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September 3, 2024 • 20 mins

On Sports Fix with D'Arcy Waldegrave for Tuesday 3 September 2024 - Former Springbok Kevin Putt talks about South Africa's decision to apologise for their 'disruption' of the All-Blacks haka - was it necessary?

D'Arcy delivers an opinion piece on some positives that can be drawn from the NPC crowds.

Plus, Newstalk ZB Sport News Director Clay Wilson joins the panel to discuss the latest additions to the Blackcaps central contracts.

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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks at B
Follow this and our wide range of podcasts now on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talk SAT.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Be Well, Hello there, welcome on into the Sports Fix.
It's a Tuesday. That's the third of September twenty twenty four.
My name is Darcy Watergrave hosting your home of sport.
Everything you need to know that happened over the last
of twenty four hours, what a dose it is and
coming up in this episode from a Springbok. Kevin Hutt

(00:41):
joins the program to talk about the apology issued by
South African Rugby after the Hukka was drowned out. I've
got some opinion around the glory of extraordinary and extremely
local MPC. That's where it should be and will be
joined in the chamber Slash Lena by the News Talk

(01:01):
ZB Director of Sport, mister Clay Wilson, as we juggle
around some of the issues of the day. That's our
master plan there, let's get amongst in other news and
in sport. Over the last twenty four the All Blacks
have accepted South African Rugby's apology around a mistiming that
saw the hucker drowned out by music, fireworks and a

(01:25):
plane in the first test at Johannesburg's Allis Park. Human
error has been blamed after the play button was hit
when a sound engineer mistook the crowds cheering as the end.
New Zealand Ford's coach Jason Ryan has offered forgiveness.

Speaker 4 (01:40):
We accept that if the apologies come through a year.

Speaker 3 (01:42):
Look in all honesty, it's you sometimes get a bit
of chaos around that. Being a white ball cricket for
hire around the world isn't on the radar of all
round it. Nathan Smith, the Wellington Firebird, has scored a
national contract for the first time thanks to five frontline
black Caps, instead opting for the flexibility of playing lucrative

(02:02):
T twenty leagues offshore.

Speaker 5 (02:05):
And each guy's going to make their own decision about
what they want to do for their career. Me at
the stage, it's about having a really good international career
for New Zealand, so just keep building my.

Speaker 6 (02:13):
Career brick by brick and hopefully that's sorts it.

Speaker 3 (02:14):
South are shot bro and all smiles for me and
it is the chance to add her world title collection
has been locked in the Kiwi Boxer will challenge britt
Alie Scottney for the IBFWBO and Ring Magazine belts in
Manchester at the end of the month.

Speaker 7 (02:31):
It's finally here. I've worked so hard. I've done it
the right way where most people will get to shortcut it.
I've had to work really hard to get to this position.
So yeah, it's been a long journey, but it's been
worth the wait.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
Leading of Vix, We've got just the ticket. It's Sports
Fix News Talks.

Speaker 3 (02:51):
We'll join now in effects by Kevin Putt, former South
African rugby player, a current New Zealander like he never
became South African and of course a commentator of our game.
On News Talk said b Kevin, welcome to the podcast.
Great to have you on board. Interesting situation and around
the disturbance of the Harker and apology has been issued

(03:13):
saying we're really sorry about that. Didn't mean to fly
a jet over the Harker when you're in full flight.
It won't happen again. I suppose the first thing I've
got to ask you is was an apology warranted?

Speaker 6 (03:27):
Oh?

Speaker 5 (03:27):
I look easier to ask for a forgiveness than permission. Really,
I've got to be honest. No, it was a little
bit rude, but I'll guarantee that wasn't organized by the
opposition players, the coaches or any of the panel like that.
You know, probably inappropriate and probably won't happen again. One
would help, hope, but no, I've got to be honest.

(03:50):
It's just one of those things. And I love the
all black starts on it where they've basically just moved on.

