On Sports Fix with Jason Pine for 13th July 2026, Will Jordan has surpassed Doug Howlett's 19-year-old record of 49 test tries for the All Blacks. Doug joined Piney to discuss Will's prolific tryscoring ability, and what it means for Doug to finally have his record broken.
Piney attempts to predict what will happen at the FIFA World Cup semi-finals.
Plus, Adam Cooper is in the Chamber reacting to the news of Brendon McCullum being sacked as England test coach.
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcast now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Ed B HI.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Now, welcome to the start of a new week. Hope
you long weekend was nice and relaxing into it. We
go again with the Sports Fix podcast. I'm Jason Pine.
On Monday, July thirteen. We have a new record holder
in terms of test tries scored for the All Blacks.
His name, of course is will Jordan. A hat trick
on Saturday night against Italy and Wellington took him to
(00:42):
fifty and took him past Doug Howllett, who for the
best part of two decades has sat at the top
of that pile with forty nine test try So how
did he feel having somebody finally go past And we'll
find out on Sports Fix. Doug Howllett is our guest.
Adam Cooper pops into the chamber to talk some tennis
and some cricket with Brendan McCallum sat as England Test coach.
(01:07):
I've got some thoughts on the final four at Football's
World Cup and the latest in sports news coming too,
So let's get into it in other news. Let's get
you going with a look at some of the big
sports stories around today. World tennis number one Janick Sinner
has successfully defended his Wimbledon title, outclassing Alexander Zverev in
(01:27):
a foresaid final.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
SACI music jam.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
The story at Bush and testa unbreakable today.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
The England Test cricket team is without a coach and
a captain a month out from their next series. Brendan
McCullum has been axed as coach following a string of
poor performances and continued off field incidents. Former England captain
Nasa Hussein says the move makes sense in the wake
of Ben stokes abrupt retirement with the.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
Ashes and losing what seven of their last nine Test
matches and the manner of those defeats, I think it's
about the right time. I'm not sure it was the
right thing for Rob Key to do to give one
person both the coaching of the White World and Test.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Side and Nick Meanee's match winner has secured the Melbourne
Storm a twenty to eighteen win over the Gold Coast,
moving them to within four point of the top eight
in leagues NRL.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
As it looks like he's got it down.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
He's included to behind his head to win the game for.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
The Norbert Stall.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Bene if.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
You're listening to the Sports Fix podcast. While for close
to two decades, Doug Hawllett has been the All Blacks
leading Test try scorer of all time with forty nine,
having scored his forty ninth try at the two thousand
and seven Rugby World Cup. But as we know, on
Saturday night, Will Jordan went past him a hat trick,
taking him to fifty all up. Great to get the
(02:56):
chance to chat to Doug Hawlllett. Dougie, thanks for joining us.
What was your reaction when you watched Will Jordans score
his fiftieth Test try on Saturday and move past your number?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, look, that's probably a bit of release, the honest
the last few games watching him play, we knew it
was it was imminent that he was going to take
the record, so it was it was a bit of
you know, putting me out of my misery.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Really, records are made to be broken. But was there
still a bit of was there still a part of
your thought?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
What I quite liked having that record.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Ah yeah, Look news said it that they made to
be broken. Nineteen years is a long instint, so you know,
I'm proud to have held it for that long. And
you know, somebody else has turned out to take the
baton and take it on, and I'm sure he's got
many more tries in him.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It was always going to be a top quality player
who went past you by this particular metric. So is
there a degree of satisfaction at least in seeing it
broken by someone who you know as a genuine world
class player. Ah?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes, And you have to be to sort of get
to that level of tries for the All Blacks. You
look at that top five, the top ten list, you
know it's a pretty exciting bunch. And no doubt, you know, Will,
the way he's playing at the moment, the way he's
sniffing out tries is work and skills. He's most deserving
of this record at the moment.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
In recent times and many teams, wingers have become massive
big men. They rely a lot on their pace and
on their power, But Will Jordan is not a big
big guy. How important is game awareness and how big
a strength of Will Jordan's is it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, I think it's a It's an underrated skill for
a lot of players these days, especially young players. You
know that came awayeness a lot of a lot of
young players in particular working on their strength and their
speed their skills. But you know, watching rugby and really
studying it and learning you know where the ball is
going to be.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Before it actually gets there.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
The skill that Will obviously has and it shows us
as try Telly, and not only to try he gets,
but also the tries that he's giving the last pass off,
he's well ahead of the game and predicting where the
ball's going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
