General Ferns appreciation
Sport Review #218
This is the middle of three home women’s world cups. It’s our best chance of winning one, and Saturday night is going to be amazing, whatever happens.
Surely when you google ‘impossibly wholesome role models / ambassadors’ the Black Ferns will be the first result. It’s impossible not to love and be swept up by them. When have ever seen an All Black smile like Stacey Fluhler when she crossed the line against France?
A lot of people, including me, are pretty jaded in with (men’s) rugby at the moment, with the monotonous play, rules, and endless coverage about the coach, Silverlake and Sanzar making the whole thing a bit of a drag. And honestly why would you get up to watch a slog against Wales and listen to What This Means For Foster when you could revel in a truly heart-stopping win against France on the Saturday?
I’ve been slightly uncomfortable with commentary that uses any and every aspect of this tournament to climb into NZR - even when they self-inflict something as horrendously careless as the scheduling brouhaha. I get that they’re coming from a long way back to support women’s rugby, especially compared to The World’s Premium Rugby Brand over in the men’s department - but some of it verged on gleeful.
But - it’s what happens next that will count. We’ve a genuine superstar team that couldn’t have had a better introduction to the nation right in out backyard etc. Let’s hope we get to see them at home in front of big crowds regularly, and keep this momentum up.
The tournament organisers have done an amazing job, working around the slightly awkward very-upper-North-Island-kind-of-a-COVID-schedule bit with aplomb. They got to enjoy putting the sold out signs up at Eden Park twice, which is a massive achievement, super work all around.
I really, really hope we can win. England look grimly good unfortunately but you never know what will happen - if any team deserves and is capable of delivering it, it’ll be us.
Thanks for reading - Richard
This week's best NZ sport content
Madeline Chapman captures the feeling of pride and hope around the Black Ferns at Eden Park on Saturday night, while Suzanne McFadden investigates the Poi that have been the trademark of the tournament [Spinoff, LockerRoom]
The tournament’s action on the field has been a revelation, while the experience at the grounds has been more inclusive according to academic Toni Bruce’s research [Locker Room]
Jamie Wall pays a visit to the Angel Hotel, where the Keith Murdoch legend was born [RNZ]
Lovely tribute to Travis Basevi, the cricket stats nerd who gave the world StatsGuru, probably the greatest sporting statistics tool there is, and changed the way the game is enjoyed and played [Guardian]
I really, really hate misinformation and what it’s doing to folks - here’s a clip from 2018 that feels like a much simpler time but is bang on the money.
Video nasty
Sport Review does not endorse this song.
Long read
During a long series of civil protests in Portland, Oregon in 2020, armed agents started showing up and abducting protestors in unmarked vans - here’s the protestors’ experience and the forces that lead to this tactic [The Verge]
Recommendation
Marc Maron talking to BullsEye, Alan Partridge, The Thick Of It and Veep creator Armando Iannucci, on the day Liz Truss resigned, is an amazing conversation [WTF Pod]
Bring back the gif
When you have to get out of the car before Jesse reveals the link three songs answer.
