In this week's newsletter, Scotty discusses tough lessons from the All Blacks fourth consecutive defeat, a golden finish to the Paralympic Games, Emirates Team New Zealand and a Ranfurly Shield finish to remember.
All Blacks desperate to reveal true DNA after Bok bashing
This is certain: after receiving two tough lessons in belief from the Springboks in Johannesburg and Cape Town, this All Blacks side has got some serious work to do. Forget the catching and the passing and all that jazz. The fundamentals of the game are not the side’s biggest worry. Instead, this team is desperately in need of discovering its true identity, and that’s the toughest work of all.
This has been a frustrating fortnight for the New Zealanders, but they would do well to keep their memories of this tour top of mind. They left their home shores with tails up after putting Los Pumas to the sword at Eden Park, but they arrived in a land that lives and breathes its beloved Boks.
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The All Blacks weren’t just playing another rugby team, they were up against the embodiment of a national obsession. The Springboks are a religion in the republic, in much the same way the All Blacks used to be here. I use the past tense because there is no chance even the most one-eyed kiwi fan can come close these days to replicating the mania surrounding the green and gold.
The Wallabies are the next on-field challenge for this team, in Wellington in two weeks’ time. The greater challenge over the next fourteen days, however, will lie in the search for this team’s true genetic code. All the great All Blacks teams reflected a belief in their DNA, one that allowed them to dig their way out of the deepest holes.
It was that belief that resonated with the fans. And it’s that belief that seems strangely missing right now. The Springboks have it in abundance, and if the last two tests prove anything, it’s that you can’t win the ones that matter without it.
Gutsy Grimaldi gives NZ perfect para-finish
Anna Grimaldi flew the flag for New Zealand at the opening ceremony and flew it again in the Stade de France on the penultimate day of the games. In between there was a bronze in the 100m and an agonising 4th in her favoured long jump. But it was the 200m victory, in a spectacular time that crushed the Oceania record, that showed her true colours.
Grimaldi is no stranger to games pressure but her willingness to talk about her experiences — both incredible and gut-wrenching — endears her to her many fans, and other athletes at these games. There is an immense maturity to all she conveys. Her interview after the long jump will stay with us for a long time insomuch that it was one of the rawest and compelling interviews you could hope to see.
That moment was made even more memorable by the response of the TVNZ panel that night. Watching on from the studio were Dame Valerie Adams, Dame Lisa Carrington, and Dame Sophie Pascoe. All three understood Anna’s state of mind in the immediate aftermath of the event, and the way they were able to decode the message for viewers was sensational.
It felt fitting that Grimaldi leaves these games with another gold medal. It even felt like a plan from the universe.
Wallabies take a giant step backwards
Just yuck.
One gone, three to go as Challenger Series reaches semifinal stage
And then there were four. After a double round robin series that saw Team New Zealand flex its muscle, the kiwis are now on their own as the remaining four teams duke it out in the semifinal series.
There is a clear favourite here. Italian challenge Luna Rossa, who also challenged Team New Zealand for the cup in the 36th edition in Auckland, are odds-on to be racing for the Auld Mug come October. There have been performance improvements from Ineos and from American Magic, but there is something about Jimmy Spithill that makes it hard to bet against him and his crew.
It is now patently clear that the team which best masters the start will likely win the race. There will be exceptions to that rule but it is undeniably a key area of performance. That’s where Spithill is in a class of his own. No crew has yet perfected its pre-start manoeuvres, but the Italians the kiwis are certainly more in tune with their boats than the others appear to be.
Of the next best, Ineos shapes as the one to feature in the final challenger series. Sir Ben Ainslie has the experience and the talent to turn heads if his crew can dial in to the right conditions. There are Cup lifers onboard the British boat. Among them, David “Freddie” Carr, the grinder turned cyclor for this challenge.
Speaking to Freddie last week, the 6-time America’s Cup crewman gave some indication of the output required by the human power element of these AC75s. “You’re probably looking at producing around 530 watts for 20 straight minutes, but you’re doing that in a carbon fibre box with a boat moving around, so it takes a fair amount out of you.”
That’s an understatement. Do yourself a favour (or not) and try producing that many watts next time you hit the gym. These guys are the operating on the limits of what’s humanly possible.
While interest in the Cup here has been muted, expect that to change as we edge ever closer to the only match that counts.
Mako bite Magpies to steal the Shield
As if we haven’t learned by now, a shield game is never over until it’s over. The Hawkes Bay bird gang looked like they were set to break Tasman hearts again when they took the lead 77 minutes into a typically tight and tense affair at McLean Park.
Back home in Nelson, parade organisers may well have been revising the traffic plan as the Magpies went about shutting down the game in the final couple of minutes. This is all standard shield fare. Grab the lead, eat the clock, and hang on to the log.
Not this time.
The Mako held their nerve, pounced on the right break down, and secured a penalty on the half-way line. Cue Campbell Parata and another entry into the Shield Lore. Tasman have been desperate to hold New Zealand’s most treasured provincial prize. Not since Marlborough nipped it off Grizz Wyllie’s Cantabs in the 70’s has the region seen the log. Parata’s penalty meant party time from Collingwood to Blenheim.
They won’t have long to wait for the first challenge. Wellington will be popping across Cook Straight this coming weekend. Should they be sent packing, the Aucklanders will be next, and the Taranaki – last year’s champions – will also be in the hunt.
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