outlier Spark.
Parking the World Cup in the north of the North Island is also an odd business in a country where rugby rules throughout. What a waste.
From a New Zealand perspective, this tournament has always been about a showdown with England in the final, and that’s the way it is heading.
The Black Ferns pummelled Wales in their pool game and will be untroubled in progressing to a semifinal against France or Italy. France should win that quarter-final (Saturday, 4.30pm), but Italy have beaten them this year.
On Sunday, England will crush Australia (1.30pm), and Canada are favoured to repeat their pool win over the United States (4.30pm), their second meeting at Waitākere Stadium.
All in all, it’s a ho-hum quarter-final weekend although anticipation of a mighty final is building.
2) All Blacks v Japan, Saturday, 6.50pm – Sky
Unwanted All Blacks history is on an impressive roll under Ian Foster’s stewardship – could Tokyo take this trend to a whole new level?
Victory over the All Blacks is still a result from fantasyland for a team that has been pummelled in the past, although the Brave Blossoms kept the margin to 38 points four years ago.
Then again, Japan — guided by Jamie Joseph and Tony Brown — ran mighty France very close in one test this year, after a stunning group-topping campaign at the last World Cup.
They’ve also got the preparation advantage, with three matches against Australia A this month while the All Blacks were on ice.
And the All Blacks have been dealing with more comings and goings than 10 Downing Street.
Japan is going mad for these All Blacks, but the locals can reserve a lot of enthusiasm for their own team these days.
Victories over South Africa and Ireland in World Cups established Japan’s giant-killer credentials, and they may see this game as a golden opportunity to grab the biggest scalp of them all.
Brodie Retallick and co. should have too much for Japan in the pack, enabling Richie Mo’unga to engineer enough winning tricks in the backs.
But it could be well worth a surprisingly tense watch.
As an added bonus, you can also play spot the interesting Japan imports.
The Nippon Clip-ons include forwards Jack Cornelsen, whose dad Greg was the four-try Wallaby hero at Eden Park in 1978, and Warner Dearns, son of former Silver Ferns netballer Tanya Cox.
Japan braveheart Michael Leitch, the revered flanker of Kiwi origins, is still leading the charge.
1) Twenty20 Cricket World Cup: Australia v England, Friday, 9pm – Sky (and Kiwi Finn Allen on Saturday)
Heresy…but New Zealand’s match against Sri Lanka isn’t the pick of the upcoming T20 World Cup clashes.
Anything involving England and Australia in cricket is compelling, and with both teams on the back foot after shock early losses, their clash should be a ripper of a contest.
Something crazy is bound to happen. You can just sense it.
Adding to the drama, England go into this glamour clash at the mighty MCG with a decent edge over the hosts in recent T20 meetings.
Meanwhile, New Zealand — whose momentum was hit by rain in Melbourne — return to the scene of their triumph over Australia to play Sri Lanka in Sydney on Saturday night (9pm).
Sri Lanka, who won the trophy in 2014 and made two other finals, have lost a golden generation of cricketers.
Their country is in turmoil, and the team may reflect that. New Zealand, led by the batting of rising star Finn Allen and great-in-the-making Devon Conway, will take control of the group if they play to form and win.
All eyes will be on new opener Allen, who destroyed Australia’s bowling and confidence with an extraordinary rampage in the opening game.
The additional seating will increase the capacity of Mt Smart to nearly 29,000.