You had that as well, Douggie. You know you had
this incredible anticipation and and yeah, if it wasn't you
scoring the try, it was you giving the last pass
or at least even being in and around to be
the first one to celebrate. I always remember those those
celebrations and that huge smile of yours. Can you coach
that anticipation or is it something that the very best
players just have.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I think it's a mixture of all things. You have
to have an ability to read the game, there's no
doubt about that. But second to that there has to
be a huge fitness level, you know, the work rate
has to be immense to sort of be around the
ball constantly. And we only see the tries that are scored,
but you know for each try there's probably six, seven, eight,
(05:45):
nine runs that.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Go unseen where you don't get the board.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So you've got to just keep running those lines to
ensure when it does pop up, you're there. And then
you've got to have the finishing ability, you know, once.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You do get that last pass, to be.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Able to sprint away or beat a man, or chip
and chase and regather. So you know, there's multiple things
at play that allow you know, wingers and outside backs,
rugby players in general, I guess, to get to the tryline.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And you played with some incredible creators Tana Umanger, Christian
Cullen who got a lot of tries himself, of course,
Carlos Spencer, even Mills Mulliana. How important is the team
around a prolific try scorer.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's the most important thing, you know, And you know,
some of my best memories are turning around after scoring
tries and seeing the smiling faces because you know every
one of them, you know, played a role in getting
me over the line. And the mindset you know I
had as a player was, you know, my job is
to finish opportunities. So you know, these guys putting all
(06:45):
the hard work in especially up front, the line out
for scrumbs, the rucks and malls, Tana drawing in two
players and giving me.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
An off loaf.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Now, I owed it to them to sort of get
over the line, whatever it took. So you know, that's
how I saw my role and that's what I based
my game on, as finishing off opportunities.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I remember, though, you giving the final pass more than once, Dougie.
You know, I remember you, you giving off the final pass,
and I think of myself, if you'd held on to
that dummat and gone again, we might still have a
record holder here talking to me now for at least
another couple of tests anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And look, you go back and you talk about the
what if, what if I held that, what if I
did this? But look, that's the beauty and the records
being broken. So look, I'm happy for Will and I'm
happy for the team that he's playing and at the
moment because they're all deserving at the.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Stage absolutely just to finish when you look back on
your own career, I mean forty nine test tries. It's
an incredible number and a lot of guys have tried
to go past you and haven't been able to. What
are you most proud of when you think about your
time in a Black Jersey? What resonates and is most
vivid with you?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Look, the memories made, the friendships, the experiences that I
was exposed to. You know, I think there was a
time there where I sort of you know went from
you know, sort of young adult to man, you know,
through through the Black Jersey. So you know, really privileged
to have had that experience and you know, really a
high pressure environments. So you know, that's really really shit
(08:10):
us up well, you know, moving into future beyond rugby,
but also in raising my own children and young athletes
that I train. There are some lovely skills that are
transferable and that I can pass on.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You brought a lot of people a lot of joy, Douggie,
both here and up in Ireland when you were playing
up there as well, mate, but particularly in the Black Jersey. Yeah,
like I said, they've been chasing you for a while.
Will Jordan might have gone past you, but your legacy
is secure. Mate, thanks for having a chat to us tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Great to chats to your fine Thank you good.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Man, Dougie, thanks for joining us. Doug Howett on the
Sports Fixed podcast.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Sports Sex Sex.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
So we've had one hundred matches at the FIFA World Cup.
Just four to go. We have our semi final lineup
locked in and for the first time since the FIFA
rankings were introduced in nineteen ninety two, the four semi
finalists are the world's top four ranked teams. It's also
just the third World Cup in which all four semi
(09:04):
finalists are former winners. That was also the case in
nineteen seventy and most recently in nineteen ninety. So let's
have a look at these two blockbusting semifinals. Seven o'clock
Wednesday morning. Spain against France and Dallas. France in their
eighth World Cup semi It's just the second for Spain, however,
the last time they made it was in twenty ten
(09:26):
and they went on to win the tournament. They have
been the masters of possession football at this World Cup
Spain and starving their opponents of possession has also led
them to have the best defensive record just one goal
conceded in the entire tournament. But France, with their array
of attacking weaponry led by Killian and Barpe, of course,
(09:50):
will present Spain with their toughest challenge yet. Spain haven't
lost a competitive game since March of twenty twenty four,
thirty six matches without defeat. But as I say, up
against France, they will be well and truly under the pump.
