Full Show Podcast: 30 August 2026

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Weekend Sport Podcast with Jason Pine
from Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
The only place.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
For the big names, the big issues, the big controversies
and the big conversations. It's all on Weekend Sport with
Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition
on Newstalk ZB, your home of sport.

Speaker 3 (00:30):
Hi there, Kia ora, good afternoon.

Speaker 4 (00:31):
Welcome into Weekend Sport on Newstalk ZB, August 30. Happy
59th birthday to three-time Olympic medal winning board sailor Barbara Kendall.
Happy 44th to former US tennis star Andy Roddick. Former
All Black and All Blacks coach Grizz Wiley would have
been 84 today. And motorsport pioneer Bruce McLaren, born on
this date, 1937. I'm Jason Pine, show producer Andy McDonald.

(00:55):
We're talking sport with you until three o'clock. We are
all square in rugby's greatest rivalry.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
The box will win it. Into touch.

Speaker 5 (01:04):
The ball is sent.

Speaker 6 (01:08):
We're one apiece in rugby's greatest rivalry as we head
to Soweto. South Africa 33, All Blacks 26.

Speaker 4 (01:18):
All Blacks assistant coach Tana Umanga standing by with his assessment.
Elliot Smith and Gregor Paul with further analysis after one.
Plenty of time, lots of time for your reaction. In fact,
lines open immediately. And across the afternoon to chat the
All Blacks. We will get to the Warriors, don't worry,
after two massive game at Go Media this afternoon. Beat

(01:38):
Newcastle and a top two spot is all but confirmed. But, but,
it's another brand new halves combination. Jet Cleary on debut.
Luke Hansen, who's played just two matches before. They're the
halves combo. Have they got it in them to steer
this team around and beat the Newcastle Knights? I reckon

(01:59):
they have, but we'll talk a bit more about that
after two. And also preview Northland's first Ranfurly Shield defence.
in nearly half a century as Tasman try to rest
the log off them in Whangarei later on this afternoon.
But a live sport while we're on the air, the
Warriors women in NRLW action at Go Media. 1.45, they

(02:19):
take on the Dragons as they look to consolidate their
place in the top six. Round five of the NPC continues.
Bit of a dance of the desperate at Henry Stadium
in Wellington as the home side host counties Manukau. Five
past two with both sides looking for their first win
of the season and the first round of the Farah
Palmer Cup concludes. Canterbury hosting Auckland in Christchurch. That also

(02:40):
kicks off at five past two. Just a word on
Kiwi rider Cole Davies. He has clinched the 2026 Pro
Motocross Championship at the Ironman National in Indiana. The title
fight all but over, really, in the first of the
two days' races when Davey's only remaining championship challenger, Levi Kitchen,

(03:00):
crashed twice and suffered a DNF. He only needed a safe,
solid placing and Cole Davies did just that, cruising to
a third place podium finish to secure the number one
plate on his 19th birthday. Congratulations to him. Please jump
aboard the show and be a part of it. 0800
80 1080 is our phone number. 9292 for your text

(03:20):
messages and flick your emails to jason at newstalkzb.co.nz. Bang on,
10 past midday.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
Hear what matters in sport. Weekend Sport with Jason Vine
and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition. Available at
your local Audi dealership. Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 6 (03:38):
On his left for Audi. Savia reaches out. Savia, has
he got it down?

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Not sure.

Speaker 6 (03:47):
Try.

Speaker 3 (03:47):
Try for Arnie Sarvey. He's got it down.

Speaker 4 (03:49):
Yeah, that was the last scoring action. Well, certainly the
last try scoring action of the game converted, but South
Africa are running out 33-26 winners in Cape Town. The
series is all square at one test apiece. All Blacks
assistant coach Tana Umanga is with us. Tana, what was
your overall assessment, first of all, of the 80 minutes?

Speaker 7 (04:12):
Oh, there were some big moments, and obviously the They
got off to a flying start and that's something that
I think we can say we've had a few issues
with how we've started this year over a few games.
I'm sure that's something that we need to have a
look at going forward. And then just trying to crawl

(04:32):
it back. But again, just position, trying to get the
ball back from the kicks and trying to retain position
when they were so good on the ball. Again, you've
got to take your hat off to the South African side.
They were obviously highly motivated after losing the first one

(04:56):
in Joburg, and we knew they were going to come
out like that. We're prepared for it as best we
could this week, but obviously there's still some areas that
we still need to keep working on.

Speaker 4 (05:06):
How different was the challenge that South Africa presented today
compared to last weekend?

Speaker 8 (05:14):
Um.

Speaker 7 (05:16):
Yeah, obviously, as we said, they came in the areas
that we thought they would. And they just, you know,
the changes that they made to their team really accentuated
where they were coming in terms of their attack. And
I thought the way Hooker obviously made a massive impact

(05:39):
in terms of getting that ball back from the high kicks.
And they were able to play off that. And early on,
that swung the momentum and we were just chasing our feet,
chasing our tail from then on, really. And I think
that was the big thing. They were able to retain

(05:59):
possession and get possession back throughout the game, whereas last
week we were able to handle those areas. And so, again,
we just need to be better in the next seven
days before we play them again.

Speaker 4 (06:14):
How tricky is the aerial challenge of test matches against
South Africa?

Speaker 7 (06:21):
Well, as you can see, they're very good at it. And,
you know, that's an unbelievable, you know, a great skill
when they're coming forward all in that traffic and they
make their way to the point of where the ball's
coming down. And, you know, that's something, again, that we just...

(06:44):
got to keep improving on. You know, we know it's coming,
so we need to be better at that. But they're
very good at it. And again, they showed, you know,
when their backs are against the wall, they have a
game that they know very well and they can rely
on and they get pay out of it.

Speaker 4 (07:02):
When you're defending those high kicks, how do you work
out what the strategy is, Tana? You know, we see
that the wingers, you know, running backwards to try and
deal with it, or I guess the fullback can come forward.
How do you work out which is the right way,
the best way to defuse those bombs?

Speaker 7 (07:19):
Yeah, well, for us, our strategy around coming backwards to
catch the ball with our wingers, because with the laws
the way they are, you can't have escorting or you
can't put people in front of the chasers. So the
winger coming back has to create that space himself in

(07:42):
terms of trying to find clean air that he can
go up to, but You know, the South Africans were
very good around getting around our wingers and players that
were coming back to get the ball and just able
to put good pressure on. And they had plenty of
numbers coming through that as well, which really put us

(08:03):
under pressure.

Speaker 4 (08:04):
How happy were you with your own kicking game?

Speaker 7 (08:10):
Yeah, I suppose we'll have to dissect that a little
bit more. You know, kicking's not my forte anymore. Um,
so we'll have to get, uh, the kicking coach to
probably answer that one a bit better. But again, you know,
like we knew the kind of line speed that they'd bring.
And so we just, you know, sometimes you just got
to put, put some, some seeds of doubt into their
mind around, you know, how, how much line speed they

(08:32):
can bring up. Otherwise they keep themselves vulnerable to space
and behind. And so, you know, that's, uh, you know, it,
it helped us later on because it did slow down
the line speed a bit. Um, And I thought we
kicked well later in the game as well. So, you know,
it's a balancing act. You know, obviously we love to play,
but also, you know, we want to make sure that

(08:54):
we're playing, you know, at the right times and the
right parts of the field.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
And last week, Tunnel, of course, you had the midweek
game to negotiate. How different will it be this week
with a singular focus over the next seven days on
the third test?

Speaker 7 (09:08):
Yeah, it'll be totally different. Well, as you said, you know,
having a whole week to prepare, you know, You know,
it was pretty full on those first couple of days.
And that's just the way the program ran. We're not
making excuses. We knew it was coming and we prepared accordingly.
And I thought we did enough and I thought we
prepared really well. And so that's no excuse around that.

(09:30):
We've just got to be better in the areas that
we pinpointed. And we've got seven days to get that done.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
So, and just on that then, what do you think
will form the basis of the review and then the
strategic planning for the third test? What are the main
things at the top of, I guess, at the top
of your list?

Speaker 7 (09:50):
Well, obviously, yeah, dealing with the kicking game. I think
getting a fast start for us will be important. Again,
you know, we let them dictate terms early on. We
made a few errors. So just around making sure that
we start well. And, you know, again, we'll look at

(10:11):
the game in other areas, but I think those are
probably the two main things that I'm looking at at
the moment.

Speaker 4 (10:16):
All right, Tana. Well, all square, all to play for
in the third test. Thanks for taking the time for
a chat as always.

Speaker 7 (10:21):
No worries, Pani. You're 100% right, man. You know, this
is exciting. It's 1-1. It's going to a decider.

Speaker 3 (10:30):
Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (10:30):
Travel safe, Tana. Thanks for your time.

Speaker 9 (10:32):
No worries.

Speaker 4 (10:33):
That's Tana Umanga, assistant coach of the All Blacks, 12-17
on weekend sport. Lines open for your thoughts on what
you saw this morning. 0-800-80-10-80. We got the expected response,
didn't we, from South Africa after the first test. They
were always going to be desperate. to square things up.
The backlash was inevitable and the Springboks are world number

(10:56):
one and double defending world champions for a reason. They
haven't lost back-to-back test matches since 2022 and that record
stays intact and the series stays in the balance. From
an All Blacks point of view, there's absolutely no need
for panic here. This was another intriguing, absorbing test match

(11:16):
in what is an engrossing series between two juggernauts of
the game And now the plotting begins for the third
test a week from now. And while this is a
four-test series, Baltimore has always felt like a commercial bolt-on
at the end of the series. The winner of next
week's third test can rightly lay claim to winning the

(11:40):
South African-based three-test series. All Blacks work-ons. Well, the scrum
was a lot better this week, but now attention turns
to the line-out, the other set-piece. aspect of the game,
but ropey. In particular, the All Blacks lost opportunities to
attack from their own line-out due to poor execution. There

(12:00):
are so many moving parts to a line-out. I often
think the best strategy is just to go to the front,
hit your jumper at number two, secure possession, and go
from there. But of course, that does limit your attacking options.
So line-out to work on, and as Tana mentioned, the
ongoing issues with defending the aerial ball. As he said
just then, Tana, the strategy they've chosen is for the

(12:22):
wingers to retreat and look to catch the ball rather
than the fullback coming forward to try and claim it.
They think that is the better strategy. Whichever way they
look to deal with it, South Africa will absolutely continue
to do it. So continuing to work on it this
week will be near the top of the list. Standout players,
Leroy Carter, excellent. The best in a black jersey in

(12:46):
this one. He well and truly justified his promotion to
the starting side. And apart from his try, which was, man,
so brave. A combination of pace and courage. His all-round
game was really good. He tackled well, kicked well, ran
and supported well. It was quite telling, actually. The All
Blacks didn't even bring Josh Moore beyond. Leroy Carter will
definitely retain his spot next week. And just a word
on Asafo-Amoa. His impact off the bench, again, significant. That

(13:10):
incredible leg drive of his and an ability to consistently
get over the advantage line with his ball in hand
are such powerful qualities. As always with hookers, though, you're
judged on your core roles, aren't you? And line out
throwing continues to be a work on for Asafo-Amoa. If
he can get that part of his game right, he'll
become one of the All Blacks' most potent weapons. And

(13:32):
just before we go to the lines, a comparison. Last year,
The Springboks responded to defeat at Eden Park with a
mauling of the All Blacks in Wellington seven days later.
A year on, in the same situation, the All Blacks
were a converted try away from drawing this test match.

(13:53):
This All Blacks team is miles ahead of where they
were 12 months ago, and their ceiling is still a
little way off, but starting to become visible over the horizon,
which isn't a bad thing because... so too is the
Rugby World Cup. 0800 8010 80 is our number. Anything

(14:13):
you want to pick up on from this morning? Anything
you heard Tana say? Anything at all? Nathaniel, kick us off.
Good afternoon.

Speaker 10 (14:19):
Good afternoon. How are you today?

Speaker 4 (14:21):
Very good, thanks. Nathaniel?

Speaker 10 (14:25):
Yeah, so yeah, my thoughts about the game.

Speaker 11 (14:29):
Well.

Speaker 10 (14:30):
Well, when the game started, he wasn't too sure of
what he was about to do.

Speaker 4 (14:43):
With the very first play of the game, you mean?

