Steven Luatua discusses playing rugby in the northern hemisphere and how it stacks up to the south.
COMMENT:
Back in 1986, when the scars of the Rainbow Warrior attack in Auckland harbour the year before were still raw in New Zealand, the French rugby team came to train at my school before their test against the "Baby Blacks" at Lancaster Park.
The visit was organised by theschool's French teacher and the team's regular interpreter, Akli Lafdal, a man with a wicked sense of humour who would one minute lambaste us schoolboys for not having our socks at the desired level relative to our knees and the next have us in stitches of laughter for intentionally mangling a surname. "Pilchard" for poor Pritchard was one that remains in the memory.
Anyway, it wasn't the occasion of the All Blacks fielding so many debutants in that test which they won against all odds, or the French returning to a nation a year after its government's approved act of terrorism on foreign soil that still registers.
It was the sight of Serge Blanco, one of the finest fullbacks ever to grace the game, casually lining up a kick at goal near the halfway line of a field I knew so well and in fact had played on days earlier. It was the sight too of Eric Champ, Patrice Lagisquet, Pilippe Sella, Pierre Berbizier – great and graceful players all – strolling about, apparently not too bothered by an impending test they were strongly favoured to win.
My memory may be failing me but I swear Blanco was smoking a cigarette on the way back to the bus. If French rugby can be characterised by casual individual genius in the midst of apparent collective chaos and disharmony it was Blanco, who was far too cool for school. I remember his thighs seemed bigger than they looked on telly.
I mention it now because, with those running rugby and commenting on it at probably their most contemplative due to the coronavirus which has both halted the game and given it a chance for a fresh start, the question of true tours, rather than one-off tests, has again been raised.
France's Serge Blanco in action against the All Blacks in 1989. Photo / Photosport
Former All Blacks Jeff Wilson, Sir John Kirwan and Justin Marshall brought it up recently on Sky's Breakdown show. They effectively said that returning to traditional tours would breathe life into a game that has become increasingly cold and corporate. I couldn't agree more.
As Wilson said, a one-off Rugby Championship test against South Africa hardly registers on the public consciousness these days, but a three-match tour by the Boks around the nation, with mid-week games, would bring back some of the old romance associated with the amateur game. Afternoon kick-offs and proper after-match functions may be too much to hope for but allowing a nation to spend time here – particularly around the regions – could be inspirational.
Where the Springboks will go this year given Covid-19 remains very much up in the air, but with Australia having similar success to New Zealand in containing the virus and a nation looking at its neighbour as a potential bubble mate, a three-test tour here by the Wallabies is not out of the question.
And with former Chiefs coach Dave Rennie in charge of Australia, the possibility of him coaching a team against the Chiefs or even Waikato at his old stomping ground - one of the best rugby stadiums in the country - would have to be too good to pass up.
I'm sure there would be plenty of schools in Hamilton and further afield willing to host a training session or two as well. The Wallabies might just attract some new fans. The game definitely would.
