The People's Team
Warriors play to the crowd, Fox wins, Fiji stun Australia and Lawson gets the points.
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Did anything happen this weekend?
Quite a bit as it turns out.
On most weekends, being forced all-in with a suited JQ and flopping the flush to win the final Mairangi Bay Poker School event of the season would be my sporting highlight, but I’m not sure it even ranks in my top three.
At the moment that stands at:
Warriors win 40-10 at a rocking Mt Smart;
Fiji stunning the Wallabies to blow open Pool C;
Ryan Fox shoots six-under on the back nine to win the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
That shortlist doesn’t include Liam Lawson’s first point in F1, the All Blacks first win at RWC2023 or, cough, the Black Caps third Barry Crocker of a chase in succession.
After falling asleep on the couch watching sport one time too often, my spine feels as fragile as a Jenga tower in the middle of a keg party.
(Clumsy segue alert)
Speaking of backbones, how ’bout them Warriors!?
***
It was hard to say what I enjoyed more about the Warriors demolition of Newcastle: the performance of the team or the “occasion”.
The whole “crowd-was-the-14th-man” angle is often over-egged but it genuinely appeared that Newcastle did not have a chance in that cauldron. Even watching on TV - and on delay - I found myself humming along to “Hey Baby (Uhh Ahh)” and you cannot put a number on how much I despise that abomination of a tune.
Newcastle’s superstar fullback Kalyn Ponga admitted the crowd played a role beyond keeping money flowing into the Warriors’ coffers.
“You can’t start games like that, let alone finals. Last week we got away with it but this week, off the back of their crowd, they were just too good,” Ponga said.
I’ve got a couple of Warriors go-tos who have watched every match, often twice, for as long as they can remember. One is Dai Henwood. I asked him for the three things that most impressed him about the performance. He didn’t disappoint, giving me five.
In no particular order:
Shaun Johnson having a 10/10 performance without running the ball. His pass selection was amazing, as was his kicking that penned Newcastle into the corners and wore them down.
Newcastle were starting to pull the Warriors apart with offloads in the second quarter. They addressed that and in the second half shut them down.
They neutralised Kalyn Ponga. No matter what side of the field he attacked the centres had him under control. They didn’t try to smash him; they just left him no space to attack.
A special mention goes to all the playmakers stepping up at finals time. The Warriors have been shaky since round 20 when we put Cronulla to the sword. Saturday night’s performance showed they deserve to be in Grand Final conversations.
When Dai sent these in, all references to the Warriors were “we” and “our”. Because old habits die hard, I went into autopilot and changed them all to “they” or “the Warriors”. I wish I hadn’t now, because I’ve left his fifth point intact and have to admit it reads better because there’s something the Warriors at the moment that makes them feel like “our” team.
Also, our swinging shape on attack is amazing. It is like runners on a track when we go around a corner. We bunch up then fan out with multiple lead runners so the defence doesn’t know where the ball is going. That comes down to amazing coaching.
There were a couple of other things to note.
Over the past month or so, I’ve felt the Warriors runners have been too quick to seek out contact and then look to offload out the back to start second-phase play. There’s nothing wrong with that approach but it was starting to get a little predictable. It was a joy to watch guys like Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake looking to punch through holes and using quick ruck ball to put Newcastle on the back foot.
You could go on.
The energy off the interchange bench was infectious, with classic role player Bayley Sironen determined to put some flourishes on his final minutes as a Warrior. The back three were monsters bringing the ball back, particularly Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad with his 32 runs and 297m. And if you said at the beginning of the season that Rocco Berry would emerge as a star on both sides of the ball and Adam Pompey would be nailing sideline conversions in a playoff match, I’d have assumed you had rocks in your head.
In summary, 80 minutes of wow.
The preliminaries finals have been set (why can’t they be called semifinals?) and one leading Sydney scribe is gutted for Warriors nation after they’ve been handed a 9.50pm (NZT) kickoff. David Riccio has a valid point.
