In this week's On The Sidelines, Scotty looks at the emergence of a new generation in the All Blacks' victory over England, the up (and up) of Auckland FC, and what's coming up this week in sport.
Next gen emerges in All Blacks victory
How perfectly illustrative of the changing face of international rugby. There, in the foreground was All Blacks Head Coach Scott Robertson, in the open coach box of Twickenham, all emotion and pent-up energy. In the background, just ever so slightly out of focus, was Sir Bill Beaumont, outgoing Chairman of World Rugby and quintessence of old-world England rugby, stoney faced watching his team choose conservativism over chaos in the closing stages of an epic Test encounter.
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While only one of the above had any control over the outcome – and even then, it’s hard to have much of an influence from 30 rows back – there was something about that televisual moment that painted a thousand words. There is a changing of the guard in this sport, and it’s only just begun.
Much like any erstwhile revolutionary, Scott Robertson ascended to the coaching throne on a staircase of hope. His supporters, and many a casual observer, thought his appointment would signal a fresh start for the All Blacks. His critics accused him of being too radical for the job. Some of his biggest fans accused him of not being radical enough once he had it. Sunday morning’s Twickenham triumph is further evidence that this is an evolutionary reign, rather than a revolutionary one.
Among the many performers for Robertson: Wallace Sititi, perhaps his boldest choice of the year and simultaneously his finest, Cortez Ratima and Cam Roigard, finally emerging from the security blanket of TJ Perenara and Pasilio Tosi, a selection out of nowhere who terrorised the England scrum down the stretch.
The All Blacks is a team that is constantly seeking regeneration, and while the opening test of the European Tour was dramatic and nail-biting, it was also a win. A win built on the old and the new, which has long been a recipe for success.
They may need more of the new this week, according to Patrick McKendry.
Premier Hockey League ushers in new era for sport
Hot on the heels of the national championship, New Zealand Hockey debuted its new Premier Hockey League on the weekend, and it did not disappoint. With the first-round action spread between Auckland and Dunedin, the four new franchise teams took to the turf with spectacular results.
As an association sport, hockey has long searched for a product that can best showcase its talent – both proven and emerging – in a made for television spectacle. That has meant concentrating the best talent from the various associations into four distinct teams: the Tridents representing Auckland and the north, the Mavericks, representing the central North Island, the Falcons who claim the bottom of the north, and the Alpiners who cover the entire South Island.
The Tridents hosted the Mavericks on Saturday with honours split. The men’s game finished 2-all with the teams only separated when the shootout went to sudden death. The Mavericks took the dub in that one, while the Tridents women were too strong for the Mavericks in the late fixture.
In Dunedin yesterday the Falcons women eased to victory over the Alpiners, while the roles were reversed in the men’s clash. The Alpiners’ all-NZ defensive spine of Blair Tarrant, Benji Culhane and Charlie Morrison controlled proceedings from the back while up-and-comers James Nicolson and Daniel Torr proved perfect foils for the experienced Sam Lane on attack.
One of the new features of the competition is the ‘conversion’ of field goals, encouraging more attacking play. The conversion is essentially a penalty stroke and must be taken by the goal scorer. In part it is designed to take away the growing influence on penalty corners (which do not give teams a chance for conversion) and already teams have tried new tactics to look for the added score.
It was impressive to see hockey of this calibre on New Zealand screens again, and you can watch the entire season live, or catch up on the action any time, at TVNZ+
Auckland FC no flash in the pan, but dynamite in the tin
They came, they saw, they danced with the fans. The Black Knights nabbed bragging rights in Wellington on Saturday evening with yet another late goal victory to send their growing legion of supporters into raptures.
This was a testy affair, with the Phoenix looking to put the City of Sails upstarts back in their box in the first edition of New Zealand’s derby game. It was scrappy, and it was physical, but a draw looked to be on the cards until, in the 89th minute, Phoenix keeper Josh Oluwayemi inexplicably chipped a clearing kick directly into the path of Jake Brimmer. Brimmer made no mistake on the finish, but he wasn’t done there, adding another in the 6th minute of injury time to seal the deal.
To see 26,000 fans in attendance – a record for the Phoenix in regular season play – shows this rivalry has only just begun. With the return fixture slated for December 7 in Auckland, the Black Knights could very well be the hottest ticket in town. The match is almost certainly headed for a sell-out, while Auckland retain their place atop the A-League Men’s standings.
Breakers put US Sojourn in rear view mirror
Some, including Sidelines, questioned the wisdom of the Breakers in-season jaunt to America, but whatever doubts that decision raised have been put to bed over the last couple of weeks as the Breakers took down the Kings and 36ers in consecutive rounds to leap to the top of the table and set up a juicy one v two clash with Melbourne United tonight.
The victories have been impressive, especially considering the team is down on manpower and is being guided by a first-year coach in Petteri Koponen. This last win, by 27 points on their home court, is proof positive this iteration of the Breakers has the goods to go deep this season. If their imports – Parker Jackson-Cartwright and Matt Mooney, can keep lighting it up the way they did in week seven, there is no reason to think otherwise.
They’re not getting ahead of themselves, as this story shows.
What's to come today and this week:
As Sidelines lands in your inbox this morning, the Brazilian Grand Prix will be coming to an end. All Kiwi eyes will be on the resumption of hostilities between Sergio Perez and Liam Lawson, who was denied a point by Perez in the sprint race but still has designs on the Mexican’s Red Bull seat next year.
We’ll have all the reaction to the third and final test between the Black Caps and India. At the time of writing, India were just 50 short of victory with 4 wickets in hand. Rishabh Pant was almost single-handedly keeping the hosts in the fight as the New Zealanders eyed up an incredible slice of test match history in the sub-continent.
All eyes on the All Blacks camp today as the medical reports are returned on a host of players. Codie Taylor was withdrawn from the England Test after an early head knock and will almost certainly miss the Ireland test, while there were also bangs to Anton Leinert-Brown, Tupou Vaa’I and Beauden Barrett. We’ll bring you the latest.
The All Blacks XV enjoyed a first up win over Munster courtesy of two late tries, and now set their sights on a much tougher assignment against Georgia in France. They may be a player or two down for the fixture depending on All Blacks requirements for reinforcements.
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