Speaker 12 (14:46):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 10 (14:48):
He wasn't too sure. So, yeah, but my thoughts on
the game, yeah, it was quite a fast-paced game because
the Springboks, they scored like two minutes of the game.
So I was like, OK, yeah, this is bad for

(15:12):
the All Blacks.

Speaker 4 (15:14):
Yeah, they certainly came out, didn't they, Nathaniel, with a much...
you know, more vigorous intent. Well, in fact, they had
vigorous intent last week, but it was doubly obvious this morning.
And scoring early, that's never a good thing for an
opposing side. And Tana mentioned that we have to start better,
but South Africa were always going to start fast. You know,

(15:36):
but even given the way they played, we weren't that
far away from them. text through here, come on, Piney,
no one's panicking. In fact, given what happened last year
in Test 2, I think most Kiwis are breathing a
sigh of relief. We're so competitive, especially at scrum time. Yeah, look,
I think that's it, isn't it? You know, after the game,
there wasn't any wailing or gnashing of teeth necessarily because,

(16:02):
you know, the All Blacks stayed with the Springboks. And,
you know, but for some small margins here and there,
you know, could well have won that test match. I
think South Africa deserve to win the game. I'm not
sure that there's any doubt about that. But this All
Black side, as I say, is vastly different from the

(16:24):
side of 12 months ago.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Mark, hi.

Speaker 13 (16:27):
Hey, Piney.

Speaker 14 (16:28):
Yeah, I think I've said this once before. I don't
know why you can't lift a player. I mean, when
you go to kick off, a player gets lifted to
catch the ball.

Speaker 15 (16:36):
I don't see why.

Speaker 14 (16:37):
There's nothing in the rules where you can, when they
put it up and under... you can't actually lift the
player that's receiving the ball, can you, is there?

Speaker 4 (16:45):
No, I don't think so. I guess you just have
to make sure that you are in exactly the right
place and standing still. The difference, I guess, if you're
running back or indeed running forward to claim the ball,
you need to be there and then have your man
lift you up. But no, there's nothing in the rules
that prevents you from being lifted to catch a kick.

(17:05):
I mean, you said a kick-off is, as you say,
all the time.

Speaker 15 (17:08):
Yes.

Speaker 14 (17:09):
I just thought that might be one way to defuse
the high bomb. My synopsis of the tour so far is,
and it's an admission that their Fords are better than ours.
And I think we've almost had to combat that with
some bigger, heavier Fords. And they've done a good job,
to be honest. But without our three superstars in the

(17:30):
back line, I think some of these, you know, both
these tests could have been an absolute mauling. I thought
Gardner probably kept our scrum in it. But when they,
you know, Rassi, Changed it up and brought, obviously, the
Ox and Marks on. I think that made a difference.
We sort of scrambled to get the ball out of
the back of the scrum. But, yeah, I think we
just have to admit, you know, they can put 14

(17:51):
Fords on the field if they go for a 6-2
split off the bench. And that's their superpower. Russie knows it.
Dave Rennie knows it. It's out there. And we've sort
of got a... get a little bit more traction down
the middle of the field if we can. I mean,
they're the best in the world. Their forwards are just

(18:13):
the best in the world. I don't think there's any
arguing with that, do you?

Speaker 4 (18:18):
No, I don't. And yet, here we are with a
seven-point margin today only, and last weekend's a, what was it,
17-point win. So yes, even given all of that, Mark,
I totally agree. They, man for man, and in terms
of their depth, have probably better forwards than we do.

(18:38):
And yet the test matches are pretty close. So I
guess that speaks to New Zealand's ability to at least
take some punches, stay resilient. Yeah, the scrums are so interesting.
And I'm not sure if you heard Rassi and Dave
Rooney's comments afterwards. I'll play them a bit later on. But, yeah,
I think we were better at scrum time today. So
at least you think, OK, well, they've learnt from last week.

Speaker 14 (19:00):
Do you think we could, like... I mean, you saw
it in the Hurricanes with the mobile loose forwards and
how devastating they are, you know, playing the style of
game that our black backs want to play. Do you
think we're sacrificing some more mobile players like, I don't know,
I guess starting like Peter Lakai, you know, he comes
on as an impact player, but, I mean, starting him

(19:21):
is a much more... I guess, hybrid player. And I think,
I just wonder whether going towards some of the more
hybrid players that we've seen, you know, we've seen, yeah,
some of our forwards act like, I guess, midfield backs
in a way. And I'm just wondering to counter the
bulk and their size and stuff, whether that's going to

(19:43):
actually work or whether we just have to hold our
own at scrums and line outs and then let our
backs do their magic, I guess.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
Yeah, such an interesting balance to strike, isn't it, Mark?
You know, you want that mobility, and yeah, Peter Larke,
I think, again, had a really good impact off the bench,
but clearly against these big men, you need big bodies yourself,
and the likes of Simon Parker, you know, does fit
that brief, and I think that's, you know, that's why
they've gone with someone of his bulk. I've had a

(20:13):
few texts about the jet plane's Man, they were low,
weren't they? They were low in the flyover before the game. Jonathan, hello.

Speaker 13 (20:20):
Oh, good afternoon, Jason. Yeah, I was just chatting with
your producer. My key takeaway is relief. I was dreading
waking up this morning. I didn't watch the game during
the night nor listen to it. I was dreading waking
up and hearing that we got thumped. Well, we didn't
get thumped. They beat us by seven points. So when
I compare match one to match two... We beat them

(20:43):
by 17. We were more than double their score. So
we beat them by 17. They beat us by seven.
That's a converted try. Then the producers were saying to me,
we almost stole the game at the end. So imagine
if we'd scored a converted try at the end and
drawn it. So that's how close we were. Seven points
in a game of rugby is like one nil in

(21:03):
a game of football. It's just one converted try.

Speaker 4 (21:07):
Hang on, Jonathan. And you're right. So it just shows
that they're not that far apart. I think if you
and I were chatting a year ago, we'd say these
teams are quite a long way apart. And even going
over to South Africa, that was the thing I was
most curious about. How far apart are we? And the
answer is not very far apart.

Speaker 16 (21:23):
No.

Speaker 13 (21:24):
And I think we were all expecting that South African backlash. Well,
I don't think it really happened, did it? I haven't
seen the game. So, yeah, style, it would have been.
The backlash would have been in the style of the
South African play, but I cannot see a backlash in
that score.

Speaker 15 (21:44):
Can you?

Speaker 4 (21:45):
Not in the score. I did in the game, yeah.
If you have a look at it and you'll see
the intent and certainly the desire behind the eyes of
the South African players, Jonathan. Yeah, they certainly showed a
response there. to what happened last week. And look, they're
number one in the world for a reason. They've lost
games at World Cups and come back to win those

(22:06):
World Cups. This isn't foreign to them. But the fact
is they haven't lost consecutive games for over four years now.
So that's the mark of a side that can take
a defeat and then learn from it and come back
the next week and put it right. Good to chat
to you, Jonathan. 0800 80 1080. Better get a breakaway. Josh, Joe,
please hold there. We've got one spare line if you

(22:27):
want to jump aboard. Talk to the All Blacks. 0800
80 1080.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Call it how you see it on 0800 80 1080.
Weekend Sports with Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic
Black Runout Edition.

Speaker 5 (22:40):
Available at your local Audi dealership.

Speaker 15 (22:42):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 6 (22:44):
Damien McKenzie's try in his 35th consecutive test match hasn't
missed one for 35 seconds.

Speaker 4 (23:04):
Straight test matches. Incredible consistency for DMACC. Nigel says, summary
of the game, best team won, but feels like we
have more upside than they do, which is a pleasing thing.
The discipline is still a bit of a work on. Thanks, Nige. Hello, Josh.

Speaker 17 (23:19):
Hey, good afternoon, Paine. Josh from Wellington here. I just
want to I think a lot of frustration from the fans,
which is unwarranted. I believe if you look at the
bigger context of the game, I think we could have
won it.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
In the end.

Speaker 17 (23:35):
If Ruben Love kicked that conversion for Leroy Carter's try
and then Adi's try, I think we would have put
them under pressure. And who knows what could have happened.
But for me, the frustration is.
People were saying, Jody was the man last week, and
here we are this week, and they're pointing him for
his kicks. And I believe what he did in the

(23:57):
first kick he received, I think it was in the
moment reaction. If he would have given him to do
that again, he would have changed, maybe give it to
one of the forwards.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
To heat it up.

Speaker 17 (24:07):
But like you said, they had a game to focus
on midweek this week, but now Rainey was saying the
luxury of having, say, around over 30 players to pick
from for next week's game.

Speaker 15 (24:17):
I think.

Speaker 17 (24:19):
We're heading in the right direction. And I believe the
All Blacks will come up with some because they know
what to work on. If you look at the bigger context,
the only difference was the penalties. So, Rainey knows the
team has to work on their discipline. But it was
soft penalties that they were giving away. So, I'm looking
forward to a big game next weekend.

Speaker 4 (24:38):
Great summary, Josh. Yeah, and I think you're right about
Geordie Barrett. You know, most of the time when the
game kicks off, you know, the kickoff is taken and
your forwards sort of gather around, lift one of the
blokes up and catch the ball that way. I think
Geordie was almost caught by surprise that he had the
ball in about the seventh or eighth second of the game.
And you're right, I think it just instinct took over.
And he just kicked to the line. It was a
bit ropey, but, you know, it wasn't an error. And look,

(25:02):
I still think he had a pretty solid game. A
couple of his kicks I think he'd probably want to
have back. Other than that, though, Josh, I think, you know,
you're right. There's a bit of discipline to work on.
They took a lot more shots at goal this week
than last week, so they put a bit of scoreboard
pressure on. We still outscored them four tries to three.

Speaker 3 (25:20):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 17 (25:21):
And it's just five games under, Rini, you know, and
the signs are looking positive. And like you said, we're
not far away, a couple of months away, 11 or
12 months away from the Rugby World Cup, and we're
heading in the right direction.

Speaker 11 (25:32):
But.

Speaker 17 (25:34):
frustration, you know, with some fans. I don't think they
look at the bigger context of the game. The heroes
of last week all of a sudden were villains this week,
you know, which is unwarranted for.

Speaker 4 (25:45):
The voice of reason, Josh. The voice of reason. Fellow Wellingtonian.
Enjoy the sunshine this afternoon, mate. Appreciate you calling in.
How are you, Joe?

Speaker 18 (25:54):
Yeah, good, thanks, Barney. Hey, how good it was to
get Tanner on and get some feedback in terms of
that in real time. I I was really happy. I
don't believe that we have anything to panic about. I
believe that, you know what, we gave away 12 points
through to our own discipline. And I think that's probably
one of the areas we need to clean up and
also the lineup. But I think what really impressed me

(26:16):
was Gardner's control of the scrum. I think what he
did was he put us on parity with the box
because he wasn't going to take any of their, I guess,
manipulating of the scrum time. And I think that really
changed the way that we played the game, especially approaching scrum.
I don't see it as being a threat anymore moving forward. But,

(26:36):
you know, I'm just really encouraged by the way that
we played that game today. And I think that if
we had brought on our bench probably maybe 10 minutes earlier,
we would have really, I think, taken it to them.
I think the box got gassed in the second half,
probably 20 minutes to go. And I think that We

(26:57):
should have brought the bench in. You look at how
much more brought on to the game and Lakai and
just all of our bench came on. We're superior in
our fitness. We should utilize that more. So, yeah, I'm
looking forward to next weekend. I think it's just going
to be a cracker of a game.

Speaker 4 (27:16):
Yeah, Joe, I agree. And the other thing about next weekend,
back up to altitude. So we saw, and the point
you've picked up on there is the South African players
looking a bit gassed because of the way the All
Blacks played the game. That was very evident last week.
Up at altitude, sea level for this one, of course.
So maybe with the air not being quite so thin,

(27:36):
they were able to go for a little bit longer
and it wasn't quite as much of a factor. But look,
if there's one of these two teams that's going to
play better at altitude, it's the All Blacks for me.

Speaker 18 (27:45):
Absolutely, and I think my last point here is that
we just need to have a little bit more contingency
in terms of dealing with their rush defense. I mean,
they're very much outside in, and I think we need
to just keep it closer in the corridors. I think
the more that we do that, we draw their loosies in,
and then we create gaps. Look, everyone has an off day,

(28:08):
and it wasn't our day today, but oh my gosh,
how encouraging. There are going to be small changes that
we need to make to the squad, but Apart from that,
you know what, roll on next Saturday.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Roll on next Saturday indeed, Joe. Good to hear from you.
Drive safe, mate. 0800 80 1080 is our number. Rennie &
Co are building, says this text. I like the cut
of their coaching stock. So yes, a few things to
iron out. But scoring tries in the Republic is a
good thing. Rassi's feeling the pressure, as that presser showed
the media conference. Yeah, I'll play that audio in a sec.