Speaker 3 (03:56):
Damian McKenzie said he wasn't a fan of the plane,
didn't agree with that that much, and I mean, I
suppose that's his opinion and fair enough, but I'm kind
of almost of the opinion myself. Kevin and said it's
a celebration of New Zealand Marty culture, and it is
for the players. And even though they claiming it was

(04:16):
a mistake, if it gets drowned out something else happens,
surely that's not too much of an issue. We're at
their home ground, right, it's their ground, not ours.

Speaker 5 (04:24):
Well, the other thing is, I mean the plane. Honestly,
I can't see what the big issue was here. Oh, yes,
it's an appropriate and all the rest of it, but
it is away from home and if the plane hadn't
drowned it out. They were still singing and yelling and screaming.
It wasn't a degree of respect. If anything, What are
they going to ask sixty three thousand people to make
an apology?

Speaker 6 (04:44):
No, it's not going to happen.

Speaker 5 (04:47):
It's part of the hostile environment that you go into.
You'll remember it, you'll never want to repeat it, but
you also want to pay the devil's back.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
There'll be people in the crowd who are there because
they want to watch the Harker. Would that take away
from their experience if they couldn't hear any of them
because there was an aeroplane buzzing over the top.

Speaker 5 (05:07):
I've got to be honest, mate. You know I've been
involved in the Harker a few times. I've also faced
it a few times that.

Speaker 6 (05:14):
As a player when you're up in the crowd.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
Seriously, if people are going to watch a Harker and
feel that they're part of the cultural involvement.

Speaker 6 (05:22):
Of it, you're flipp and dreaming.

Speaker 5 (05:25):
I'm still not condoning what was done, but there's bigger things.
I mean, New Zealand public should be looking at how
we got absolutely bold in the last twenty minutes of
a game, rather than you know, the insult perceived of
how the game started.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
I suppose though, if you look at in the wider
case there you look at the Marty King who recently
recently passed, there was a brief karakia to mark that.
So that probably added a bit more to the exchange
and maybe to the sense of insult to the all blacks.

Speaker 5 (05:58):
Yeah, and look, I think that's immenseally respectful and appropriate.
But who we're criticizing here is not the team and
the players. We're not accountable for sixty three thousand people
in the stadium. And an Emirates plane flying over is
that is not a South African rugby. That's a flipp
and marketing tool that's up above in the air. Yes,
I'm sure that it came down an appropriate time to

(06:20):
be seen if.

Speaker 6 (06:21):
You timed it over that.

Speaker 5 (06:23):
Look, I honestly think we've got a storm in a
tea cup here. There's bigger fish to fry.

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Well. The chief executive of a Rugby, Ryan Oberholtz. Look,
he made the apology and he said there was time
keeping challenges. There was a simple human error. So to
your mind, it's like, okay, that happened probably wasn't ideal
does It doesn't really matter. Let's just move on and
try and win the game next weekend. That's the most

(06:49):
important thing.

Speaker 5 (06:50):
Well, look, if it's added to the motivation of our players,
then there has already been a small benefit from a negative.

Speaker 6 (06:58):
That's fantastic.

Speaker 5 (06:59):
But I honestly cannot believe the over focus on the
theater as compared to focus.

Speaker 6 (07:06):
On the game.

Speaker 5 (07:07):
And maybe maybe the reason our focus is that way
is because.

Speaker 6 (07:11):
We're not so good on the flipp and field at
the moment.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
And maybe that's yeah, maybe we're better at blaming what's
happened externally.

Speaker 3 (07:19):
I think something here, Kevin Putt, is that it adds
to the drama of the exchange. You remember the English
in that arrow form mation. You remember Carcorre standing up
to Norm Hewitt. You remember these exchanges more. And I'm
not entirely sure if it takes anything from the Harker
at all, because it's still there, it's still happened, and

(07:41):
people converse around it, they talk about it. It is
an issue in their eyes. So again it brings it
to the fort surely.

Speaker 6 (07:49):
Oh agreed.

Speaker 5 (07:50):
And look, a lot of teams are in awe of
the Harker for all the right and wrong reasons. They
think it's an unfair advantage for the All Blacks to
have an opportunity to get themselves riled up before. Teams
have historically taken off track suits afterwards to slow down
and take away adrenaline level.