Per SEN:
“We need to have a grasp on what is happening in New Zealand in relation to the growth of the game,” Riccio said. “It’s unprecedented interest in the Warriors and over-arching that is the NRL. The NRL brand is making inroads [in NZ] like we have never seen.
“When we get to discussions about a second team in New Zealand and potentially taking a State of Origin game [there], you need to jump on any significant opportunities that come your way and it’s right now.
“The NRL needed to pivot and change the kickoff time to cater for this moment in time.”
RWC23 week two chronicles
RWC 2023 limped through a weak second weekend of matches… well it would have if not for Fiji turning over the Wallabies this morning and busting Pool C wide open.
This is where you want to read a classic tale of how Fijian flair and preternatural ball-handling acted as the metaphoric stone in the slingshot to bring down the two-time World Cup winners.
Ah, no.
Fiji penalty kicked them off the park, and their one try coming from a box kick that fell to earth and bounced fortuitously. The Wallabies were dreadful and didn’t deserve to win, but they did somehow conjured two tries.
It was a great moment and just deserts for a Fiji team that was desperately unlucky to drop their opener to Wales, but a great match… result aside, not even close.
The loss has seen Eddie Jones come under renewed fire and it goes without saying that he handled it with his customary grace and humility.
Jones angrily snapped back at a journalist who asked whether Gordon was the right selection...
“I don't think I got [selection] wrong, mate. In fact, I’m going to get it right,” Jones snapped. “To say that as a young No10… ‘You’ve got it wrong in selecting him’ is just a load of rubbish mate.
“So anyone who asks that question doesn’t know anything about rugby. If you know anything about rugby you know that No10s need time in the seat. If you don’t know anything about rugby then don’t talk to me.”
Rather begs the question as to whether a World Cup is the right place to give a No10 “time in the seat”, but you can’t blame that particular journalist for choosing not to further engage.
Wales’ match with Australia at Lyon in a week’s time is critical. If Wales win, Australia are all but mathematically eliminated, if the Wallabies win it will likely come down to a bonus points/ points differential equation to see who qualifies.
As for the concluding match of week two, well the crowd let the players know what they thought of England’s flattering 38-12 over Japan, with a chorus of boos erupting every time England hoisted the ball high into the Nice sky.
Wrote Robert Kitson, who is English, for the Guardian:
England are taking the concept of “winning ugly” to a whole new level at this World Cup. If there are no marks for artistic impression at major tournaments, the majority of this game could only be described as “entertainment” by serious masochists and leather-boot manufacturers. Steve Borthwick’s side are now effectively into the last eight but the boos which rang around the stadium as the ball was repeatedly booted skywards summed up the widespread mood.
Yes, England will point to the scoreboard which now reads two wins from two games as vindication of their kick-obsessed tactics but anyone who hails the first 65 minutes of this game as a step forward for perceptions of English rugby is kidding themselves.
World Rugby needs to bottle these thoughts because when the tournament, which already feels interminable (and a showpiece quadrennial event that everybody obsesses over at the cost of all other international rugby should never feel like that), finally reaches the knockouts, much of the dross that got us there will be forgotten.
It shouldn’t be. Rugby needs to be honest with itself about the quality of the ‘product’ it is putting in its shop window.
A talking Fox
Ryan Fox’ victory at Wentworth was so off-script that he managed to remain the fourth golfer mentioned in the excellent Ewan Murray’s report:
Ludvig Åberg displayed his fallibility, Rory McIlroy charged and Tyrrell Hatton looked set to hand Luke Donald’s European team a huge Ryder Cup boost. Instead, it was Ryan Fox who prevailed at the PGA Championship after a spectacular closing 13 holes at Wentworth.
I’m not going to lie and claim to have seen much of the tournament, but I love the depth of feeling in Fox’s post-celebration quotes.
Obviously he’d rather not be talking about a family tragedy, but the below is a 200-word lesson in how to nail an in-the-moment interview.