(28:40):
Yet the box much vaunted depth perhaps isn't so deep.
Nothing to be upset about with that loss. Looking at
the bigger picture, see, this is a very measured response
to this test match. The performance wasn't one that needs
unpicking in any, you know, great fashion. There aren't nine
or 10 work-ons here. There are a couple, of course

(29:01):
there are. And whenever the All Blacks lose a test match,
there's never satisfaction, certainly not internally. But there's promise, isn't there?
And if we remember where we've come from, and as
I say, compare it, a direct comparison to a year
ago when South Africa's response was so brutal in Wellington,

(29:23):
then I think we can safely say that we are
ahead of where we were. Dave, thanks for holding. Good afternoon.

Speaker 12 (29:32):
Oh, Dave, I thought just the penalties and.

Speaker 19 (29:37):
They'd go away and they all got kept away. And
when they were online, they.

Speaker 12 (29:43):
Handled themselves pretty well with them. pretty well and yeah
so just.

Speaker 19 (29:51):
And they've got a good referee the Georgia referee he's
not a bad referee so they'll be in a bad
place and would you make the changes in the backs
at all?

Speaker 4 (30:03):
It's a good question Dave I Would I make any change? Yeah,
I don't think I would have the back line. Let's
go through it. Roy Gard, no.

Speaker 3 (30:14):
Love, no.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
Geordie Barrett and Quinn Tapia, no, no. Jordan McKenzie, no, no. Carter, no.
So no is the answer. I think I'd keep the
same back line. That was a long-winded way of getting there,
wasn't it, Dave? But look, I don't think there'll be
any changes there. And to be honest, I'm not sure
they'll change much in the forwards either. The only thing
they might do, they might consider... is bringing in Peter

(30:36):
Larkeye on the blind side, or moving Tupo Vahie back
out there and going with a Holland Tui Palotu or
Holland Lord if he's fit again. I think Peter Larkeye's
been really good off the bench. He's been one of
the standout players, I think, on this tour, actually. Every

(30:57):
time he's played, he's added, whether it's from the start
or off the bench, I think he's really been a standout.
But yeah, I don't think there'll be too many changes.
And certainly none on the back line, Dave. Good to
hear from you, mate. Carlos, Stefan, please hold with you
after this. 0800 80 1080. We continue talking all blacks
after this.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
The scoreboard only tells half the story. Piney tells the rest.
Weekend Sport with Jason Vine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic
Black Runout Edition.

Speaker 5 (31:25):
Test drive today.

Speaker 20 (31:26):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (31:27):
16 away from one. Just before we get back to
the lines, there was an interesting little flashpoint in the
post-match media conferences after the game. The All Blacks went
first today. They don't have a set order usually, but
the All Blacks went first today and coach Dave Rennie
was asked about the scrums and he said this.

Speaker 21 (31:46):
Yeah, I mean, the scrums were better tonight. I think
Angus was pretty strong around setting a mark and then
trying to keep the hookers in the same sort of
spacing and if the spring box moved across further left
then he stopped him so we'll give a bit of

(32:07):
feedback around that it's still a bit of an issue
for us because they're able to walk around and go
straight through our tie heads so a couple little technical
things that we'll share again but look I thought in
the end the scrums both teams are able to play
off them and So I think Angus did a reasonable
job there.

Speaker 4 (32:25):
So that is Dave Rennie talking about the scrums. Rassi
Erasmus then came in and either had been listening to
that press conference or was told about those comments. Then
he was asked about those comments from Dave Rennie on
the scrums. Here is his response and just a warning
about some of the language that you're about to hear.

Speaker 22 (32:43):
We've been playing with a pack of these guys together,
so it's the first time ever in history that people
are talking about us walking around. So why would we
all of a sudden walk around in this? The first
six scrums in New Zealand are at every single one collapsed.

Speaker 23 (32:58):
And it was a reset, reset, reset, reset.

Speaker 22 (33:01):
So why is it only on their ball that the
scrum collapsed every single time? So I don't want to
come up with that nonsense and saying we're walking around
and you try and put bad things out in the media.
I'm starting to put things out. The last line-up was skew,
and we contested. I'm not going to moan my ass
off about that. So, you know, if you want to
start moaning about stuff like that, then pay under pressure.
Of course, last week we didn't moan after there was

(33:23):
clear head contacts a lot of times. And today in
the first 40, there was four head contacts. and nothing
was done about it. So, and then Lourdes gets the
first one. So, the moment we start moaning, and if
you're only going to clip the part I said now
at the end, it's going to be a lull of headline,
but please don't do it. Put the whole thing what
I'm answering. Don't try and convince the people through the media,

(33:46):
because that's what happened in the first week. They tried
to convince the people in the media, we're slowing the
game down, and we're not.

Speaker 11 (33:52):
So....

Speaker 22 (33:54):
If the referees get caught up by that, then there's
obviously a plan to get that message out. And then
we're not going to stay quiet and just say, oh,
you're right, we're walking around. We're not fucking walking around.
We're scrumming through. So, you know, we've never, ever, ever
been accused of walking around. So I don't understand it.

Speaker 4 (34:14):
There you go. That's Rossi Erasmus. Again, apologies for a
bit of colourful language in there, but I wanted to
give you the full context. That is the full answer, unedited.
And Rassi said, and they don't just use the last
bit for a headline. That's the whole answer. So clearly
there's a bit of friction there. And Rassi Erasmus taking
exception to Dave Rennie continuing to question the way that
South Africa scrummage. Carlos, thanks for holding. Good afternoon.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, no worries, Piney.

Speaker 13 (34:38):
Yeah, good afternoon to you too.

Speaker 2 (34:40):
Yeah, look, in my mind, the better team won. Simple
as that. A couple of callers earlier, sort of like, oh, goodness,
say a couple of things along those lines with discipline
and that. But what really impressed me was how the
heck we hung in there, I should say, and had
an opportunity to draw the bloody game. To be honest,
I don't think we deserved it. That's my opinion. But anyway,

(35:06):
I'll be short and sweet. And the ironic thing about
it is that's the second test over there. The second
test in 96, I was there in Pretoria. Guess what
the score was?

Speaker 4 (35:16):
You know what, Carlos? I was just looking at that
just before we came to her. I thought, gee, that
scoreline sounds familiar.

Speaker 5 (35:23):
33-26, 1996 in.

Speaker 4 (35:25):
Pretoria, where you were there watching on, mate.

Speaker 12 (35:28):
Yes, exactly.

Speaker 24 (35:29):
I couldn't believe it.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
I mean, I never bet.

Speaker 15 (35:32):
On the ABs.

Speaker 2 (35:34):
I do bet, but not on the ABs. It never happened. Yeah,
but there you go.

Speaker 15 (35:39):
Yeah, unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
I couldn't believe it. That's how I want it. But anyway, look,
I'll let you get on with the other callers, finally.
But look, at the end of the day, we finished better.
And so as far as I'm concerned, we've got a
little bit of momentum going back in there again and confidence.
And so, yeah, bring it on.

Speaker 4 (36:00):
Good on you, Carlos. Good summary, mate.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Yeah, resilience.

Speaker 4 (36:02):
This All Blacks team has resilience. Yes, they lost the game,
but they stuck in with South Africa, you know, a
fired up South Africa, a desperate South Africa, off the
back of last week, taking those punches and then running
away and winning the game. Five tries to one last week,
four tries to three in our favour today. South Africa decided,

(36:23):
wisely as it turned out, that they would take some
kicks at goal today. When they were awarded penalties, they
didn't kick for the line as they did so often
last week. They took the three points, built some scoreboard pressure.
Good tactic. Good tactic, but they didn't run away from
the All Blacks.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Not at all.

Speaker 4 (36:39):
Thanks, Carlos. Hey, Stefan.

Speaker 15 (36:42):
Hey, Jason.

Speaker 24 (36:42):
How you doing?

Speaker 4 (36:43):
Very good, mate. Very good.

Speaker 25 (36:45):
Yeah, and hi to all the listeners here. Another hot boy,
beautiful day here.

Speaker 24 (36:50):
Fantastic.

Speaker 4 (36:51):
Can't beat it. Can't beat it out State Highway 2, mate.
I know.

Speaker 3 (36:53):
I love it out there.

Speaker 25 (36:55):
Wellington on a good day, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 3 (36:57):
Exactly.

Speaker 25 (36:59):
I would just like to say that I think the
person who gave the best quote about the preview on
this match was Chipper when he talked about that we're
going to get some games, we're going to get rubber,
some games we're not. We've had two really close games,
and South Africa benefited in their strengths, and we didn't
quite capitalise on ours, I think is the best way

(37:21):
to put it. I mean, we allowed them to play
a little bit more of their style of games, and
so they were able to get the points ahead. A
little bit unlucky with the start for Geordie, to be fair,
but the box capitalised on it and just kept going,
and their scrum was very dominant. We had parity, really,

(37:41):
but it was just able to keep doing. They just
doubled down on last week and were able to advance
on that. I think Leroy Carter was amazing. Both sides
of the ball, some really good tackling and defence as
well as attack. I don't think there's much to change
for the All Blacks, but I do feel sorry a
bit for Josh Morby because he's done also really well

(38:01):
on that left wing.

Speaker 24 (38:03):
And I would.

Speaker 25 (38:04):
Like to see Larkeye start. And I think for that,
it's because it'll give us more punch through the defensive
lines rather than pushing in on the scrum. I think
that's where we've got to really push more on the
spring box. We got nine line breaks and didn't really
get any points in the 22s. And I think we

(38:24):
need to take those opportunities for points where we can. But,
you know, we're going to have a third close game
like this. I'm going to be happy whatever the result,
to be fair. I think it's showing that we're doing
really well. And I think we won the aftermatch function
because Rasty's saying he's not moaning and then moaning, carry
on the next sentence.

Speaker 24 (38:44):
So I think pretty much CSL has much pressure. He's
feeling it.

Speaker 3 (38:47):
You're right.

Speaker 4 (38:48):
I haven't seen a lot of that. And I think
it's also just a demonstration of, I mean, Dave Rennie's
a bit of a silent assassin in the media, isn't he?
You know, he just knows, because he comes across as
so unassuming and so non-threatening, never raises his voice. In fact,
if anything, he lowers his voice and just, you know,
just puts a couple of needles in, just puts a

(39:08):
couple of things out there and Ressie's clearly rattled by it.
I love it.

Speaker 25 (39:12):
Well, Well, the best part about it is I remember
a South African referee calling someone for lazy running one game.
So the walking around and lazy running thing is obviously
something South Africans had as part of their game plan
for quite a while. But no, I thought it was
a really good game. I do think attacking line-outs is

(39:33):
a work on. Probably just be a little bit more
simpler and just make sure we get the ball. But
if we can get advanced through the contact line when
we're turning our line breaks and able to hold on
our ball better.
Preferably not not around jesse creel who'll just keep um
sniping at you every time he gets a chance but
um yeah i think it'll be a really good game
the next one looking forward to it and congratulations springs

(39:56):
box as well as there but bloody close good.

Speaker 4 (39:59):
Man stephanie i am too mate i think this is
a brilliant opportunity for the all blacks to win this
series if we talk about the three series in south
africa at the very least we're going to go to
baltimore with a chance to square it if we if
we count the bolted on Baltimore game as part of it.
But I think it's a brilliant opportunity for the All
Blacks to take the lessons from this, the positives from

(40:20):
last weekend, the positives from this morning, and win next
week in front of 95,000 at Soccer City. Good to
hear from you, Stefan. Enjoy the sunshine, mate. Seven away
from one. Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 1 (40:33):
The big names and the big calls on your home
of sport. Weekend Sport with Jason Fine. Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 11 (40:41):
4-1.

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Bobby says, how about Jimmy Tavatavanawai off the bench? The
man's incredibly industrious and abrasive. Could be useful when the
box fatigue. And hats off to Holland again. Big game
from him. Bobby, I love it.

Speaker 9 (40:52):
Yep.

