In this week's On The Sidelines, Scotty discusses the Black Caps loss to Sri Lanka, all of the weekend's rugby action, and the thrillers delivered by the second round of the hockey premier league.
Death by spin for Black Caps
It was somewhat of a crash back down to earth for the Black Caps over the weekend as Sri Lanka’s spin unit proved too much for the visitors. Having beaten India at their own game in the 3-nil test demolition, the more youthful T20 side could not muster the same levels of concentration in the shorter format, going down by 4 wickets in the series opener at Dambulla.
Captain Mitchell Santner – the unlikely hero of the second test in Pune – was somewhat buoyed by the fact his team had been able to put 135 on the board batting first. It seemed an unlikely total after New Zealand slumped to 31-3 in the powerplay, and 67-6 within 12 overs. A record 9th wicket stand of 39 between Ish Sodhi and Zak Foulkes at least gave New Zealand a battler’s chance.
Foulkes at least enjoyed a great day out, taking 3-20 from his three overs, and scoring 27 off just 16 deliveries to finish the innings equal top scorer with Michael Bracewell. Sri Lankan captain Charith Asalanka was expensive with the ball but proved invaluable with the bat, top scoring for the home side as he finished the match 35 not out.
New Zealand will be desperate to see the fresh faces deliver in the second and final match of the series (which will have concluded this morning as Sidelines arrives in your inbox) with Mitch Hay’s debut having returned a golden duck, and Tim Robinson and Josh Clarkson – two of the side’s promising power hitters both dismissed for 3.
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New Zealand’s Summer of Cricket begins November 28 with the first test between the Black Caps and England LIVE and Exclusive from Christchurch on TVNZ+
All Blacks set sights on Paris after dismantling Irish
The All Blacks’ stocks are once again on the rise after a controlled demolition of Ireland. The New Zealanders had entered the match in Dublin as outsiders with the bookmakers, but looked by far the more composed side in a game that reached no great heights as a spectacle. It may not have been the most entertaining eighty minutes of test rugby, with the home side in particular guilty of far too many cynical infringements and village handling errors, but it may be the most important eighty minutes of the season for the men in black.
Ireland has lived rent-free in New Zealand’s head since their first ever victory over the All Blacks in Chicago in 2016. For some reason, that one loss seemed to outweigh the previous 100-odd years of ritual domination. It was the beginning of an unlikely rivalry, fuelled by a creeping self-doubt in New Zealand’s continuing ability to retain its place as rugby’s innovators, and a growing – I would say also unhealthy – belief that Ireland had discovered a secret formula that had taken them from bang average to world beating and would keep them there forever.
Ireland has become a good rugby team but, if Saturday’s result is anything to go by, they are not the unstoppable force they, and many pundits on both sides of the equator, would have you believe. Saturday was a chance for New Zealand to flex its collective rugby muscle and go someway to restoring the historical order of things. They did that, and it would have felt good.
The All Blacks now eye up the French with renewed confidence, having got through Ireland without two of their most accomplished and experienced campaigners in Codie Taylor and Beauden Barrett. They may be without another this week, and his availability with have the All Blacks selectors sweating, as Patrick McKendry points out in this story.
Premier Hockey League delivers round two thrillers
The creation of a new four-team premier league for New Zealand hockey promised the best against the best and, through two action-packed rounds, it is delivering in spades.
Hockey enjoys incredible participation numbers in New Zealand with junior and school numbers particularly strong. As an aside, North Harbour Hockey Stadium is currently hosting the world masters championships featuring 129 teams from around the world, and more than 2,600 participating athletes. Where hockey has always struggled is in creating a fit-for-purpose television product that concentrates talent to ensure quality matches every week.
That has changed with the launch of the PHL, featuring four franchise teams – the Tridents, Mavericks, Falcons and Alpiners. Each franchise boasts a men’s and women’s team, each stacked with internationals and the next generation of New Zealand representatives. The result has been an unmitigated success, with the first round played last weekend in Auckland and Dunedin and this weekend’s games in Napier and Christchurch, all LIVE on TVNZ+.
To give an example of just how close the games are, three of the four second round matches went to penalty shootouts. In most cases the tightness of the games has been aided by the adoption of the goal conversion rule, which gives teams a chance to ‘convert’ field goals for an extra score. For the record the Falcons took the double over the Tridents, while the Alpiners also took both games against the Mavs.
To catch up on all the action, head to TVNZ+
Wallabies stun England with win for the ages
Just as the All Blacks were largely written off ahead of the Irish test, the Wallabies weren’t given much of a sniff against an England side still smarting from its capitulation against the All Blacks the week before. So much for the form books.
In a game that certainly provided the 82,000 in attendance value for money, the Wallabies somehow conjured the match-winning try three minutes into referee’s time – an indication that England’s full noise defensive plan is failing, and they are a yard short of a gallop from the bench.
Australia, on the other hand, found some attacking mojo, and applied the pressure better than England did, in the moments that really matter. This is test match rugby. Quite often a team with an advantage in possession and territory can still come out on the wrong side of the ledger because the opportunities they created were not converted. Similarly, a team can win a test match by taking every one of the chances on offer. Australia did just that, while England were left to rue another loss that should not have been.
Rugby League convert Joseph Aukuso-Suaali’i may have come with a hefty price tag but showed glimpses of genuine brilliance in his first run at centre. A note here: thank goodness Joe Schmidt is in charge. Too many rugby league converts have been slotted into second-five eighths and failed, simply because the demands on that position are so unique to rugby union. Schmidt knows that, and it’s a good thing he does.
France beat Japan, world learns nothing
Eddie Jones latest con, convincing Japanese rugby bosses that he is the man to lead them to the next world cup, returned another wholly predictable result over the weekend when is side crashed to a 52-12 defeat in Paris.
The match marked the return to test action or Antoine Dupont, but that was about the only point of interest as France eased past the visitors courtesy of five first half tries, and three more in the second. It was another tough watch for fans of the Cherry Blossoms, as the French treated them as glorified training opposition.
Jones can talk rebuilding all he likes, but there is no evidence improvement is anywhere around the corner.
Meanwhile, Patrick McKendry has been busy picking apart Dupont’s game for the All Blacks…
SNIPPETS
New Zealand has a genuine tennis heavyweight and there is plenty more to come. Erin Routliffe and Canadian partner Gabriela Dabrowski claimed the season-ending WTA Finals doubles title over the weekend to cap a seriously good year for the kiwi.
The Breakers crushed the Sydney Kings and Melbourne United last week but slipped off the pace against the 3-8 Jack Jumpers over the weekend in what was a listless performance when compared to the last couple of outings. The Breakers offence went missing big time, mustering just 64 points after back-to-back 100+ point games.
Former South African Lizelle Lee crushed a record WBBL score of 150 not out from just 75 balls as the Hobart Hurricanes smoked Sophie Devine’s Perth Scorchers by 72 runs. The Lee innings boasted 12 sixes, a world record. The result lifted the Hurricanes to second on the table, with the team to be boosted this week by the inclusion of another White Fern, Suzie Bates. Meanwhile, Amelia Kerr has returned from an injury sustained in India to help the Sydney Sixers to a DLS victory over the Melbourne Stars.
TODAY ON 1NEWS.CO.NZ
We’ll have all the post-match analysis from the Kiwis match against Papua New Guinea.
Look out for a wrap on the Fast 5 netball with the New Zealanders finding a little bit of magic to make the final.
Check out the latest from the Phoenix after their heavyweight clash with the Mariners last night.
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