Crusaders coach Scott "Razor" Robertson. Photo / Photosport
Crusaders coach Scott "Razor" Robertson. Photo / Photosport
OPINION:
LOSER (maybe): Scott Robertson
I’ve got no idea where the All Blacks coaching battle between Scott Robertson and Jamie Joseph stands. But things just don’t seem to be going Robertson’s way.
He was once the golden boy of the rugby scene.
But the Crusaders are struggling, I’ve come acrossa sort of whispering campaign that doubts his coaching ability, it’s hard to work out where his potential assistant Leon MacDonald stands, and there’s a feeling Robertson jumped the gun with a public statement — and that this might have irked New Zealand Rugby. And as we all know, rugby HQ has been a control-freak organisation that doesn’t like maverick behaviour.
As I say, it’s just a feeling, and it could be way off the mark.
I’ve long believed the Jamie Joseph-Tony Brown combo is the right choice for the All Blacks.
But in saying that, and if Joseph does get the top job, I would hate to see people put Robertson down. He has done an amazing job at the Crusaders and is also a beacon of hope in a game that lacks characters.
In other words — there are two terrific candidates.
The Drua’s historic and unexpected win over the Crusaders in Lautoka proves again that rugby in this part of the world is paradise lost, or paradise never found.
The game’s potential has been allowed — quite deliberately — to lie dormant in the Pacific region.
Rugby will pat Fiji and itself on the head and revel in the romance of this win, without instituting real change.
Or to put it another way: How many full test matches have ever been played in the islands, or will ever be played?
World Rugby is run by a cartel, where the powerful unions dominate the top table.
They still do.
Apart from that, well done to coach Mick Byrne, goal-kicking hero Kemi Valetini and co.
Eroni Sau scores a try. Photo / Getty
Winner: Zoe Hobbs
The Kiwi sprint sensation is going from strength to strength, nailing a legal sub-11-second time in Sydney.
Incredibly, it’s the fastest 100m time ever run by a woman in Australia.
It’s also a publicity boost for the Sir Graeme Douglas International meeting, in west Auckland on Thursday.
WINNER: The Breakers and the NBL finals
A fantastic finals series goes down to the wire in Sydney on Wednesday (9.30pm NZ time).
World basketball is dominated by big names with amazing games, men like LeBron James and the magical Melbourne-born Kyrie Irving.
But the NZ Breakers are all about a team ethos, even if they have revealed a slew of new stars such as import Jarrell Brantley, who was central to the fourth-game win over the top-seeded Kings at a packed house in Auckland.
Even the Breakers’ enigmatic American owner Matt Walsh seems reinvigorated, talking big and annoying the opposition. Great stuff.
WINNER: Free speech
The stars struck back, and how, after the Beeb tried to silence former England striker turned pundit Gary Lineker over his laudable comments on the British Government’s asylum policies.
Led by other old England strikers Ian Wright and Alan Shearer, the football community has quite rightly turned on the Beeb, which spread its journalist impartiality stance way too far.
Indeed, some suspect that because of Tory influences, the Beeb was doing the Government’s dirty work rather than standing up for anything sensible.
Lineker isn’t a journalist — he’s a football pundit. That’s the key point.
At least there’s a healthy debate going on, and Britain should be thankful for that.
In New Zealand, we’re still waiting for some of our TV sports pundits to talk freely about the sports they are allegedly covering, let alone societal issues.
BBC's Match of the Day host Gary Lineker outside his home in London. Photo / AP
LOSER: The casualty ward
Maybe I’m getting squeamish in old age, but the flow of players going off football fields around the world is nightmarish.
In advancing years, you get to appreciate how precious the body and mind are.
From the avalanche of injuries that hit Ireland during their stout Six Nations win over Scotland, to another sickening head knock suffered by NRL star Kalyn Ponga, it is all too much at times.
The various football codes have protocols for dealing with concussions, but that doesn’t mean they can prevent them from occurring, as we are witnessing with Newcastle ace Ponga.
England can already be scrubbed as Rugby World Cup contenders. They are disjointed, their players lack class, and a lack of effort at the breakdown suggests a team without an ethos.
As for Marcus Smith, the new No 10 comes across as a show pony, although it’s not really his fault because he’s been plonked amongst cart horses.
France are full of magnificent rugby players though. Their halfback Antoine Dupont may one day be regarded as the best No 9 the game has seen.
Antoine Dupont celebrates France's win over England. Photo / AP
WINNER: English TV rugby commentators
They didn’t muck about with declarations such as: “English rugby has been brought to its knees … it’s been made to grovel at the hands of France.”
Magnificent.
LOSERS: The Warriors
The NRL hopefuls blew a great opportunity against a severely depleted Roosters outfit.
WINNER: Daryl Mitchell
The middle-order batsman is averaging a whopping 58 in tests, after another century against Sri Lanka. He’s also hit 21 sixes in 25 innings, a rate that is up there with the best in history.
WINNER: Mikaela Shiffrin and Ingemar Stenmark
American Olympic ski champ Mikaela Shiffrin broke the World Cup win record of 86 set by Swede Ingemar Stenmark in the 1980s.
The 66-year-old Stenmark was beyond complimentary, saying Shiffrin was clearly a superior skier before she broke his record.
“She’s much better than I was — you cannot compare,” he said. “I could never have been so good in all disciplines.”
Generous praise.
Mikaela Shiffrin celebrates. Photo / AP
WINNER/LOSER: Shane van Gisbergen/Supercars fans
Kiwi champ Shane van Gisbergen was stripped of his opening Supercars win in Newcastle for the incorrect mounting of dry ice helmet coolant in his Camaro cockpit.
But he served up a massive warning in the radical Gen3 era, winning the second race as he seeks a three-peat of titles.
Race one sounded like a very messy situation, with his team believing they had a verbal agreement for the coolant use.
From a layperson’s point of view, it’s a raw deal for fans, turning the first race of the season into a bit of a joke over an innocuous technicality.
LOSERS: Liverpool
Followed up the incredible 7-0 win over Manchester United by losing to cellar dwellers Bournemouth, who have the leakiest defence in the English Premier League.
WINNER: France’s sporting reputation
No nation does team discord quite like the French. And they are at it again, with their women’s football coach Corinne Diacre fired four months out from the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Top players had revolted. Diacre said detractors wanted “a personal settling of scores”.
The battling A-league club enjoys a loyal little following. An impressive number of black and yellow shirts could be seen around Eden Park, where they played on Sunday.