Speaker 4 (40:53):
I think Anton Leonard-Brown's a very safe set of hands
off the bench and covers 12 and 13, which is
a big advantage. But yeah, someone like Tavatavanawai, yeah, maybe
you unleash him. This text agrees. It's time to unleash
Tava Tava Ngawai and Blackadder. Yeah, that's a bit of
thinking to do, and there's a possibility there. Piney, although
this loss isn't ideal, I don't think we need to

(41:13):
be too bothered about it. My thoughts are that the
Springboks are a team at the top of their game
and have quite a few players who must be coming
to the end, where our All Blacks are a young
team on the up. That surely must be favourable coming
into the World Cup. Couldn't agree more. Elliot Smith and
Gregor Paul to kick us off after one.

Speaker 1 (41:31):
The only place to discuss the biggest sports issues on
and off the field. It's all on Weekend Sport with
Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition
on Newstalk ZB, your home of sport.

Speaker 4 (41:48):
Hello there, 107. I'm Jason Pine. Andy McDonald in charge
of the show. We're here till three. After two, the Warriors,
you would have caught up with the news that both
of our halves from the original team that was named
are unavailable now. No Chanel Harris Tevita. No Tamati Martin.

Speaker 6 (42:06):
No problem.

Speaker 4 (42:07):
No problem. Luke Hanson and Jack Cleary. Come on down.
We'll talk about the Warriors after two. Looking forward to
seeing what happens at Go Media this afternoon. Massive crowd incoming.
Elliot Smith and Gregor Paul standing by. They've hung around
well beyond their scheduled finish time to have a chat

(42:29):
to us. They're still at the stadium. They're going to
jump on our broadcast gear and have a chat to
us in a minute to review the game. A couple
of texts, though, before we do that. I feel, says
this one, that with the South Africans' physicality, we can't
match them. But if the All Blacks can weather the
storm and keep the score within 10 in the first half,
I think nine times out of 10, we can beat them.

(42:51):
I like that under the new coaching team, the last
20 minutes has become a strong point. Vicky says, Piney,
it sounds like Dave Rooney is winning the needling game too,
given Rassi's prickly response.

Speaker 3 (43:03):
Good on him.

Speaker 4 (43:04):
Whiz that line out and watch Rassi take the bait. Thanks, Vicky.
Tony says, Jason, no one got cooked. The loss answered
some questions around whether last week's win was the box
being nervous or the AB strategy working. The box counter-punched
this morning and it worked. Four penalties deciding the game.
The pressure's on them now, but I think with minor

(43:25):
tweaks to our bench and a bit more composure, we
can beat them. Razzy lost his poker face this morning
and the cracks are starting to appear. My pick says, Tony,
the All Blacks should take another close contest next week.
And finally, Piney, win or lose this series? The experience
of four brutal test matches in a row is probably
more than we'll get in next year's World Cup. Bring

(43:47):
on next week's game. Think about the World Cup next year.
I don't know whether I'd forgotten this or whether I'd
put it off to one side in my mind, but
in all likelihood, we're going to play South Africa in
the quarterfinals next year at the Rugby World Cup. It
seems odd, doesn't it? They're obviously two best sides in
the world, certainly at the moment. And they're scheduled to

(44:09):
meet in the quarterfinals. Still, as they always say, if
you're going to win the World Cup, you've got to
beat all the good teams at some stage. And the
last time we played a Rugby World Cup quarterfinal, it
was one of the great All Blacks performances, and that
went over Ireland. So maybe it's not a bad thing.
Knock them out early.

Speaker 13 (44:25):
Anyway.

Speaker 4 (44:26):
That's a conversation perhaps for another day. 10 past one.

Speaker 6 (44:28):
Love now opens up a bit from Carter, finding Will Jordan.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
Jordan with a nice run.

Speaker 6 (44:33):
Jordan has support. Roy Gard, lovely support line.

Speaker 3 (44:37):
All Blacks are in.

Speaker 6 (44:39):
Roy Gard under the sticks at DHL.

Speaker 4 (44:42):
Yeah, the first of the All Blacks four tries in
Cape Town. Springboks 33, All Blacks 26. Let's continue our
review of Test 2, joined by our Newstalk ZB commentary team.
Match commentator, the voice you heard then, Newstalk ZB rugby
editor Elliot Smith, and award-winning New Zealand Herald rugby analyst
and feature writer Gregor Paul, who have hung around to

(45:02):
chat to us and give us the benefit of their analysis.
Thanks for doing so, guys. Gregor, can we start with you?
How different was this test from the first test?

Speaker 26 (45:12):
Well, a lot in one particular facet, Pani, in that
South Africa finished what they started. So I think you've
probably got to go back to Ellis Park and go, well,
New Zealand were maybe a little bit fortunate that South
Africa had multiple entries into the 22, didn't live up
to their statistical normalcy. and convert a lot of those,
but they did here in Cape Town, and in they went.

(45:35):
They used their big men to get in there, and
then they thundered onto the ball, and they were cataclysmic
in that respect, highly clinical, and that was probably the
difference is that they finished what they started this week.

Speaker 4 (45:49):
Elliot, then in order to look ahead to the third
test and to repel that, what are the big work-ons
in that particular regard for Dave Rennie and his coaching team?

Speaker 6 (45:58):
Well, they need to find a way, Piney, to figure
out the high ball scenario because they simply aren't winning
enough of their own ball back when they send it
high and they're simply allowing South Africa to win back
a lot of their ball when South Africa sends it high. Look,
this isn't a new issue. It's been ongoing for the
All Blacks under the Scott Robertson era. But they're struggling

(46:19):
to find a way to contain it. And they thought
they'd found the way through with the wings running back
and catching that. It's a good technique. It's a pretty
good answer. But it's not enough. And they need to
find ways to be better in that regard. What they
wanted to improve last week outside of that, the scrums and...
The post-contact meters, they were better. Problem is, the line-out

(46:43):
suffered this week. The Springboks were better at that. They
poached a lot of All Blacks ball, especially line-outs when
it mattered. The All Blacks were on attack inside the 22,
inside the final 20 minutes of the game, looking to
get a strike back into it.

Speaker 3 (46:57):
They blew that opportunity.

Speaker 6 (46:59):
So they need to be better in the pressure moments.
And the overall discipline picture as well, They consider double
the penalties of South Africa tonight, 8-4. So, look, there
are a few things there that they need to better on.
The ones they tried to fix last week, they did.
But new ones have emerged, just like whack-a-mole. You've got
to figure it out. And the All Blacks simply left

(47:20):
a little bit too much on the table to sort
out tonight by the full-time whistle.

Speaker 4 (47:24):
Gregor, what did you make of the All Blacks' tactic
to kick behind South Africa's rush defence and the execution
of that tactic?

Speaker 26 (47:30):
Well, the tactic itself was the right one, I think.
They wanted to try and break up that South African defence.
It's a big green wall that comes at them and
you can run into it and run into it and
you can get very far sometimes. So what they were
trying to do was kick in behind them, force them
to turn around, create counter-attack opportunity against an unstructured defence.

(47:51):
So the logic of it stacked up but the execution
of it wasn't great they couldn't move Damien Wilhelms the
Springbok fullback in the first half they just kept kicking
to him he was able to cover what they were
doing and I don't know if they got much better
at it in the second half either other than Leroy
Carter who I thought a brilliant game by the way

(48:12):
he was outstanding he you know he did everything he
was the one guy that actually showed how you kick
you've got to find grass you've got to turn them
around and you've got to either end up with the
ball back or with territorial gain. I think it made
sense what they were trying to do, but they're going
to need to look at better ways to move that
defence around.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
Elliot, what's your assessment of Ruben Love's development as All Blacks'
first five?

Speaker 6 (48:37):
Look, I felt today was probably a step back for Ruben.
I think the All Blacks lost their shape of the
game and the way they wanted to play, and A
lot of that comes out of 10. I don't think
he had a bad game by any stretch of the imagination,
but I think it was a step backwards for Ruben,
and we're probably still waiting for him. He's had some
very good matches across the July window and the tour

(49:00):
matches earlier here, but to really stamp his mark and
own a game is the All Blacks 10. That's what
we demand of our All Blacks playmakers, is that they...
Grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck, even
if the ball isn't front football, even if they're playing
from behind the advantage line and being put under immense
pressure by the spring box like they were today. But

(49:21):
I think today was probably a step back. He just
didn't command the game as much as you would have
liked from the All Blacks.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
10. So there are a couple of good moments from Ruben,
but I felt.

Speaker 6 (49:29):
That perhaps he just needs to really take advantage of
the position that he's in and show why he is
the All Blacks 10. So that's a big focus, I think,
next week as well. We probably need the All Blacks
to get better front foot ball, but also direction-wise, it's
on Ruben Love to steer them around the park.

Speaker 4 (49:49):
Gregor, do you get the feeling Dave Rennie will stick
largely with the same side for the third test?

Speaker 26 (49:54):
Yeah, I don't think it's a personnel issue. I don't
think that he got selection wrong. I thought Simon Parker,
you know, hey, that was a one kind of tactical
choice he had to make in the forwards through an
injury replacement whether to move Tipu Vai from blindside into
lock which they did and bring Simon Parker in I
thought he got through a lot of hard work he
tackled well his post contact meters were good so I

(50:15):
think that's a big tick And I thought bringing in
Leroy Carter brought them a lot of energy and dynamism,
and he caught the high ball. So if you look
at that, I don't know where you would go personnel-wise.
So I don't think that will be the issue. And
I don't think they were that far off either. But
you've got to remember here, if they held onto the
ball for maybe two more phases, they may have salvaged

(50:35):
a draw out of here. If they'd held their discipline,
I think Paddy Tupeloto threw a ball in the middle
of the field when they were attacking with about 10
minutes to go, and that created a, yeah, he just
shouldn't have done that.

Speaker 3 (50:45):
And that created the penalty opportunity.

Speaker 26 (50:47):
So you look at these, I don't want to go
all Scott Robertson on you, but the small margins, they
went away against the All Blacks today.

Speaker 3 (50:56):
Last week, they got them. And they lost by a try.

Speaker 26 (50:59):
So if you look at that, you go, yeah, look,
if they tidy up a few areas of the game
that Elliot talked about, get their execution tidier, get their
intensity up a little bit.

Speaker 3 (51:10):
Then I don't think they need to be changing the
team around.

Speaker 26 (51:12):
I just think they've got to get a bit of
accuracy into their game next week.

Speaker 4 (51:17):
Elliot, to finish, the All Blacks had a midweek game
to deal with as they prepared for the second test.
How much more ideal is it to have seven days
now to focus exclusively on the third test?

Speaker 3 (51:27):
Yeah, I think it's a good thing, Piney.

Speaker 6 (51:29):
That game might have been good in theory and good
for the coffers, although there wasn't a great crowd there,
but not great in execution. It was a disrupted week
for the All Blacks. They spent half of it in Johannesburg,
then went back to sea level. on Wednesday and came
to Cape Town there getting that out of the way
full focus on the 23 or whoever selected for the

(51:51):
weekend I think can only be a good thing having
said that they're going to remain at sea level until
midweek again and then they'll head to Johannesburg on Wednesday
again to get back to altitude so it is going
to be a different build-up once again but at least
they don't have a game to prepare for and take
some of their attention and that game 90-odd thousand, F &

(52:12):
B Stadium in Soweto. Yeah, perfect capstone for the South
African part of the tour, for sure, at one all.

Speaker 4 (52:18):
Yeah, what an occasion. Terrific call, guys. Thanks, as always,
for staying on and giving us your analysis afterwards. Cheers, Barney.

Speaker 3 (52:25):
Thanks, Barney.

Speaker 4 (52:25):
Thanks, guys. That's Elliot Smith and Gregor Paul who brought
you the commentary and will again next Sunday morning at
three when the third test is underway at that enormous arena.
up in Johannesburg again, back at altitude, which, as I
said before the news, I think probably suits New Zealand
more than South Africa. 0800 80 1080. Open the lines again.

(52:47):
We're going to chat the All Blacks for a bit longer.
James McConey before two. Then we're going to pivot away
to the Warriors after two. But lines back open on
the All Blacks. 0800 80 1080. Just before we go
to the lines, and as a side issue, unrelated to
the performances of the All Blacks or the Springboks today,
rugby still has a problem. with its ball and play

(53:08):
time compared to other codes. And there was a farcical
period early in the second half. Cody Taylor knocked the
ball on. Referee blows a scrum for South Africa. From
that point, from the moment he blew the whistle for
the scrum until the ball was back in play, four

(53:29):
minutes and 34 seconds elapsed without any rugby played at all. First,
there was a water break while George Bauer looked like
he was lacing his boots back up to get ready
for the scrum. Then when the scrum was getting set,
Angus Gardner blew his whistle and spoke to Malcolm Marks,
the Springboks hooker, about what he was doing with his feet.