France are still favorites win the Football World Cup. Twenty
(10:10):
four hours later, seven o'clock Thursday morning, Argentina England in Atlanta,
England into their fourth World Cup semi Argentina have now
made the semis in three of the last four and
remain on track to be the first back to back
winners of the World Cup since Brazil did that in
nineteen fifty eight and nineteen sixty two. However, Argentina have
(10:31):
got to the stage without having yet faced a top
ten side. England. Well, they weren't the most convincing against Norway,
but they are there and in Jude Ballingham they have
a truly world class midfielder, a truly world class game breakout.
But you just have to look to the other side
to find a potential game breaker for Argentina by the
(10:53):
name of Leonel Messi. Argentina, England Spain France. The cream
has risen to the top and a week today two
of those sides will play in the World Cup Final.
For me, it's France v England. But anything could happen.
Sportsvex back shortly on Sports Fix, joined by Adam Cooper
(11:14):
in the Chamber.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsvex.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
On the Sports Fix podcast. Time to pop inside the
Chamber to have a chat about a couple of sporting issues.
Adam Cooper, head of News Talks Hebbie Sport in Wellington,
is with us. So I woke up this morning Coops
to you telling me on the air that Brendon McCullum
has been dumped as England Test cricket coach. Dumped following
a spring of a string rather of poor results and
a few off field incidents. Did this come as any
(11:42):
surprise when you saw this news?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
I think surprise as in the fact that it happened
today of all days. You know. The England teams that
he is also a coach of in white ball cricket
is in the middle of a series of t twenties
at the moment the England women's team are actually we're
actually playing it on the field while the ECB dropped
this announcement as well. So the timing of it's rather interesting.
I think the more and more I've thought about it
as the day went on today, after initially you know,
(12:06):
digesting the news and then then thinking about it, I
guess they are eyeing, you know, to completely move on
from from the last four year era. Obviously it's helped
with Ben Stokes deciding he was leaving. The officials have
probably thought, well, you know, Brendan mccullums staying on potentially
doesn't right the wrongs of some of the issues that
(12:26):
have popped up in that last test cycle, and they
kind of thought, well, for the best way forward, as
we look to very soon appoint a new captain, let's
appoint a new coach as well and have them sort
of start from scratch and and turn a new leaf.
I think it's fair to say, though, seeing some of
the reaction out of England is that, you know, there's
certainly an you know, a wish to make sure that
some of Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes work as a
(12:48):
combine what they've done to the Test game, especially earlier
in their tenure is acknowledged and the legacy that they
have left. And yes it's been met at times with
with on field issues in the last year or so,
particularly you know, since in this last calendar year some
you know, pretty shocking results, the ashes and all. So
the recent New Zealand defeats. Yes it hasn't gone too well,
(13:12):
but you got to remember when they teamed up as
coach and captain, they were absolutely dire straits before they
jumped on board, and they did turn things around. For
a very long time, maybe it just wasn't a very
sustainable way of playing cricket and operating as a team.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
I think they gave Test cricket a sugar hit, didn't they,
Not just English Test cricket, but Test cricket full stop.
Because at that time when they came in and started,
you know the bars ball, which I bringha Mcallum hated
as a as a you know a way of describing it.
But when they played with such positivity regardless of the
match situation, you know, Test cricket all of a sudden
(13:46):
became very watchable again and it needed that because it
was falling behind the likes of in particular, franchise cricket
in terms of eyeballs. But yeah, he'll stay on as
the white ball coach. And I mean it feels like
he's more of a white ball coach anyway. That's always
been his wheelhouse, hasn't it the way he has played
white ball cricket with And maybe you know, the positive
intend is better suited there. But you know, of their
(14:08):
past nine Tests have been defeats, as you say, Coeps,
the Ashes defeat, the series defeat at home to New
Zealand after being wonder up. Yeah, I mean it's not
as though he's got results to fall back on. But
I think you're right. I think there needs to be
some acknowledgment, some significant acknowledgment of what he and Ben
Stokes says a combo did in terms of English Test
cricket team and Test cricket in general. The other thing
(14:30):
that happened overnight was the wrapping up of Wimbledon for
twenty twenty six world number one Yanick Sinner successfully defending
his title. He was one set down to Alexander Zverev,
but one in four sets and about three hours and
forty five minutes, he's gone, alright, isn't a Yanick Cinner.