Speaker 6 (08:07):
There are so many arguments it's about it.

Speaker 5 (08:08):
I again, I think it's a major distraction to the
actual main theater, which is the game itself.

Speaker 3 (08:15):
What about to the players before they engage in that?
Does it take much away? Like, I don't know, I've
never done it, never played internationally for the country. I've
never done a Harker. I don't know if it lifts
you or at the end of it you go ooh,
I'm exhausted.

Speaker 5 (08:27):
Well, I'm sure that that's not the scenario of saying
that I'm exhausted at the end of a Harker, but
certainly being pumped and motivated.

Speaker 6 (08:39):
It has to be a driving point.

Speaker 5 (08:40):
But again, are we now going to get in and saying, oh, hey,
we've got to tone that down because we get.

Speaker 6 (08:45):
In an unfair advantage. Show of opposition. It's tradition. I
love tradition, I respect tradition. If what position. Don't respect
the deaths of them on a field.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
Yeah, that's it, And they didn't, and that's the biggest issue.
As you rightly pointed out, Let's maybe get a better
bench and let's maybe not lose from a seemingly unlosable situation.
That's the upsetting thing to me. Hey, Kevin for your opinion,
real pleasure.

Speaker 6 (09:09):
Thank you, Darcy.

Speaker 2 (09:11):
This is Sportsfex, your daily does of sports news how
and by News Talks B.

Speaker 3 (09:18):
The NPC gave me something tremendous over the weekend. No,
it wasn't out and out entertainment. Canterbury though, hosted Wellington
at Rangiora and that's where the magnificence started. What a crowd.
No it wasn't tens of thousands. No, it wasn't twenty deep. No,
it wasn't in a massive stadium. It was a local

(09:39):
game at a local park and the locals turned out
on mass. It had a wonderful old school feeling about it,
watching the people there, the looks on their faces, having
a couple of beers and a couple of pies watching
the best NPC they could possibly imagine. No, that would
have been disappointed by the result, but the fact of
the matter is is the MPC does not belong in

(10:02):
major stadiums. It does not belong at Eden Park, it
does not belong at Sky Stadium in Wellington. The NPC
deserves to be held at small local parks in around
the catchment area. That's where you connect with your fan base.
That's where young children get up close and personal with

(10:22):
the players themselves. That's where you get an addiction to
the game from that younger level. And as for the
older people, you don't want to be standing around trying
to find a part to a major stadium and then
spending most of your time wandering around trying to find
a seat in a massive empty stadium. You want to
have a community feel. You want to go there and

(10:43):
feel like you're watching games from back in the old day,
like you're watching your school team from back when, and
that is the atmosphere. I believe, not that I was there,
but I believe that we saw when Rangyora hosted Canterbury
playing Wellington at the NPC old school, local, community based
and in essence, that's what the NPC should be all about.

(11:06):
Look definitely problems with the structure, diferently problems with the size.
Definitely problems with the understanding where the MPC sits in
a wider scale, But when it comes to venues, everybody
involved with the MPC needs to take their matches to
smaller local grounds to expand their footprint and show that

(11:26):
they really are a community game. Well played, Canterbury, well played.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
The chamber is now in session on Sportsfix.

Speaker 3 (11:36):
And it's a warm welcome and a platonic embrace to
my friend Clay Wilson took ZB sports director Clay, Welcome
to the Leaner. I trust you well and you're ready
to chat.

Speaker 4 (11:46):
The is the pleasure to come in and chat us?

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Nice? Right, let's get things underway with the South African story.
The AGB CEO saying I'm sorry about the Harker disruption.
Did they need to apologize?

Speaker 8 (11:59):
Ah, I guess it's the good look. It's the perception
maybe that they felt like they needed to after a
bit of an uproar back here. I don't know if
they needed to. It is, it is what it was.
I actually tend to believe them that it wasn't deliberate
for a number of reasons which we can or cannot

(12:20):
go into, but.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
I just I want to go on to one of
them at least, come on, well, I think, how do
you how do you arrange a seven four seven or
seven six seven jumbo jet to fly over at the
exact moment the hacker is going on? Maybe a fighter
jet or something, but a big commercial plane like that.