(53:50):
Then as they got set again, he whistled again and
called all of the front rowers together for a lecture
about playing games. Then the scrum collapsed. Then it collapsed again.
And then the All Blacks were awarded a short-arm penalty.
We had no ball in play for over four and
a half minutes. And we didn't even get the scrum set.

(54:13):
And those who use the stop-start nature of rugby as
a stick to beat it with had all the ammunition
they needed. How on earth are you supposed to attract
casual fans to the game of rugby when that sort
of thing's going on is beyond me? So yeah, just
an example. Look, To me, I don't mind it in
terms of it's not going to turn me off the

(54:34):
game of rugby because I love the game of rugby.
And there's no one going to turn a game off
because of that. But it was an illustration of some
of the frustrations of those who have a look at
a game who maybe aren't, you know, as dyed-in-the-wool rugby
fans as perhaps you and I. And they go, well,
I'm not going to watch four and a half minutes

(54:54):
of nothing. 0800 80 1080 Sherwood, hello.

Speaker 11 (55:00):
Pioneer, I'm just going to ask to draw on your
particular knowledge. This is 2026, the World Cup's 2027. How
many of this current Springbok team do you think will
still be in their prime one year from now when
the World Cup comes around one year older?

Speaker 4 (55:18):
It's a very good question, Sherwood. Well, the Kiwi fan
in me hopes not many of them. Look, they are
an ageing team, and maybe there's an analogy to be
drawn with Ireland in 2023, Sherwood, where they were kind
of not hanging on necessarily, but certainly getting towards the
end of many of their careers, and they were knocked

(55:39):
out in the quarterfinals. So look, age waits for no man.
Is that what they say? So who knows what they'll
look like in a year from now?

Speaker 11 (55:48):
Yeah, the point is too, of course, that a lot
of them will be motivated to stick around because they
know it's the World Cup and probably Rassi will be
still wanting to select them if he can for the
same reason out of loyalty, but that just might be
a problem for them.

Speaker 4 (56:04):
It may well be, and they've got so much depth
as well, Sherwood, haven't they, that he doesn't have to
pick them if he doesn't want to. He doesn't necessarily
have to pick the older, more experienced guys, the ones
who served him so well in 2023 and in 2019,
but he'll, I'm sure, want a few of his.
Of his experienced heads there. He's got a bit of

(56:28):
thinking to do around his selections, for sure, as I
guess Dave Rooney has too. I mean, I guess the
feeling would be that you shouldn't be playing Test rugby
the year before a World Cup if you're not in
some way in contention for that World Cup.

Speaker 11 (56:44):
Yeah, that's probably the strength of it, and that could
be a problem for them, but time will tell.

Speaker 4 (56:50):
Time will tell, Sherwood. It's a good point to race.
Very good point to race. And yeah, like I say,
just another fascinating layer to what's going to play out
over the next year or so. Look, it's funny, isn't it?
You know, at the end of last year, Rassi Erasmus
probably looked around the rugby world and thought to himself,

(57:11):
you know what? I'm traveling very nicely, thank you very much,
with two years to go until the next World Cup.
I don't really have an obvious challenger. And he would
have looked down here or looked across here or whichever
direction you want to call it and thought to himself,
there's an all-black side that is really struggling. Struggling with
its identity, struggling with its game plan, perhaps even struggling

(57:36):
with its culture. And he would have thought to himself,
I feel pretty comfortable coming up against an all-black side
in that form. The problem he strikes now is that
this is not the same All Black side as the
end of 2025. Very quickly, it has been transformed by

(57:57):
a coaching change and an internal, it appears to me anyway,
culture change and a significant game plan change. The pack
is closing in on Rassi Erasmus, and it's not just
the All Blacks doing it. Look at Argentina a couple
of weeks ago, and this morning, the Wallabies beat Argentina

(58:19):
This isn't the one horse race that a lot of
people thought it was going to be two years out
from the Rugby World Cup. Imagine how much better the
All Blacks will be a year from now. Dave Rooney's
only had this team for a few months. And look
at the changes that he's made and the material impact
of those changes on the team's performances and results. Scrap in.

(58:45):
It's a big 12 months coming. 124-0800-8010-80. 9292 for your texts.
Back after this.

Speaker 1 (58:51):
From grassroots to the grandstand, we can sport with Jason
Vine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition from $ 139, 990.

Speaker 5 (58:59):
Call 0800 8010 80.

Speaker 23 (58:59):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 6 (59:04):
Gordie Barrett in advantage coming the way of the All Blacks,
this is nice from the All Blacks, tip higher, left
wing side, Leroy Carter, Carter clean pair of heels for
the left wing corner, he's in.

Speaker 3 (59:14):
Leroy Carter the try.

Speaker 6 (59:08):
Yeah, that was a terrific try from Leroy Carter.

Speaker 4 (59:20):
When he got that ball, he was certainly not favourite
to get that down. He had a couple of defenders
to beat, and they were coming at pace. He's a
nuggety little rugby player, Leroy Carter. He's tough as they come, and...
In all facets of the game, had a really impressive
outing today. I think, as I said before, I think

(59:42):
he was the best in a black jersey today and
certainly has done more than enough to retain his position
on the left wing next week. In fact, I don't think,
as I said before, there'll be any changes in the
back line. I think they'll roll the same back line out.
Maybe the odd tweak in the forwards, depending on what
they want to do with a returning Josh Lord and

(01:00:03):
or Ethan DeGroote. Might want to tweak things slightly. And
then again, there's also the bench where they can perhaps
make a couple of tweaks. Tamati Tavatava-Nawai's name has been mentioned.
And look, I wouldn't mind seeing it just to see,
just to see how he would go. A couple of

(01:00:25):
texts through here before we move, talking about the miss
by the officiating team for the second Springboks try, I
think it was, Khaleesi's try. There's been some pretty stark
evidence that I've seen online of a South African player
blocking Simon Parker's attempt to tackle Sir Khaleesi and why

(01:00:49):
the TMO didn't come in. Was that the try when
they were looking at a couple of other things as
well about whether he got it down? And there was
also an earlier infringement in that passage.

Speaker 15 (01:01:01):
Look, I.

Speaker 4 (01:01:03):
We can't have it both ways, can we? We can't
be disparaging of a TMO who comes in too often
and applaud what Matthew Carley did last week by effectively
telling the TMO to keep out of it and then
complain when the TMO doesn't come in, can we? I've

(01:01:28):
had a look at the footage. It's not absolutely blatant, but... Yeah,
you can see how there might be a case to
be mounted for a bit of obstruction as Luke Jacobson
went across to make the tackle. The Kiwi media on
the ground in South Africa spoke afterwards with a couple
of players, including All Blacks centre Quinn Tapia to get

(01:01:48):
his assessment of the game.

Speaker 27 (01:01:50):
Yeah, obviously they came out very strong, put us under
a lot of pressure and a lot of scoreboard pressure
as well. So, yeah, we just got too far back tonight.
but love the effort to fight back and give ourselves
a chance at the end.

Speaker 5 (01:02:01):
Did you feel like you were chasing the game a lot? Yeah,
scoreboard pressure-wise we were.

Speaker 27 (01:02:06):
But we felt like we brought a lot of pressure
ourselves through our game.

Speaker 5 (01:02:10):
Just a few key moments.

Speaker 27 (01:02:11):
But yeah, like I said, lots to be happy about,
but yeah, not right there.

Speaker 5 (01:02:17):
In this series, there's little things, isn't it?

Speaker 21 (01:02:19):
There's the odd pass that goes askew, there's a penalty,
there's lack of continuity sometimes.

Speaker 15 (01:02:25):
Little things, right?

Speaker 5 (01:02:26):
Yeah, it's test footy. got to nail those little moments.

Speaker 27 (01:02:30):
Um, I guess they stack more moments than us tonight and, um,
we were poor in some areas and they made us pay.

Speaker 5 (01:02:35):
So, um, yeah, a lot of lessons to take and
look forward to next week.

Speaker 27 (01:02:38):
Quinn, where were you guys just a little bit off
under the high ball or how were they able to
cause so much, uh, so many problems for you?

Speaker 5 (01:02:46):
Yeah, they, uh, caused a lot of problems there.

Speaker 27 (01:02:48):
Um, obviously hook a big winger and, um, sending a
lot of their locks out the ball. So, um, that's
something we'll have to tidy up and, um, We've been
pretty good at it over the last few weeks, but
they exposed a little.

Speaker 5 (01:03:00):
Bit of us tonight.

Speaker 21 (01:03:00):
Do you feel it's just small adjustments going into Test 3.

Speaker 5 (01:03:04):
For you guys?

Speaker 27 (01:03:05):
Yeah, to be fair, I don't really catch many of
the highballs. No, but just in terms of overall? Overall, yeah,
we're right there.

Speaker 5 (01:03:11):
We've got a lot of belief in our game.

Speaker 27 (01:03:13):
Love the way our coaches have set us up and
the squad we have, so still a lot of belief.

Speaker 28 (01:03:18):
Do you happen to be affected at all by the
late changes by the box? Do you see the team
shit before entering on the field or not at all?

Speaker 5 (01:03:31):
We're well aware of the changes. I think it came
out on Thursday or Friday morning.

Speaker 27 (01:03:35):
We're well aware of the personnel they brought in.

Speaker 5 (01:03:41):
Nothing really changed for.

Speaker 29 (01:03:41):
Us physicality that they brought right at the very start
where they got that maul and they just.

Speaker 23 (01:03:46):
Drove through us what are you saying to each other.

Speaker 29 (01:03:49):
After that when you're trying to regroup because they just
seem to have such a powerful game.

Speaker 27 (01:03:53):
Tonight yeah it was something we expected just had to
reset and go again obviously nail the kick off and
then get into.

Speaker 5 (01:04:01):
Our set piece if.

Speaker 27 (01:04:03):
I remember right we parked up down there for a
little bit after that so yeah it took some positives
from it.

Speaker 21 (01:04:08):
I guess lesser teams have played completely against Springboks right
so how gratifying to stay in it and have an
opportunity to draw the game at the end.

Speaker 5 (01:04:18):
Yeah we always knew Springboks would get momentum.

Speaker 27 (01:04:22):
So we practiced on how to get that back I
guess you know we've got a great leader in Ardy
and guys around him that help us stay focused so
um Yeah, we were pretty positive after that moment. Did
you see some wins and some gains out wide when
you were able to hold the ball for a period
of time, you were able to get around them?

Speaker 5 (01:04:41):
Yeah, I think early on we gave the ball up
a little bit too easily.

Speaker 27 (01:04:45):
We were trying to find some kick space, but then
ultimately that softened them up in the end.

Speaker 5 (01:04:52):
We found some good edges, they scrambled really well.

Speaker 27 (01:04:56):
Just need to finish a few more opportunities to be
a bit more clinical.

Speaker 5 (01:04:59):
It's a heavyweight trilogy isn't it? It's not meant to
be easy.

Speaker 27 (01:05:02):
Yeah it's a big test match next week and back
to 1-0 so yeah how good Did.

Speaker 29 (01:05:10):
You not get too high over the win and too
low after the loss?

Speaker 27 (01:05:14):
Oh yeah the changing room is pretty sombre at the
moment to be fair we had a big goal of
going 2-0 so yeah the boys are definitely hurting So yeah,
we'll regroup. So, yeah, think about it tonight and have
our day off tomorrow and then regroup on Monday and

(01:05:34):
go again.

Speaker 4 (01:05:35):
That is Quinn Tapia speaking with the Assembled Kiwi Media
on the ground there, and we thank them all for
their service over there. There's a good contingent of them
on the ground. Pete says, Jason, one change for me,
Sam Dowry to come in as the other lock, similar
to Holland, heaps of energy, and go forward. He'll make
a big difference. Thank you, Pete. Jason, I could write
a novel, says this text, but I'll bore you with it.

