Beauden Barrett during the Blues' defeat to the Highlanders in Dunedin. Photo / Photosport
Chris Rattue runs through the best and worst from the sporting weekend, including the form of an All Blacks great and how Auckland has embraced their new football team.
LOSER: Beauden Barrett
The rugby superstar had a shocker for the Blues in Dunedin. At 33, maybe his time is up.
Or to put it another way, the All Blacks should future-proof by moving on from him as a fullback prospect.
Barrett showed clever touches against the Highlanders early in the game but then disappeared, apart from a series of stuff ups.
Two poor Barrett kicks led to Highlanders tries. As the Blues hunted a late revival against 13 opponents, he kicked into the shins of a defender. Then he lost the ball completely on another raid.
At his finest, Barrett was just about the best thing you will ever see on a rugby field.
And yes, he rescued the All Blacks with a scintillating performance off the bench against England at Eden Park last year.
Nothing lasts forever though, and there is interesting talent around that needs to be given its chance. And Barrett will be 36 by the time of the next World Cup.
WINNER: Football. Auckland FC. (But they need to add this)
Auckland enjoyed the most inspiring football scenes the city has seen for more than 40 years, when Auckland FC crushed the Wellington Phoenix in their latest A-League clash at Mt Smart Stadium.
The way Auckland FC has been taken to the city’s heart is astonishing, indicated by 22,000 club shirts sold so far.
The poor old Phoenix started quite well with a direct approach, but were overwhelmed by the more sophisticated — yet still entertaining style — being built by Auckland FC coach Steve Corica.
Auckland FC kind of landed from nowhere this A-League season. Nobody campaigned for a new team in Auckland, and they were late starters with little time to prepare for their first season.
Their inclusion was seen by many as a cynical cash grab by the troubled A-League, but Auckland FC owner Bill Foley and co have turned a nugget into a gold rush with astonishing speed.
May it long continue, please, please, please.
A packed stadium of 27,000 saw Auckland score superb goals from Neyder Moreno, Logan Rogerson and Jesse Randall in a 6-1 victory over the increasingly overshadowed Wellington club.
Next move: getting some of the Auckland players to become household names the way Paul Ifill in particular did for the Phoenix.
Hopefully, players won’t come and go like they do nowadays at the basketball Breakers. Players like the Colombian Moreno can establish themselves here and give the club a strong identity and heroes.
And on that front, there was more good news last week with the outstanding captain Hiroki Sakai from Japan signing a one-year contract extension.
There hasn’t been a football buzz like this in Auckland since Mt Smart was home base for the wondrous All Whites’ World Cup qualification campaign of the early 1980s.
LOSER: Boxing ... subscribers.
Martin Bakole was the stand-in who had trouble standing up. After the very late withdrawal by Daniel Dubois from illness, Bakole from the Republic of Congo jetted in to take his place against Kiwi/Samoan Joseph Parker in Saudi Arabia.
Bakole is well-rated — but also looked too well-fed, shall we say. He didn’t even bring his own gloves. The giant quickly tumbled. Shoddy.
At least the fight commentators were honest about it, describing the eventual match-up in terms like “bizarre” and “peculiar”.
Well done Parker, and he may well be a better boxer under trainer Andy Lee — although this fight proved little.
There is so much manoeuvring in boxing that it is difficult to know what to trust.
In recent times, for a range of reasons, Kiwi fighters Mea Motu and David Nyika and New Zealand-raised, Russian-born Andrei Mikhailovich have had similar late changes to fights.
WINNER: Southern pride
Jamie Joseph should have been the new All Blacks coach last year.
The Highlanders are the winners.
His underrated southerners knocked over the champion Blues, with some of their rising stars like Timoci Tavatavanawai impressing in the second round Super Rugby upset.
Meanwhile, the Blues’ much heralded Cotter-ball isn’t working so far this season.
LOSER: Caleb Clarke
Dangerous driving is not a good look or thing to do. Failing to stop for police while exceeding the speed limit is a whole new ball game.
The big Blues and All Blacks wing admitted both charges in the Auckland District Court.
The Blues and/or New Zealand Rugby need to impose some sort of sanction themselves once the court case is fully settled.
Clarke had a goody-two-shoes image, but those days are gone. All very strange.
LOSER: Peter V’landys
I’ve been a big fan of the NRL chief. He makes things happen.
But the way he sucked up to the dishonourable and blatantly dishonest American President Donald Trump, in the name of cheap publicity for the opening NRL round games in Las Vegas, was tragic.
It was made even worse when Trump ingratiated himself with the Russian warmonger Vladimir Putin while spewing nonsense about brave Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
I’ve followed and loved rugby league for a long time, and can’t think of a sadder sight than V’landys’ shameless pursuit of Trump.
WINNER (but): Super Rugby
Great action and finishes to games over the weekend, but did a TV commentator really get excited about a 15,000-sized crowd in Dunedin?
LOSER: The Halbergs’ style
Said it before, will say it again: New Zealand should find its own style instead of doing a bad impression of Oscar ceremonies, penguin suits et al, at our annual sports award bash.
WINNER: Dame Lydia Ko. But does she really know what she is doing?
The reborn golf superstar deservedly won the top Halberg award (if apples and oranges awards are your thing), and appears set on retirement within a year or two. A woman on top of her game, and her life.
But Ko, who is about to turn 28, might find quitting and staying quit tougher than she thinks.
Then again, Australian tennis ace Ashleigh Barty retired at 25 when she was ranked world number one. Three years on, there is no sign of a U-turn.
WINNER: Liverpool, for a few reasons.
A big weekend in the English Premier League title race, with Liverpool far too good for falling champions Manchester City, and main title rivals Arsenal losing to West Ham. The race is over. Liverpool cannot be caught, surely.
It’s not just the results that count with Liverpool. The way they play is exhilarating. Their lightning attacks represent football at its absolute finest. Mind you, it helps having quick-footed Mohamed Salah on board. He deserves to win the Ballon d’Or. The man is a wonder.
LOSER: Luis Rubiales
Spain’s former football chief was found guilty in a High Court of sexual assault, for kissing captain Jenni Hermoso without her consent after the 2023 World Cup final in Australia. Rubiales, who committed the offence before a mass audience at the awards ceremony, had already been banned by Fifa for three years.
So are there any winners? There are hopes that the high-profile case will lead to further changes towards women in sport and society.
Hermoso said: “This will create an important precedent in a social environment in which much remains to be done.”
WINNERS: Filthy rich American athletes
A few Chileans are facing charges in Florida in connection with the burglaries at the homes of six professional athletes across America. NFL superstars Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Joe Burrow have been among the burglary victims. As you would expect, the property involved is worth millions.
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