He's a clear One's a clear world number one. But
(14:51):
he's he's an appropriate world number one at the moment.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Totally. There's never really I mean, yes, he's had some disappointments,
you know, Roland Garross in fact, the last couple of
freach opens. You know, he has has struggled in and
he seemed to just rebound from the struggles he had
at Roland Garris last month, didn't he and actually just
right those wrongs. He had issues with the heat. There
was some other fitness issues as well, but he turned
up at Wimbledon and got a bit of a fright
first game. He was pushed to five sets in his
(15:16):
first round, but then you know, he didn't look at
all threatened for a lot of the campaign, right up
until almost this final. And it was pretty toe to
toe between him and Zveraria for a while. In that final,
they were just belting down serves at each other and
there wasn't even one break in the first two sets,
so both went to tiebreakers. Verev won the first, as
he said, Sinner clawed one back to win the second,
(15:39):
and then he was able to sort of put down
put down his foot from there, and I think that
just eventually just showed his class and where he sits
against Alexander Zaverev. We've had Carlos Alcarez absent from this
tournament due to his injury. I think Zveriev now will
be moving up into the world number two position. But
I think what we saw today is there is still
a clear definite gap between Sinner and you know, the
rest of the field at the moment, with Zverev there
(16:02):
in that second spot. But you know, Alcarez, him and
Sinner are are the two you know, rivals at the moment,
and this generation we'll see a lot more battles between
those two. But Sinner certainly just doesn't look faulted when
he's in the right space and in the right groove
and injury forem.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I hope Zaveria now becomes part of that as well,
because he won a major did in earlier this year
as first friend ch open friendship and yeh, of course,
and so it's almost like you win one and then
you have belief you might win some more. So, Yeah,
whereas we thought it would be Sinner in al KaAZ,
who are you know, multiple major wins each. This is
Sinner's fifth major. I hope very becomes a third part
of that. You know, we think about and I'm not
(16:38):
saying it's going to happen, but we think about the Federer, Djokovic,
Nadal trio. I'm not saying these three are going to
leave exactly the same legacy, but I feel like the
more contenders there are for the majors, the better totally.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
And he got no back Jokovic, who is just you know,
Grand Slam after Grand Slam desperately trying to just stay
competing at his you know, his very old age and
tennis terms to try and get that record twenty fifth
Grand Slam as well. And he's just you know, showing
some great class as well. But you know, Cinner was
just far too good for him the other day in
(17:13):
the semi finals. So it's going to be fascinating to
see how that plays out. US Open coming up as well.
Alcarez should be playing and that, so, you know, back
on the hard court. Center obviously still does very well
on the hard court as we know too. So no,
I think it's pretty exciting, but it is very much
confined to those you know, top three, top four at
the moment, isn't it. Aside from there, you know, you've
got Alex demon Or I think world number five. You know,
(17:35):
there's just such a big gap between that the frontline
guys and the rest. Zaverev. He needs to work on
his sort of just mental game. I think just watching
him a few times through this tournament, you know, like today,
he was there, he was in the mix, he was
ready to go, and then he sort of just let
his frustrations get the better of him and slowly let
that match stuff away. But I really enjoyed Wimbledon.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Good stuff, as did I, and I've always enjoyed a
chat in the chamber with you, coops. We'll hopefully do
it again next week.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Sounds good, funny.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Needing a vix We've gone just the ticket. It's sports
X News Talks Ivy and that.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I'll do this on the Sports Fix podcast for today.
Thank you so much for tuning in, for listening, for downloading,
for subscribing, and if you are a Sports Fix subscriber
or would like to become one, we welcome you all aboard.
A fresh episode will drop into your podcast feed head
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and for more from news Talks, he'd be Sport check
(18:27):
out Sports Talk weeknights between seven and eight and on
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time on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
For more from News Talks dB, listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
You're listening to a podcast from News Talks ed B.
Follow this and our wide range of podcast now on iHeartRadio.
This is Sportsfix Howard by News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Ed B HI.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Now, welcome to the start of a new week. Hope
you long weekend was nice and relaxing into it. We
go again with the Sports Fix podcast. I'm Jason Pine.