(01:05:57):
Half of it, here's the reality, we lost, but we
outscored them four tries to three. Looking forward, we've got
them where we want them. A series decider on home
soil for South Africa puts all the pressure on them.
This is all part of the victory coming in next
year's Rugby World Cup quarterfinal. Well, I certainly hope you're right. Tristan, Piney,
a few points here. I thought Amua and Lakai added

(01:06:19):
some punch. It's hard to know if they would be
that effective, though, in starting roles. We kicked a bit
aimlessly early. Our Lucy's not quick enough to the breakdown.
Start Ethan at six or seven. We need to run
onto the ball better, Tristan continues. The forwards are standing
still when they receive the ball. If you look at
the try-hard he got, I think the carry prior, like
I was actually running onto the ball at pace, which

(01:06:40):
gets the go forward. Not Geordie's best game, and Ruben
perhaps needs to be a bit more of a threat,
not just stand and deliver. He needs to be more
of a threat by engaging the defence. Other than that,
Scrum was much better. Good summary of points, Tristan. Brent says, Jason,
game review. I thought the penalties this week that were
turned down by South Africa last week would be the difference,
and so it proved. Northern rugby teams, from club to

(01:07:02):
national level, are great at catching the high ball. Super
Rugby doesn't encourage that, our big weakness. I agree with
you about our line-outs. Better to have possession. We knew
what was coming this week, but failed to address the
main issues. Thanks, Brent. And Steve says, Piney, the team
that makes the least amount of mistakes normally wins. All
Blacks last week, Box this week.

Speaker 17 (01:07:21):
Thanks, Steve.

Speaker 4 (01:07:22):
What about in the forward pack? How do they sum
it all up? The Kiwi media also got the chance
to speak with All Blacks lock Tupou Vai after the
final whistle.

Speaker 30 (01:07:32):
It was a test match, obviously, but it was a
game that momentum swung both ways and they just capitalised
on a few key moments and they obviously scored more
points than us.

Speaker 5 (01:07:45):
Defensively, how happy in patches tonight? I felt like we
did a good job. We knew their.

Speaker 30 (01:07:55):
Their moor was a big weapon of theirs and I
felt like we did a good area there and they
obviously came firing in their first five or ten minutes
and I guess we're pretty happy with our defence.

Speaker 5 (01:08:08):
It just seemed to be you got continuity and then
you scored, right? But there'd be an odd pass out the.

Speaker 16 (01:08:13):
Back or a penalty and it just halted you guys
to run in patches as well.

Speaker 30 (01:08:19):
Yeah, I felt like we were dangerous when we had
the ball in hand and when we got into our
work especially in our forwards, we kind of dented the
line a bit and made them make decisions close.

Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
To the line.

Speaker 30 (01:08:32):
So I felt like we did that for a long
period of time. It's just we didn't execute most of
the time as the game went on, sort of thing.

Speaker 5 (01:08:42):
Tootsie, you're still very much in the series. Do you
feel like there's nothing in it going into three?

Speaker 3 (01:08:47):
Yeah, 100%.

Speaker 5 (01:08:47):
It's a four-game series, and.

Speaker 30 (01:08:51):
Yeah, lucky enough that we get to play these guys
next week and no better place than to play them
again back at Joeberg. So, you know, the boys are
hurting and we'll definitely look forward to next week and
can't wait to go back to work on Monday.

Speaker 5 (01:09:04):
I guess it was them that made the adjustments. coming
into this game after a defeat.

Speaker 26 (01:09:08):
Is it on you guys to maybe tidy up just
one or two things and, and come out hard at them?

Speaker 30 (01:09:12):
Yeah, we obviously knew that they were going to respond and, um,
we talked about all week about responding back as well. Um, yeah,
unfortunately we just didn't get the goods tonight and, um,
yeah but lucky enough we get to play them again.

Speaker 29 (01:09:27):
Tupou asked you at the start of the year about
playing six or playing block and you were saying to
me that you were very keen on playing block so
can you just talk to us about the differences in
playing those two positions and how you're adjusting and also
how you're actually liking them?

Speaker 30 (01:09:43):
Yeah I guess when you're playing lock you're back in
the engine room and trying to get trying to push
hard in the scrums sort of thing and At the
start of the year, when you asked me that question
if I was going to be playing six or lock
in the test level, I would have just said that
I'll be playing lock. Funny enough, Dave and his team

(01:10:03):
have got full confidence that I can fill that six jersey.
I feel like I've shown that the last couple of weeks.
As I said at the start of the year, no
matter what number I have on my back, as long
as I have the opportunity to go out there and
play for my country, That's all that matters.

Speaker 31 (01:10:20):
So just on the line-out, it was a little bit
scrappy at times, probably lost some ball in the Springboks
22 that you would have liked to get back. Was
it Springbok pressure or was it a little bit of
you guys as well?

Speaker 30 (01:10:31):
When you got two quality locks and you lost Peter
Stepdetoy as well, who is a world-class line-out operator, it
kind of.

Speaker 5 (01:10:39):
Makes your job a bit harder.

Speaker 30 (01:10:40):
I felt like we were just inconsistent with our drill. Yeah,
they really tested us in that area, and credit to them,
they've done a bit of adjusting from game one. Yeah,
I'm sure that us locks will go back into the
drawing board and come up with a plan to attack
them in game three.

Speaker 27 (01:11:00):
Two Su's lot of talk this week about the wounded BOP.

Speaker 5 (01:11:02):
What about the wounded All Black out of Agus Glock?

Speaker 30 (01:11:04):
I guess we'll have to wait and see on Saturday
next week.

Speaker 4 (01:11:08):
I guess we'll have to wait and see, he said.
How does the wounded All Black respond? That's Tupou Vahie
speaking with the media on the ground in South Africa.
21 away from two. Thanks for all your calls and
correspondence on the All Blacks v South Africa. Third test
is back in Johannesburg, but at Soccer City, the massive
95,000-seat stadium built, especially for the Football World Cup in 2010,

(01:11:33):
back at altitude with the series tantalisingly poised at one
test apiece. It could hardly be better, could it? It
could hardly be better. Just before we move, James McConey
in a sec. If you listen to Saturday's show, we've
got a feature on Saturdays called A Sporting Chance with

(01:11:54):
the TAB. We give a lucky caller, caller number five.
We give them three options to choose from. They choose
which one they want. And we place a $ 150 bonus
bet on their behalf. And if it comes in, they
claim the winnings. So yesterday, Nick was our contestant and
I gave him his three options. This from yesterday. The

(01:12:18):
All Blacks to lose by five or less to win
or draw against the Springboks. You'd win 135. Hull to
beat Coventry. You'd win 540. Or Finn Fisher Black to
win stage eight of the Vuelta to win 15 grand.
What is it that you would like to go with?

Speaker 32 (01:12:32):
Hull to win, please.

Speaker 4 (01:12:34):
Hull to beat Coventry? Yep, no worries. Well, they beat
Manchester United in their first outing last week, so Hull
to beat Coventry to win 540? Yep. So Nick went
with that, and early this morning this happened. Shammy Ajayi
with the volley away.

Speaker 20 (01:12:48):
It's the last involvement of Hull City's second victory of
the season. A brilliant win for Sergei Yakirovich and his
Hull City at the Coventry Building Society Arena. They have
beaten Cov by one goal to nil.

Speaker 4 (01:13:03):
So there you go. Well done, Nick. $ 540 for you, mate.
I'm sure you were watching with great interest and great elation.
A sporting chance will return next Saturday.

Speaker 8 (01:13:16):
19-2.

Speaker 4 (01:13:16):
After the break, James McConey in his regular Sunday slot.

Speaker 1 (01:13:19):
The biggest names in sport talk to Piney. Weekend Sport
with Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout
Edition includes $ 30, 000 of premium upgrades.

Speaker 5 (01:13:31):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (01:13:32):
Coming up quarter to two Sunday afternoons, we get the
chance to chat to James McConey. How are you, mate?

Speaker 15 (01:13:38):
I'm good, mate.

Speaker 24 (01:13:40):
Look, I'm feeling okay. I do think that in Cape Town,
one of the planes was too close to the stadium.
There's 50,000 people in there. It could have been the
biggest catastrophe in sporting history, but it was averted somehow.

Speaker 4 (01:13:55):
Yeah, I looked at that and I thought, man, he's
getting close. But I guess you just assume they know
what they're doing. I mean, they've studied for many years
to become pilots. You expect that they know more than
we do, but it did look a bit close.

Speaker 24 (01:14:08):
Yeah, we'll watch the space. There'll be some kind of inquiry, surely.
But anyway, we can talk about rugby as well.

Speaker 4 (01:14:15):
Let's do that then. What stood out the most? To
use one of the common clichés, what were your takeaways
from this morning?

Speaker 24 (01:14:23):
My takeaways is that the All Blacks were chasing the
game from the start. I mean, the Springboks came out
and they scored a great try. They put pressure on.
in all the right places. Yeah, they bombed away. Of
course they're going to bomb away. We knew that that's
what they did, even though it's perfect conditions for running rugby.
They put the ball in the air. It's our kryptonite, really.

(01:14:44):
But I think the All Blacks had enough position to
win the game, and I just think it's what they
didn't do with the position. I think decision-making has been
a weakness for the All Blacks for quite a few
seasons now, just when to give the ball and when to,
you know, kick or hold on to it. And There's
just a few moments there, and I think Dave really
touched on it. It's just the opportunities that they didn't take.

(01:15:06):
But having said that, you look at those four tries
the All Blacks scored. My goodness, the absolute highlight reel tries. Also,
try and do, score that Leroy Carter try again. Try
and get Fabian Holland to pass the perfect sky hook
to a running Quintu Paya, who again, I think 15
to 20 metres right on the chest of Leroy Carter.

(01:15:28):
Didn't break his stride. That was That was incredible rugby.

Speaker 4 (01:15:32):
Leroy Carter, I watched him this morning, and I just thought,
like I said before, I think he was the best
out there today. I just feel as though that left-wing position,
the famous number 11 All Blacks jersey, is such a
contestable position right now. I've just written down here, Leroy Carter,
Josh Morby, Caleb Clarke, Fahey Finianganofo, Caleb Tangatao, Rico Ioane.

(01:15:54):
I mean, there's six pretty decent candidates for that number
11 jersey.

Speaker 24 (01:15:59):
And then in October, Kyron Talboy-Fallau qualifies for the All Blacks.

Speaker 4 (01:16:03):
I'll write him down as well. I'll write down him
as well.

Speaker 15 (01:16:05):
There you go.

Speaker 3 (01:16:06):
Seven. Seven.

Speaker 25 (01:16:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 15 (01:16:09):
So, it is.

Speaker 24 (01:16:09):
And I mean, look, I wrote down really Leo Ricciardo.
I wrote down Peter Larkai. I loved his impact off
the bench. I know a lot of the hard work
was done by Jacobson and the others, but I just
think that Larkai does have that athleticism and spark that
you need in those big games. Fabian Holland did some
incredible stuff as well, but And also Quinn Tupai, I

(01:16:30):
just feel like he looked comfortable at number 13, and
when it comes to that forward or front football that
we're looking for, his carries were crucial. So the rest
of it, though, I think there are issues there just with,
I guess, in those pressure situations in the 22, we

(01:16:50):
had a lot of possession, but we missed line-outs, we
missed just moments passing when to give it, I wonder whether,
I know that a lot of people are saying to
Moti Tava Tava Tava, no, I should come onto the bench,
but do you put Mwanga onto the bench? Remember that
Leroy Carter does cover centre, so you've got a bit

(01:17:10):
of midfield cover there anyway. And you just have, because
I think that it's Richie Mwanga's running game when you
see the game fragmenting. And look, let's be honest, little
runners are tough to handle. Cheslin Colby is probably the
best runner in rugby. And you see him when he
made that one break where he caught Tupo Vai catching

(01:17:31):
him high. Very hard to get a hit on a
bloke who's 5'8. You know, it's tough to, they're a
head high risk all day. So I wonder whether having
little Richie Mo running around in the last quarter might
just help us.

Speaker 4 (01:17:47):
Just something that occurred to me as well watching that
game this morning, and it mainly relates to Chiefs players, actually.
As you look at where Dave Rooney plays certain players,
Damian McKenzie, he sees him as a fullback. For the Chiefs,
he plays mainly at 10. Quinta Paya plays 13 for
the All Blacks. For the Chiefs, he's second five. Tupou
Vahe plays mainly in the second row for the Chiefs.
He's on the blind side for the All Blacks. Well,

(01:18:09):
he wasn't this morning, but the fact remains. And Luke
Jacobson doesn't always play number seven for the Chiefs. Do
you think Dave Rennie would have a chat to Jono Gibbs?
And would they discuss their specific requirements, Super Rugby, All
Blacks Rugby, in a World Cup year, do you think?