“I’m immensely proud. It’s such an iconic tournament. I know Michael Campbell has won around here when it was the matchplay event and to add to that history and create some of my own is very special.
“I’ve got an almost three-year-old and a four-month-old standing over there and to have them here to support… just made the week.
“We have been through a pretty tough year as a family. We lost my father-in-law in June after a really, really short battle with cancer and that kind of rocked the family. It’s been tough going back and forth.
“To come over here and have a good week in Ireland last week and this, I don’t think I could have wished for better.
“To have a back nine like that, especially after how I started the day, it’s amazing. I played great. Pretty much didn’t miss a shot from the third hole onwards and saw a couple of putts go in and it was a pretty cool feeling on the last to sort of know I had one to win and actually make it.”
No false humility. Few wasted words. Genuine emotion. Reference to a great NZ player and moment of the past.
Fox might do media better than any other New Zealand athlete.
The third hole he referenced was an ugly triple bogey, so to come back from there and play flawlessly shows some serious game. That putt on the last was no gimme either.
Fox has rocketed to third in the Race to Dubai series standings and has pocketed a cool NZ$3 million in his past two starts.
Lawson gets the points
There is still some scepticism as to whether Liam Lawson will get a full-time drive in Formula One next season - sometimes it’s not what you bring to an F1 seat but how much - but the talented Kiwi could not have done much more to show that he’s ready.
The 21 year old scored his first F1 points last night in Singapore, finishing ninth in just his third race for a team that has been largely uncompetitive this season. Importantly, he continues to out-qualify his experienced teammate Yuki Tsunoda.
Should Daniel Ricciardo not recover in time, Lawson’s showdown with hometown hero Tsunoda at Suzuka next week could be huge.
“I don’t know if I’m driving yet,” was Lawson’s response after being asked about returning to Japan, where he has been racing most of the season. “If we are [racing at Suzuka] it would be great, I definitely know Japan better than Singapore, it’s an awesome track.
“I can imagine in an F1 car it’s nuts, so I’d love to drive there.”
The chase is off
The Black Caps were not worth losing sleep over.
New Zealand chased in every match, did it brilliantly once and appallingly thrice, losing the final three matches by an average of 83 runs - yikes! The troubling aspect to that was that batting might have been the least of their woes.
Outside of Trent Boult (and even his economy rate of 5.44RPO was borderline), the bowling failed to stymie England by either taking wickets or keeping the run rate in check. Critical dropped catches were unhelpful, too, particularly in the case of Tim Southee, who mashed his thumb in the process of shelling Joe Root and remains a doubt for the World Cup.
The one-day portion of this tour was chastening and underscores Kane Williamson’s critical importance to New Zealand’s ODI fortunes.
New Zealand, sans 10 of their 15-man World Cup squad, are now in Bangladesh preparing for one of those pointless bilateral exercises that scar the modern cricket landscape.
Lockie Ferguson will captain the team and boy could he use some wickets as well. About the only other points of interest will be Will Young spending time at the crease in tricky conditions, Rachin Ravindra getting more 50-over experience and Ish Sodhi getting reacquainted with bowling longer spells. If you choose not to engage with much of this series, I understand.
Re the overwhelming use of box kicks, why not prevent attacking players (apart from the kicker) competing for the ball unless in opposition 22? A maverick law change but surely worth exploring? The England approach as stated was farcical but effective. I say competing - so doesn’t rule out catching the ball unopposed
Good to see the Warriors going well but unfortunately they lost me a long time ago. I recall being very excited at them entering the league in 1995 but I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to suggest that ever since they’d go close to the worst win:loss ratio of any club in the NRL. Not exactly a recipe for a growing fan base. At times they’ve been embarrassingly ill disciplined and lacking in basics. Outside of Auckland, and specifically South Auckland, they’re pretty low profile, in fact I see far more Warriors jerseys on the Gold Coast than most of NZ. It’s a shame cos it’s looks like they’re having a great season, but it is what it is.