On Monday, July thirteen. We have a new record holder
in terms of test tries scored for the All Blacks.
His name, of course is will Jordan. A hat trick
on Saturday night against Italy and Wellington took him to
(00:42):
fifty and took him past Doug Howllett, who for the
best part of two decades has sat at the top
of that pile with forty nine test try So how
did he feel having somebody finally go past And we'll
find out on Sports Fix. Doug Howllett is our guest.
Adam Cooper pops into the chamber to talk some tennis
and some cricket with Brendan McCallum sat as England Test coach.
(01:07):
I've got some thoughts on the final four at Football's
World Cup and the latest in sports news coming too,
So let's get into it in other news. Let's get
you going with a look at some of the big
sports stories around today. World tennis number one Janick Sinner
has successfully defended his Wimbledon title, outclassing Alexander Zverev in
(01:27):
a foresaid final.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
SACI music jam.
Speaker 5 (01:32):
The story at Bush and testa unbreakable today.
Speaker 3 (01:38):
The England Test cricket team is without a coach and
a captain a month out from their next series. Brendan
McCullum has been axed as coach following a string of
poor performances and continued off field incidents. Former England captain
Nasa Hussein says the move makes sense in the wake
of Ben stokes abrupt retirement with the.
Speaker 6 (01:56):
Ashes and losing what seven of their last nine Test
matches and the manner of those defeats, I think it's
about the right time. I'm not sure it was the
right thing for Rob Key to do to give one
person both the coaching of the White World and Test.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
Side and Nick Meanee's match winner has secured the Melbourne
Storm a twenty to eighteen win over the Gold Coast,
moving them to within four point of the top eight
in leagues NRL.
Speaker 5 (02:18):
As it looks like he's got it down.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
He's included to behind his head to win the game for.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
The Norbert Stall.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
Dissecting the sporting agenda. It's Sportsfix with Jason Bene if.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
You're listening to the Sports Fix podcast. While for close
to two decades, Doug Hawllett has been the All Blacks
leading Test try scorer of all time with forty nine,
having scored his forty ninth try at the two thousand
and seven Rugby World Cup. But as we know, on
Saturday night, Will Jordan went past him a hat trick,
taking him to fifty all up. Great to get the
(02:56):
chance to chat to Doug Hawlllett. Dougie, thanks for joining us.
What was your reaction when you watched Will Jordans score
his fiftieth Test try on Saturday and move past your number?
Speaker 2 (03:06):
Yeah, look, that's probably a bit of release, the honest
the last few games watching him play, we knew it
was it was imminent that he was going to take
the record, so it was it was a bit of
you know, putting me out of my misery.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Really, records are made to be broken. But was there
still a bit of was there still a part of
your thought?
Speaker 2 (03:23):
You know?
Speaker 3 (03:23):
What I quite liked having that record.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Ah yeah, Look news said it that they made to
be broken. Nineteen years is a long instint, so you know,
I'm proud to have held it for that long. And
you know, somebody else has turned out to take the
baton and take it on, and I'm sure he's got
many more tries in him.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
It was always going to be a top quality player
who went past you by this particular metric. So is
there a degree of satisfaction at least in seeing it
broken by someone who you know as a genuine world
class player. Ah?
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Yes, And you have to be to sort of get
to that level of tries for the All Blacks. You
look at that top five, the top ten list, you
know it's a pretty exciting bunch. And no doubt, you know, Will,
the way he's playing at the moment, the way he's
sniffing out tries is work and skills. He's most deserving
of this record at the moment.
Speaker 3 (04:17):
In recent times and many teams, wingers have become massive
big men. They rely a lot on their pace and
on their power, But Will Jordan is not a big
big guy. How important is game awareness and how big
a strength of Will Jordan's is it.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Yeah, I think it's a It's an underrated skill for
a lot of players these days, especially young players. You
know that came awayeness a lot of a lot of
young players in particular working on their strength and their
speed their skills. But you know, watching rugby and really
studying it and learning you know where the ball is
going to be.