Speaker 10 (01:18:26):
I think they would.

Speaker 24 (01:18:26):
They'd have to. They'd have to say that it's worth
that discussion because... Quinn does look.

Speaker 2 (01:18:32):
The goods, but you're right.

Speaker 24 (01:18:33):
He needs that time in the saddle. He needs to
become a genuine 13. I mean, there were players out
there who I think have shown that their class is,
you know, Adi Savia had some great moments. By the way,
D'Alandi's try was definite obstruction. D'Alferi, the Springboks hooker, ran
straight into Simon Parker. There's zero doubt that that's what

(01:18:56):
he's doing. They just whiffed on that, the TMO. But look,
I'm happy to say South Africa were deserving because they
just played the smarter heads-up rugby. But if you look
at guys like Roy Gard, Will Jordan and Artie, they
are playing at a really high level. I mean, if
you make a break for the All Blacks, look on
the inside because Roy Gard is there. And they missed

(01:19:16):
him a couple of times. He is trailing in behind,
waiting for the ball. And obviously Will Jordan found him
for his try. So there are guys there who are
playing at a really, really high level. We just need
a few more. If you think that we're missing the
experience of Scott Barrett and others, just a few more
guys with that experience, that world class, who you just
don't have to worry about. You know their standards are

(01:19:38):
going to be high.

Speaker 4 (01:19:40):
Did you see those scenes yesterday in the NRL match
between Souths and the Titans with Jai Arrow, who we
know was forced to retire with immediate effect earlier in
the year after he was diagnosed with the evil disease
that is MND, was going to be on 98 caps.
He went out there yesterday to make it 99 and
will go out again in their final game to make

(01:20:01):
it 100. It was quite the emotional scene yesterday in
that game, wasn't it?

Speaker 24 (01:20:06):
Yeah, that was really powerful. I mean, he only got
diagnosed around Christmastime last year. That's incredible how sharp and
how noticeable the decline is. Your heart goes out to
him and his family, and it was really great for
the game, the way they rallied around him, because it's
like there but for the grace of God go other players.

(01:20:28):
In some ways, I mean, they're always trying to find
links to what causes it, but we've seen a lot
of players in contact sport or quite a few have
suffered from this horrible disease. And, yeah, it was powerful
stuff watching that, Piney. I've got to say, not a
dry eye in the house.

Speaker 4 (01:20:47):
Absolutely. And Premier League's back underway. See, Tottenham lost another
game this morning. I haven't checked, but I think Tottenham
might be bottom of the table.

Speaker 24 (01:20:57):
Yeah, and I think they may have spent, was it
$ 300 million?

Speaker 3 (01:21:01):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 24 (01:21:02):
There's some ridiculous amount. But they still haven't scored a
goal in two games. They are rock bottom, two comfortable losses.
They lost to Newcastle at home overnight. But I know
that they can still pack out Eden Park, so that's
some consolation for them.

Speaker 15 (01:21:20):
It's tough for a team to do that.

Speaker 24 (01:21:23):
But one thing that caught my eye, for those Kiwi
fans and Chris Wood has been given the number nine
jersey for Nottingham Forest. They played away at Liverpool and
drew to all.

Speaker 15 (01:21:34):
But Chris Wood.

Speaker 24 (01:21:35):
Was an unused substitute, and I've got to say, that
is a bad sign for someone who you think is your, well,
he's New Zealand's premier striker, and you wonder whether he's
just slipping down the power rankings at Nottingham Forest. So
let's hope he gets used a bit more, but yeah,
he was nowhere to be seen overnight for Forrest.

Speaker 4 (01:21:58):
Always good chatting to you, James. Enjoy the rest of
your Sunday, mate, and hopefully we can catch up again
at the same time next week.

Speaker 14 (01:22:04):
Yeah, sure, Piney.

Speaker 24 (01:22:06):
Lovely chat as always. Yeah, so I was a bit
serious today. What happens when the All Blacks lose? You
start getting analytical, don't we?

Speaker 4 (01:22:13):
Yeah, I do. Don't worry, it'll be fine next week
when they win in Joburg, mate. We'll chat then with
much cheerier voices. Good to see you. 7 to 2,
Newstalk 7B.

Speaker 5 (01:22:24):
Analyzing the plays and getting the insight.

Speaker 1 (01:22:26):
Weekend Sport with Jason Fine.

Speaker 5 (01:22:29):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (01:22:31):
Coming up 2 o'clock after the news at 2, we're
going to zero in on two pretty big games in
the next few hours. 4 o'clock, Go Media Stadium. Warriors
v Knights. Massive game in the NRL. And then to Whangarei,
where Northland put the Ranfuli Shield on the line against Tasman.

Speaker 1 (01:22:48):
The only place to discuss the biggest sports issues on
and off the field. It's all on Weekend Sport with
Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition
on Newstalk ZB, your home of sport.

Speaker 4 (01:23:04):
Hi there, welcome back into the show or welcome to
the show as the case may be. This is Weekend
Sport on Newstalk ZB 7 past 2. I'm Jason Pine
with Andy McDonnell alongside. There are going to be some
big crowds incoming today. A couple of venues in the
north in the next couple of hours. Go Media Stadium.
Warriors v Knights. Full house signs are up there, as

(01:23:28):
they have been for most of the season. Bevan Jewett,
Sky Sport commentator, going to join us shortly. And then
up the road in Whangarei for the first time in
nearly half a century. The Northland Tanifa are going to...
Defend the Ranfuli Shield, the shield they won off Canterbury
10 days ago. Tasman are in town to try and

(01:23:50):
take it off them and make it a one-week tenure.
The Taniwha determined not to let that happen. And as
I say, a big crowd incoming to the old Okara Park.
It's called Seminoff Stadium now, of course. We're going to
chat to Northland Vice-Captain Alan Craig in the next little while.

Speaker 3 (01:24:08):
And touring.

Speaker 4 (01:24:10):
Just the dynamics of touring with the All Blacks on
tour at the moment and, in fact, over the next
week or so, at a slightly less elevated level, a
lot of secondary school teams heading away to winter tournaments
and winter sort of tournament week. What are the best
ways to make sure that a tour is successful? Wayne Goldsmith,

(01:24:34):
our coaching and performance expert, going to join us on that.
You can call the show anytime. 0800 80 1080 is
our number. 9292 for your text messages. Email us to
jason at newstalksatb.co.nz. Coming up nine past two, as we
always do, though, to kick off the two o'clock hour
on weekend sport, we like to make sure that you're
fully across everything that's happened in the last little while.

(01:24:57):
In case you missed it starting in the NPC, Taranaki
bouncing back from a couple of losses in style. Nartai, Beauchere, loft,
runs a hole, nearly got through. Got the pass on
to Beauchere, now loft. There it is for Ratu.

Speaker 16 (01:25:14):
Ratu gets through and Taranaki get another one.

Speaker 4 (01:25:18):
Beating Canterbury 40 points to 26. Otago, meantime, held on
to win a thriller under their roof. He had a
good dig at it, Pellegrini.

Speaker 2 (01:25:27):
Goes long, hits the line.

Speaker 8 (01:25:32):
Hard.

Speaker 4 (01:25:32):
The ball back up. And over.

Speaker 8 (01:25:37):
43-38.

Speaker 4 (01:25:37):
Winners over Waikato and Manawatu. Picking up a famous result
in Palmy.

Speaker 24 (01:25:42):
There it is.

Speaker 4 (01:25:42):
Penalty of owners.

Speaker 15 (01:25:44):
They're going to win the game.

Speaker 16 (01:25:46):
Here's to Huda.

Speaker 9 (01:25:47):
That'll do. What a game.

Speaker 4 (01:25:51):
What a win and what a night for Manawatu. 43
points to 40. The winning margin over North Harbour. To
the NRL. An emotional win for the Bunnies.

Speaker 24 (01:26:01):
Walker.

Speaker 20 (01:26:01):
Good.

Speaker 24 (01:26:02):
Kick through to Duncan.

Speaker 3 (01:26:03):
Duncan picks it up.

Speaker 4 (01:26:04):
Thomas Duncan.

Speaker 16 (01:26:05):
Thomas Duncan finishes it.

Speaker 24 (01:26:09):
Off for South Sydney.

Speaker 32 (01:26:11):
They're heading back to the finals. They get the job
done for Jai Arrow.

Speaker 4 (01:26:13):
Yeah, on the occasion of Jai Arrow's 99th Rabbitohs match.
They secured their spot in the eight with a 42-22
win over the Titans. Meantime, the Dolphins fired a pre-finals
warning shot. Four tackles up for the Dolphins.

Speaker 16 (01:26:27):
Here's Marshall King. Oh, Marshall King is not so much
as a dummy, just a look. Bit of side-eye, and
he goes over to score. It is five tries in
a row to the Dolphins.

Speaker 4 (01:26:44):
The 26-12 win over the Roosters, leapfrogging them into third
place on the ladder, and the last team in the
eights being decided.

Speaker 3 (01:26:50):
They've got through their work.

Speaker 6 (01:26:52):
Short pass, Chester gets his try.

Speaker 18 (01:26:54):
Chester gets number two, and they finish in style.

Speaker 6 (01:27:01):
The Cowboys are going to the finals. The top eight
is done.

Speaker 4 (01:27:06):
Yeah, beating the Tigers 24-10, so just the order of
the top eight still to be decided. Back to rugby,
and the Wallabies manage to overcome Argentina.

Speaker 15 (01:27:14):
The Wallabies get closer and closer.

Speaker 16 (01:27:16):
McDermott, Hooper, Dummies, Hooper scores for Australia.

Speaker 1 (01:27:22):
Brilliant lead-up work from the men in gold, and they
extend the lead to six.

Speaker 4 (01:27:29):
27-21 as Les Kiss remains undefeated as Wallabies coach. The
La Vuelta field has opened right up, but in the
worst possible way.

Speaker 20 (01:27:39):
Moving forward is Ineos Grenadiers or Net Company Ineos on
the right-hand side.

Speaker 4 (01:27:43):
Big crash.

Speaker 16 (01:27:44):
Big, big crash.

Speaker 29 (01:27:45):
Several riders down.

Speaker 4 (01:27:46):
The red jersey's down.

Speaker 20 (01:27:47):
The leader of La Vuelta, Tadej Pogacar, the world champion,
has come down.

Speaker 4 (01:27:52):
Yeah, Tadej Pogacar abandoning the race after the crash. Onric
Matz now holds just a one-minute lead. End of the
Premier League, amazingly. Two wins from two. for Hull City
loose ball and Bellumi.

Speaker 20 (01:28:06):
With the outside of his boot has tried to feed
through to Liam Miller who gets a second bite at
this Miller puts Hull City in front on the break
he missed a.

Speaker 4 (01:28:16):
Really good chance a few.

Speaker 20 (01:28:17):
Moments ago and he wasn't going to miss it for
a second time and the Tigers.

Speaker 1 (01:28:24):
Are roaring again Coming up 13 minutes past two, the Warriors' depth,
and in particular the depth of their halves, will be.

Speaker 4 (01:28:38):
Coming up 13 minutes past two, the Warriors' depth, and
in particular the depth of their halves, will be put
to the ultimate test this afternoon. Chanel Harris-Tavita and Tamari
Martin will miss the NRL clash against the Knights at
Go Media with injury, meaning Jet, Cleary and Luke Hansen
will form a new look, halves pairing. It'll be Cleary's debut,

(01:29:01):
while Hansen has played just two first grade games.

Speaker 8 (01:29:05):
But.

Speaker 4 (01:29:05):
With the Roosters going down to the Dolphins last night,
the Warriors know that a win would all but secure
them a top two spot. It would put them level
on points with the Panthers at the top, heading into
the final round of the regular season. So it's a massive,
massive game incoming. Four o'clock kickoff at Go Media Stadium.
Bevan Dewar has the call on Sky Sport. and joins

(01:29:29):
us now. Bev, thanks for your time. How big a
storyline is this? A brand new halves pairing with Jack
Clary on debut and Luke Hanson with just a couple
of first grade games under his belt.

