Phil Gifford runs through his eight lasting rugby memories from 2022.
Year of the wāhine
The year belonged to the Black Ferns. What was not to love? They were intelligent, funny, and showed generosity. The players organised the help they gave charities, not New Zealand Rugby media managers. Onthe field they were daring, skilled, and endlessly exciting. And they won the World Cup.
Wayne Smith went from agreeing to be a technical advisor to becoming head coach of the Black Ferns as people higher up the ladder started resigning. It’d prove to be a perfect stroke of chaotic genius. Smith’s innate decency, open-minded attitude, and tactical nous meshed perfectly with a team prepared to take huge risks for huge rewards. He summed up the ethos of the side perfectly. “The men have to play well to be happy. The women have to be happy to play well.”
The most heartwarming medal
Black Fern Ruby Tui gives her Rugby World Cup winner's medal away to a fan at Eden Park. Photo / Peter Reynolds
Lucia Hurst is the 11-year-old leukaemia survivor who Ruby Tui recognised from an earlier meeting with fans, and gave her World Cup winning medal to at Eden Park. The next day Lucia was worried Tui might regret giving it away. So with her father she went to the Black Ferns hotel and offered to give it back. “She still didn’t want it,” said Lucia, who now sleeps with the medal under her pillow. If a tiny lump doesn’t come to your throat at the decency of Lucia’s offer check your heart to make sure it hasn’t turned to stone.
All Black of the year
Ardie Savea was a tireless, dynamic force in every one of the 11 tests he played this year. His ability to somehow make ground with the ball against bigger men was living proof that sometimes raw courage and bone deep commitment can overcome logic.
Making a roller coaster look like a flat road
There’s rarely been as bizarre an All Blacks season. Over here there’s the series loss to Ireland. But over there is a deserved win over South Africa at Ellis Park, and victory in the Rugby Championship. There’s a squeaky defeat of the Wallabies after a weird refereeing call in Melbourne, and then a 40-14 hiding for Australia at Eden Park. The All Blacks lose to the Pumas in Christchurch, then thrash them 53-3 in Hamilton. Not to mention the All Blacks playing like champions at Twickenham, until they didn’t for 10 minutes, and England claw back to a 25-25 draw. The 2022 All Blacks had a personality so split they make Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde look normal. If the Ellis Park/Eden Park version turns up at the World Cup, anything is possible. The alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.
The low point
Darcy Swain receives a yellow card during the first Bledisloe Cup test. Photo / Getty
Wallaby Darcy Swain was eventually banned for six weeks for attacking Quinn Tupaea’s leg in a maul in the Bledisloe Cup test in Melbourne. Staggeringly he wasn’t red carded. Tupaea is rehabbing after an operation on his leg, and he may need nine months to recover. Head clashes and red cards are often controversial. Swain’s action was, he swears, not deliberate, but it was so reckless six weeks felt like a slap on the wrist.
June feels like an eternity ago, but the blitz that the Crusaders turned on in the first 40 minutes of the Super Rugby Pacific final against the Blues at Eden Park was extraordinary. At halftime, with the Crusaders ahead 16-0, the final 21-7 victory was inevitable. How much pressure did the Crusaders forwards pile on? The Blues lost 10 lineouts on their own throws, their scrum was shunted out of contention, and at the breakdown the Blues backline had to feed off scraps. It was another Scott Robertson coaching masterclass.
Joy to the Wellington world
Wellington won the Ranfurly Shield, then the NPC. In the NPC final, where Wellington beat Canterbury 26-18, their captain Du’Plessis Kirifi, in a moment for the ages, burst past two tacklers just outside his own 22, sprinted 50 metres, and then sent Ruben Love off for a try. Wellington hadn’t been national champions since 2000, but they broke the drought in style.