Speaker 4 (12:37):
I just think you.

Speaker 3 (12:38):
Can't slow down and wait, well exactly.

Speaker 8 (12:42):
It's not like pulling up your pulling your car to
the side of the road for a few seconds, is it?

Speaker 5 (12:46):
So?

Speaker 8 (12:47):
But look, did I did I? Did I agree with it?
Or did I you know, did I like it? I
thought it was a you know, it was a bit
of a blight. And I actually think a lot of
South Africans probably wouldn't have you know, been been stoked
with it.

Speaker 3 (13:03):
Maybe, but well, how many of the crowd would have
gone and really wanted to see the harker and in
gauge that and feel it wash over them because it's
quite famous. So I expect that part of the crowd
and go, oh, come on, I was really looking.

Speaker 8 (13:14):
Forward to that, right, And I think there's so much
respect between the two countries in a rugby sense. And yes,
South Africans are very confident, brash people when it comes
to sport at times. But I feel like, you know,
a lot of people over there preps if they, if
they realized that it happened, wouldn't have been that, you know,

(13:34):
that stoked about it.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
So is it a bit of a storm and a
kick teacup? Maybe? But look, it's the Harker.

Speaker 3 (13:43):
It's always gonna stir up a bit of controversy when
these things happen, in the fact that we get to
do it, and that other teams don't get to, you know,
do something or that all these kind of things, you know,
singing back to the back to the Harker.

Speaker 8 (13:55):
Some of that stuff's great. You know we get swing
low sweet Cherry at Twickenham, don't we in?

Speaker 4 (14:01):
And that's great.

Speaker 8 (14:02):
But it seemed to me just to be a logistical
kind of botch up because the playing came across, and
as the play came across, you know, the guy with
the fireworks bud and looked up and saw the plane and.

Speaker 3 (14:12):
It's the sorry phrase, isn't I'm sorry? I mean it
was a mistake. I apologize for a mistake now I do,
because like I'm I'm probably as woke as the rest
of them. And when it comes up here in the
building and I love Marty culture. I love all of that.
I think it's fantastic part of who we are as
New Zealanders. But at the end of the day, whether

(14:33):
they did it deliberately was a mistake. They can do
it they want. They're at their place, that's there at home.
They want to set off firecrackers and yahoo and send
planes over it. Does it really matter? The Harker is
about us, about the all Blacks do and what they
want to do. So I don't understand the sorry. They
should have said sorry for the reffing. They should have
said sorry for the official They should have said, really sorry,

(14:54):
we wrecked your party and came back from so far
down to win. He should apologize for the bomb squad.

Speaker 4 (15:01):
Yeah, well we'll see what happens this weekend, I suppose.

Speaker 8 (15:04):
But yeah, I wasn't. I didn't think it was great myself.
But I see the other side of it as well.
It is about it is about the team, It is
about New Zealand. But I think just from a spectacle
point of view more than anything, you know, Rugby fans
love watching the Hacker and love being able to hear
it or respond to it, but to have a bit

(15:26):
of a botch up like that, which is what it.

Speaker 4 (15:28):
Was to me.

Speaker 8 (15:30):
It was just a bit, a bit kind of, I
don't know, a bit awkward really more than anything hasn't.
The whole thing's turned out, And like you say, they
are apologizing for something they preps didn't even deliberately do.

Speaker 3 (15:39):
So maybe they did. That's where the apology came from.
A conspiracy theories Here and Lena clay Wilson joining US
News talk to be sports director Nathan Smith, Josh Clarkson
and their first black Caps central contracts because a number
of the black Cats will been you know what, I'm
a mercenary and I'm off to play T twenty cracket

(16:00):
because it makes me a pile of money. I don't
need my contracts. So where do you stand on this one?