Speaker 4 (04:49):
Before it actually gets there.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
The skill that Will obviously has and it shows us
as try Telly, and not only to try he gets,
but also the tries that he's giving the last pass off,
he's well ahead of the game and predicting where the
ball's going to be.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
You had that as well, Douggie. You know you had
this incredible anticipation and and yeah, if it wasn't you
scoring the try, it was you giving the last pass
or at least even being in and around to be
the first one to celebrate. I always remember those those
celebrations and that huge smile of yours. Can you coach
that anticipation or is it something that the very best
players just have.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
I think it's a mixture of all things. You have
to have an ability to read the game, there's no
doubt about that. But second to that there has to
be a huge fitness level, you know, the work rate
has to be immense to sort of be around the
ball constantly. And we only see the tries that are scored,
but you know for each try there's probably six, seven, eight,
(05:45):
nine runs that.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Go unseen where you don't get the board.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
So you've got to just keep running those lines to
ensure when it does pop up, you're there. And then
you've got to have the finishing ability, you know, once.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
You do get that last pass, to be.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Able to sprint away or beat a man, or chip
and chase and regather. So you know, there's multiple things
at play that allow you know, wingers and outside backs,
rugby players in general, I guess, to get to the tryline.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
And you played with some incredible creators Tana Umanger, Christian
Cullen who got a lot of tries himself, of course,
Carlos Spencer, even Mills Mulliana. How important is the team
around a prolific try scorer.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
It's the most important thing, you know, And you know,
some of my best memories are turning around after scoring
tries and seeing the smiling faces because you know every
one of them, you know, played a role in getting
me over the line. And the mindset you know I
had as a player was, you know, my job is
to finish opportunities. So you know, these guys putting all
(06:45):
the hard work in especially up front, the line out
for scrumbs, the rucks and malls, Tana drawing in two
players and giving me.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
An off loaf.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Now, I owed it to them to sort of get
over the line, whatever it took. So you know, that's
how I saw my role and that's what I based
my game on, as finishing off opportunities.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I remember, though, you giving the final pass more than once, Dougie.
You know, I remember you, you giving off the final pass,
and I think of myself, if you'd held on to
that dummat and gone again, we might still have a
record holder here talking to me now for at least
another couple of tests anyway.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
And look, you go back and you talk about the
what if, what if I held that, what if I
did this? But look, that's the beauty and the records
being broken. So look, I'm happy for Will and I'm
happy for the team that he's playing and at the
moment because they're all deserving at the.
Speaker 3 (07:32):
Stage absolutely just to finish when you look back on
your own career, I mean forty nine test tries. It's
an incredible number and a lot of guys have tried
to go past you and haven't been able to. What
are you most proud of when you think about your
time in a Black Jersey? What resonates and is most
vivid with you?
Speaker 4 (07:47):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (07:48):
Look, the memories made, the friendships, the experiences that I
was exposed to. You know, I think there was a
time there where I sort of you know went from
you know, sort of young adult to man, you know,
through through the Black Jersey. So you know, really privileged
to have had that experience and you know, really a
high pressure environments. So you know, that's really really shit
(08:10):
us up well, you know, moving into future beyond rugby,
but also in raising my own children and young athletes
that I train. There are some lovely skills that are
transferable and that I can pass on.
Speaker 3 (08:21):
You brought a lot of people a lot of joy, Douggie,
both here and up in Ireland when you were playing
up there as well, mate, but particularly in the Black Jersey. Yeah,
like I said, they've been chasing you for a while.
Will Jordan might have gone past you, but your legacy
is secure. Mate, thanks for having a chat to us tonight.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Great to chats to your fine Thank you good.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
Man, Dougie, thanks for joining us. Doug Howett on the
Sports Fixed podcast.
Speaker 1 (08:40):
Sports Sex Sex.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
So we've had one hundred matches at the FIFA World Cup.
Just four to go. We have our semi final lineup
locked in and for the first time since the FIFA
rankings were introduced in nineteen ninety two, the four semi
finalists are the world's top four ranked teams. It's also
just the third World Cup in which all four semi
(09:04):
finalists are former winners. That was also the case in
nineteen seventy and most recently in nineteen ninety. So let's
have a look at these two blockbusting semifinals. Seven o'clock
Wednesday morning. Spain against France and Dallas. France in their
eighth World Cup semi It's just the second for Spain, however,
the last time they made it was in twenty ten
(09:26):
and they went on to win the tournament. They have
been the masters of possession football at this World Cup
Spain and starving their opponents of possession has also led
them to have the best defensive record just one goal
conceded in the entire tournament. But France, with their array
of attacking weaponry led by Killian and Barpe, of course,
(09:50):
will present Spain with their toughest challenge yet. Spain haven't
lost a competitive game since March of twenty twenty four,
thirty six matches without defeat. But as I say, up
against France, they will be well and truly under the pump.