Speaker 8 (16:06):
Well, it's just what's going to happen when more, more
and more top black Caps are opting out of full
time central contracts and taking either casual contracts or as
we've seen in fin Allen's case, not taking or being
off at a contract at all. That there's twenty contracts
up for year, up every year for black Caps and

(16:27):
they have to give them to certain players and that's
not any disrespect to Josh clarks and Nathan Smith. Nathan
Smith the Domestic Player of the Year last year. Josh
Clarkson has played for the black Caps already clearly a
very promising player. But they need to give these contracts
to players, and I guess the thing for these guys
is now they've got these central contracts, they get priority

(16:49):
for selection. That doesn't mean we've seen Trent Bolt play
at World Cups, Special Games tournaments, but they're going to
get the opportunity as black Caps the preference in terms
of selection to play. So it's an opportunity for them
and you just hope that that builds depth, you know.
I guess the wider conversation is about the team twenty
domestic leagues and players going off to do this instead

(17:12):
of playing for their national team, and where the contract
system sits and doesn't need to evolve and change.

Speaker 3 (17:19):
Well, you cricket that they are evolving fast. They're very
cognizant of what's happening in the globe and they're looking
to try and not head it off at the past,
but work with it and understand that with the way
they've issued these kind of contracts, if you will, and
accepting that we haven't got the money and some of
these guys are going to leave. In a situation like this,
it's very much like burning off the grass and encouraging

(17:42):
new growth. Now these guys have got full time contracts,
they can focus up what they want to do. When
you lose something at the top, something has to replace it.
So in a roundabout kind of way, it's actually kind
of healthy, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (17:53):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (17:53):
I mean there's pros and cons do everything, isn't there.
So I guess you know, one of the real positives
of this is, like you've said, that gives these guys
an opportunity, you know, that are at the sort of
bottom tier of the top level of cricketers in our
country to come through and pretend actually, you know, make
something of themselves as international cricketers.

Speaker 3 (18:13):
So when they do that means they'll get offered contracts
to play T twenty leagues overseas and I'll run away,
and then we're going to get the.

Speaker 4 (18:19):
New growth coming through to cyclic to it.

Speaker 8 (18:22):
I mean, I think that the even bigger issue at
play here is the international calendar. And I know Heath Mells,
who's the Players Association boss here in New Zealand is
involved with the World Players Association has spoken about this,
but it's not an easy issue to solve with the
power the domestic leagues have, the money they have to
throw around in terms of T twenty, white ball, short

(18:44):
form cricket, and how you balance it out with all
the international cricket countries want to play tournaments team Now
we have World Cups, well, we have World Cups in
two formats and a World Championship in our longest format.
So how do you fit all that in plus get
guys the opportunity to play in these domestic contracts and
domestic leagues as well. Try and set up in a

(19:06):
windows system like we have in football, which seems to
work for that sport. But setting that up it's not simple,
it's not straightforward. It's something that takes a while to
put together. So more interest for me in terms of
where that, where that goes, and then how that affects
our top players here and whether that means they can
actually just play for the black Caps more often and

(19:28):
aren't going off and being guns for hire.

Speaker 3 (19:30):
I'd ask you to solve the issue, but that's way
above both of our pay grades and we haven't got
any time in time though, someone who works something out.
Clay Wilson, B Sports Director, thanks for joining me on
the Lena.

Speaker 4 (19:42):
Two years, Darcy Too Easy.

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Dissecting the sporting agenda.

Speaker 2 (19:48):
It's Sports Fix with Jason Vine and Darcy Walter Grave.

Speaker 3 (19:51):
And that's it for Sports Fix for the third September
twenty twenty four and Darcy Watergrave. Thanks for listening. For
more sport on news Talks here'b Sports Talk between seven
and eight every evening Monday through Friday, and this weekend
weekend sport Well, Jason's disappeared, so I've got it from
twelve to three Saturday and Sunday for more sport than

(20:13):
you can shake a stick out. And if you want
this to enter your inbox on a daily basis, do it.
Just subscribe and you'll be in to win. Thanks very
much for your attention. Catch you tomorrow for more from
News Talk st B.

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