France are still favorites win the Football World Cup. Twenty
(10:10):
four hours later, seven o'clock Thursday morning, Argentina England in Atlanta,
England into their fourth World Cup semi Argentina have now
made the semis in three of the last four and
remain on track to be the first back to back
winners of the World Cup since Brazil did that in
nineteen fifty eight and nineteen sixty two. However, Argentina have
(10:31):
got to the stage without having yet faced a top
ten side. England. Well, they weren't the most convincing against Norway,
but they are there and in Jude Ballingham they have
a truly world class midfielder, a truly world class game breakout.
But you just have to look to the other side
to find a potential game breaker for Argentina by the
(10:53):
name of Leonel Messi. Argentina, England Spain France. The cream
has risen to the top and a week today two
of those sides will play in the World Cup Final.
For me, it's France v England. But anything could happen.
Sportsvex back shortly on Sports Fix, joined by Adam Cooper
(11:14):
in the Chamber.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
The Chamber is now in session on Sportsvex.
Speaker 3 (11:21):
On the Sports Fix podcast. Time to pop inside the
Chamber to have a chat about a couple of sporting issues.
Adam Cooper, head of News Talks Hebbie Sport in Wellington,
is with us. So I woke up this morning Coops
to you telling me on the air that Brendon McCullum
has been dumped as England Test cricket coach. Dumped following
a spring of a string rather of poor results and
a few off field incidents. Did this come as any
(11:42):
surprise when you saw this news?
Speaker 5 (11:43):
I think surprise as in the fact that it happened
today of all days. You know. The England teams that
he is also a coach of in white ball cricket
is in the middle of a series of t twenties
at the moment the England women's team are actually we're
actually playing it on the field while the ECB dropped
this announcement as well. So the timing of it's rather interesting.
I think the more and more I've thought about it
as the day went on today, after initially you know,
(12:06):
digesting the news and then then thinking about it, I
guess they are eyeing, you know, to completely move on
from from the last four year era. Obviously it's helped
with Ben Stokes deciding he was leaving. The officials have
probably thought, well, you know, Brendan mccullums staying on potentially
doesn't right the wrongs of some of the issues that
(12:26):
have popped up in that last test cycle, and they
kind of thought, well, for the best way forward, as
we look to very soon appoint a new captain, let's
appoint a new coach as well and have them sort
of start from scratch and and turn a new leaf.
I think it's fair to say, though, seeing some of
the reaction out of England is that, you know, there's
certainly an you know, a wish to make sure that
some of Brendan McCullum and Ben Stokes work as a
(12:48):
combine what they've done to the Test game, especially earlier
in their tenure is acknowledged and the legacy that they
have left. And yes it's been met at times with
with on field issues in the last year or so,
particularly you know, since in this last calendar year some
you know, pretty shocking results, the ashes and all. So
the recent New Zealand defeats. Yes it hasn't gone too well,
(13:12):
but you got to remember when they teamed up as
coach and captain, they were absolutely dire straits before they
jumped on board, and they did turn things around. For
a very long time, maybe it just wasn't a very
sustainable way of playing cricket and operating as a team.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
I think they gave Test cricket a sugar hit, didn't they,
Not just English Test cricket, but Test cricket full stop.
Because at that time when they came in and started,
you know the bars ball, which I bringha Mcallum hated
as a as a you know a way of describing it.
But when they played with such positivity regardless of the
match situation, you know, Test cricket all of a sudden
(13:46):
became very watchable again and it needed that because it
was falling behind the likes of in particular, franchise cricket
in terms of eyeballs. But yeah, he'll stay on as
the white ball coach. And I mean it feels like
he's more of a white ball coach anyway. That's always
been his wheelhouse, hasn't it the way he has played
white ball cricket with And maybe you know, the positive
intend is better suited there. But you know, of their
(14:08):
past nine Tests have been defeats, as you say, Coeps,
the Ashes defeat, the series defeat at home to New
Zealand after being wonder up. Yeah, I mean it's not
as though he's got results to fall back on. But
I think you're right. I think there needs to be
some acknowledgment, some significant acknowledgment of what he and Ben
Stokes says a combo did in terms of English Test
cricket team and Test cricket in general. The other thing
(14:30):
that happened overnight was the wrapping up of Wimbledon for
twenty twenty six world number one Yanick Sinner successfully defending
his title. He was one set down to Alexander Zverev,
but one in four sets and about three hours and
forty five minutes, he's gone, alright, isn't a Yanick Cinner.
He's a clear One's a clear world number one. But
(14:51):
he's he's an appropriate world number one at the moment.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
Totally. There's never really I mean, yes, he's had some disappointments,
you know, Roland Garross in fact, the last couple of
freach opens. You know, he has has struggled in and
he seemed to just rebound from the struggles he had
at Roland Garris last month, didn't he and actually just
right those wrongs. He had issues with the heat. There
was some other fitness issues as well, but he turned
up at Wimbledon and got a bit of a fright
first game. He was pushed to five sets in his
(15:16):
first round, but then you know, he didn't look at
all threatened for a lot of the campaign, right up
until almost this final. And it was pretty toe to
toe between him and Zveraria for a while. In that final,
they were just belting down serves at each other and
there wasn't even one break in the first two sets,
so both went to tiebreakers. Verev won the first, as
he said, Sinner clawed one back to win the second,
(15:39):
and then he was able to sort of put down
put down his foot from there, and I think that
just eventually just showed his class and where he sits
against Alexander Zaverev. We've had Carlos Alcarez absent from this
tournament due to his injury. I think Zveriev now will
be moving up into the world number two position. But
I think what we saw today is there is still
a clear definite gap between Sinner and you know, the
rest of the field at the moment, with Zverev there
(16:02):
in that second spot. But you know, Alcarez, him and
Sinner are are the two you know, rivals at the moment,
and this generation we'll see a lot more battles between
those two. But Sinner certainly just doesn't look faulted when
he's in the right space and in the right groove
and injury forem.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
I hope Zaveria now becomes part of that as well,
because he won a major did in earlier this year
as first friend ch open friendship and yeh, of course,
and so it's almost like you win one and then
you have belief you might win some more. So, Yeah,
whereas we thought it would be Sinner in al KaAZ,
who are you know, multiple major wins each. This is
Sinner's fifth major. I hope very becomes a third part
of that. You know, we think about and I'm not
(16:38):
saying it's going to happen, but we think about the Federer, Djokovic,
Nadal trio. I'm not saying these three are going to
leave exactly the same legacy, but I feel like the
more contenders there are for the majors, the better totally.
Speaker 5 (16:53):
And he got no back Jokovic, who is just you know,
Grand Slam after Grand Slam desperately trying to just stay
competing at his you know, his very old age and
tennis terms to try and get that record twenty fifth
Grand Slam as well. And he's just you know, showing
some great class as well. But you know, Cinner was
just far too good for him the other day in
(17:13):
the semi finals. So it's going to be fascinating to
see how that plays out. US Open coming up as well.
Alcarez should be playing and that, so, you know, back
on the hard court. Center obviously still does very well
on the hard court as we know too. So no,
I think it's pretty exciting, but it is very much
confined to those you know, top three, top four at
the moment, isn't it. Aside from there, you know, you've
got Alex demon Or I think world number five. You know,
(17:35):
there's just such a big gap between that the frontline
guys and the rest. Zaverev. He needs to work on
his sort of just mental game. I think just watching
him a few times through this tournament, you know, like today,
he was there, he was in the mix, he was
ready to go, and then he sort of just let
his frustrations get the better of him and slowly let
that match stuff away. But I really enjoyed Wimbledon.
Speaker 3 (17:54):
Good stuff, as did I, and I've always enjoyed a
chat in the chamber with you, coops. We'll hopefully do
it again next week.
Speaker 5 (17:59):
Sounds good, funny.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Needing a vix We've gone just the ticket. It's sports
X News Talks Ivy and that.
Speaker 3 (18:06):
I'll do this on the Sports Fix podcast for today.
Thank you so much for tuning in, for listening, for downloading,
for subscribing, and if you are a Sports Fix subscriber
or would like to become one, we welcome you all aboard.
A fresh episode will drop into your podcast feed head
around about the same time tomorrow afternoon and every weekday
and for more from news Talks, he'd be Sport check
(18:27):
out Sports Talk weeknights between seven and eight and on
the weekends weekend Sport Midday until three on Saturday, same
time on Sunday.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
For more from News Talks dB, listen live on air
or online, and keep our shows with you wherever you
go with our podcasts on iHeartRadio
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