Speaker 2 (01:29:41):
Yeah, it's huge, mate.

Speaker 32 (01:29:42):
And I mean, it's been the ongoing story of the year.
Every half has been injured in the Warriors and now
they're down to the last two or at least the
two that have been playing majority of the New South
Wales Cup. And look, to be fair, mate, in the
New South Wales Cup, in form, absolutely in form, both
of them And, yeah, Jack Cleary, what a story with, what,
one more regular season game to go. He's pulled into

(01:30:06):
the big time. And, look, to be fair, mate, he's
got a massive four-pack in front of him. He should
have a lot of confidence going into this just because
of that.

Speaker 4 (01:30:15):
What will Andrew Webster be asking of Jack Cleary today?
Is it simply about keeping things simple, or will he
be looking– to Webby, that is, for Jack Cleary to
steer the side around?

Speaker 32 (01:30:27):
Yeah, look, if you have a look at the New
South Wales Cup over the last season, and particularly with
the stats, you'll notice that Hanson does a lot more
of the playmaking than Jack. I wouldn't be surprised if
they just tell Jack to just kind of, as you say,
the first thing you said, keep it simple, just play
your cards right. I wouldn't be surprised if Hanson takes

(01:30:50):
more of a senior role in that attacking space. So far,
so good from Hanson as well, right? I mean, he's had,
as you say, two first-grade games, and he hasn't had
a bad game yet, you know, so he's got a
load of confidence going into this. I would not be surprised.
I'm not saying it's going to happen, but I would
not be surprised if Hanson takes more of a senior
role when it comes to attacking play.

Speaker 4 (01:31:10):
If you're Newcastle, Bev, do you look to immediately put
pressure on Jack Cleary?

Speaker 32 (01:31:17):
Yes, I think on both their halves. I was saying that, Piney,
it's our forward pack. Our forward pack's the best in
the competition. As long as they do their job and
give front football to Jet and Luke, they've got a
heap ton of confidence going in. You know what I mean? So, yes,
Newcastle will be targeting them, but if the Warriors forwards
do their job right, then... Jet and Luke should have

(01:31:42):
a lot of freedom.

Speaker 4 (01:31:43):
Yeah, well, let's unpack that a little bit. While there
have been all sorts of changes needed in the back
line across the season, the Warriors forward pack in recent times,
ultra consistent. In fact, I think this is the seventh
straight game with the same starting pack. So what are
we looking for today from the blokes in the forward pack?

Speaker 32 (01:32:00):
Well, as we've seen all year, mate, first kickoff, first
hit up, The likes of James Fisher-Harris and Barnett leading
the charge. Then you've got the likes of Aaron Clarke
and Laban that do the extra little bits in between.
I mean, as I say, best four-pack in the competition.
They get front football in front of 25,000 people on
a Sunday afternoon in, I think, fairly OK conditions. It's

(01:32:22):
hard to stop that rolling four-pack. And once they get going, Newcastle,
all respect to them, not as powerful as this Warriors four-pack. So,
as I say, Warriors get their job done up front.
the likes of Luke and Jet have a bit of
freedom and, you know, a bit of experiment to have
a go and.

Speaker 24 (01:32:42):
Have an attack.

Speaker 4 (01:32:43):
You mentioned it before, but how helpful will it be
that actually these two have had a lot of playing
time together? For example, if Jet Cleary came in and
had to play with a Chanel Harris-Tavita, for example, who
he hasn't played with a lot, how much will the
fact that these two have played a lot of New
South Wales Cup together... How big a factor will that
be this afternoon?

Speaker 13 (01:33:01):
Yeah, I think it's important too.

Speaker 32 (01:33:03):
I mean, the combination's important. But, you know, as you say,
the experience between the two, they've had a lot of
New South Wales Cup experience and they've played really well together.
And so they can trust one another. Now they're stepping
up with the big boys. But as I mentioned, you know,
the fact is the big boys are on their.

Speaker 2 (01:33:18):
Side with the four-pack.

Speaker 12 (01:33:19):
So, look.

Speaker 32 (01:33:22):
As you said before, mate, like, you know, Jet Cleary,
he's coming into the big time. No doubt Andrew would
have told him, we'll tell him, you know. Just do
the basics right. You've got a massive four-pack in front
of you. Just, you know, do your job. And as
you say, like, New South Wales Cup form between them.
It's time to step up and we'll soon find out.

Speaker 4 (01:33:42):
And there's a change on the wing as well. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak,
of course, with the injury he suffered a week ago.
We keep our fingers crossed as to his further involvement
in the final series. But, you know, such a prolific try-scorer.
How big a loss is he?

Speaker 32 (01:33:56):
Yes, huge, mate. And especially from things like from the back.
I mean, when he brings the ball back from the
kick returns, that sort of thing.

Speaker 15 (01:34:03):
Huge impact.

Speaker 32 (01:34:04):
Luke Lale'i, who's coming into the starting side, former Tigers player,
going to the Perth Bears next year. He's not a
bad winger either, and he's got a few games to
prove himself before he heads over to Perth. So, look,
we lose Dallin, but we get Luke Lalili, and it's
an opportunity for him to step up to the game today.

Speaker 4 (01:34:24):
Newcastle, they come into this game after a pretty ugly
44-24 home loss to Manly last weekend. What do you
expect from the Knights today, particularly given that they know
a win could help secure them a home final in
a couple of weeks?

Speaker 32 (01:34:39):
Yeah, look, they're definitely the underdogs going into this game.
I don't think we can, we don't have to beat
around the bush about that. Missing a few key players
as well, lots of Phoenix Cross, and obviously Dylan Brown's
out for the season as well. But they do have
a very strong back three, the likes of Greg Marjoo,
he's a player to watch out for, of course, Caelan Ponga,

(01:35:00):
but also their links as well with the likes of
Best and Dangai as well. So if they go wide,
they can be dangerous. But again, I know I keep
repeating myself, but our four-pack is very dominant. If the
Warriors can... Get on top of that, it's hard to
beat them.

Speaker 4 (01:35:19):
Yeah, no, no, you land on the salient point. And
you've certainly got me watching the forwards this afternoon, Bev,
so I'll take that on board. A win today and
the Warriors effectively seal a top two spot. How deep
a motivation is that?

Speaker 32 (01:35:34):
Oh, it's huge. And with one round to go, it's
important you get it done, right?

Speaker 9 (01:35:38):
I mean.

Speaker 32 (01:35:40):
I don't think anyone was expecting something like this at
the start of the season where they're finishing in the
top two. Get the win. It's yours. And maybe look
ahead to maybe a minor premiership. I mean, I think
they've got to win by 14 points today to go
back to first spot. The minor premiership is a nice
to have, but it's not an absolute. As I mentioned, mate, like,
you know, if you told a Warriors fan at the

(01:36:01):
start of the year, would you finish in the top two?
You're happy? They would take it. Bugger the minor premiership, mate.
Just the top two's fine.

Speaker 4 (01:36:08):
We'll take it.

Speaker 15 (01:36:09):
All right.

Speaker 4 (01:36:09):
When the game kicks off in a couple of hours
and you're behind the microphone, will they be basking in
some late afternoon Auckland sunshine? What's the story for those
of us not the 09?

Speaker 32 (01:36:18):
Well, we had a look at the forecast. It looks
like it will hold up, which is good. Of course,
in front of 25,000 screening fans. Mate, it's hard to
go past the Warriors today, especially with that scenario. And
it's good to have some Sunday afternoon footy for once, Piney.
It's good to be back on the afternoon instead of
night time.

Speaker 24 (01:36:37):
I quite rate it.

Speaker 4 (01:36:38):
Absolutely. Well, I do too. Looking forward to settling down
and tuning in. Have a great call, Bev. Thanks for
your time this afternoon.

Speaker 32 (01:36:44):
Thank you, Piney. Have a good Sunday.

Speaker 4 (01:36:45):
You have a good Sunday too, Bev. Bevan Dewar, who
will be calling the game this afternoon on Sky. Four o'clock,
Go Media Stadium. Our top eight are locked in. Just
their finishing positions are to be confirmed. So as far
as the equation is concerned, here are the numbers you
need to know as far as the Warriors are concerned.
In order to go back to the top of the table,

(01:37:06):
ahead of the Panthers, with one game to go, the
Warriors need to beat the Knights this afternoon by 14
points or more. 14, 1-4. That would send them back
to the top of the table with a game to
go on points differential. A win by any margin. would
effectively though seal the Warriors a top two spot. The

(01:37:29):
two sides in third and fourth have far inferior points
differentials to the Warriors. So inferior in fact that they
couldn't pass the Warriors even if they won next week
and the Warriors lost. So win today and it is
a top two spot and a home finals match in

(01:37:50):
week one of the finals. a fortnight from now. It's
pretty exciting. David, hi.

Speaker 2 (01:37:56):
Jason, how are you?

Speaker 4 (01:37:57):
Very good, David.

Speaker 7 (01:37:59):
Good.

Speaker 10 (01:38:00):
A couple of things.

Speaker 33 (01:38:02):
Great interview with.

Speaker 2 (01:38:03):
Bevan, by the way.

Speaker 4 (01:38:05):
He's a good man.

Speaker 3 (01:38:05):
He's a good man.

Speaker 17 (01:38:07):
Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 33 (01:38:08):
You were almost right just with what you said. I.
If the Warriors were to lose today, and given the
team that they're putting on, it's distinctly possible with Newcastle
having slightly more to play for, if that makes sense,
with the home semi for themselves. But even if they
were to lose today, you're right with the points differential,
as long as they took care of Manly. But that's

(01:38:30):
actually not what I wanted to talk to you about, Jason, because.

Speaker 10 (01:38:34):
I feel our.

Speaker 33 (01:38:34):
New Zealand media have been pretty slack on Cameron George lately.
Had you seen his piece where he said, we will
fight to have the semifinals at Mount Smart?

Speaker 17 (01:38:45):
Did you see that at all?

Speaker 4 (01:38:47):
Yes, I did.

Speaker 13 (01:38:48):
Right.

Speaker 33 (01:38:49):
Now, I think that man is entirely selfish, and that's
putting it the most charitable way that you could put it.
Some years ago, I, like a lot of others, disagreed
with the idea of the Warriors being called the New
Zealand Warriors, as they were not a New Zealand team.
But the New Zealand League and Auckland Rugby League and
everybody wanted them that. So I class them as New

(01:39:10):
Zealand now. And Cameron George, to have them at Mount Smart,
can have a maximum of 24,000 people if you have
a semifinal at Mount Smart. At Eden Park, which is
a dog of a ground, but you would get 50,000 people.
Just imagine how many people from the rest of New
Zealand and the Dolphins, because it's likely to be the

(01:39:31):
Dolphins to be their opposition week one of the finals,
would be wanting to come across. And Cameron George says
he wants to have the semi-final at his house and,
so to speak, their ground. I think it's entirely, awfully selfish.
that he isn't thinking about the rest of the country
that's supported, like Wellington, where you were earlier this year

(01:39:52):
for the game in Wellington, 30,000 people, Christchurch, 30,000 people.

Speaker 2 (01:39:57):
What about the rest of the.

Speaker 33 (01:39:58):
Country that would like to come up? And not to
mention these overseas people from Australia that'll come and support
their team.

Speaker 4 (01:40:05):
So do you also believe that Andrew Webster is selfish
and the players are too?

Speaker 33 (01:40:11):
I don't believe that because at the end of the day.

Speaker 4 (01:40:15):
Because they share his view, they share his view is all.

Speaker 33 (01:40:19):
Well, I'm not 100% certain with that.

Speaker 4 (01:40:26):
They've all been asked, when this issue came up, they
were all asked in the media, the ones who were up,
whether they would prefer Mount Smart or Eden Park, and
they all said Mount Smart.

Speaker 2 (01:40:36):
Well, okay, in.

Speaker 33 (01:40:38):
France's case, and maybe harsh isn't as selfish as it
will be, but to me, the country supports the war is,
as they always have done, and yet they just want
to have it in front of 23,000 people? What about
the other 27,000 around the country that would go to
Eden Park? Forget about the restaurants, the bars, the accommodation,
the eateries for all the people in Auckland and what

(01:40:59):
it would do for the Auckland economy. Yeah, I think
it is pretty short-sighted of them, and I'm just hoping
that Peter Volandis, like a group of people, 60-odd of us,
that have emailed him saying that our opinions of.

Speaker 17 (01:41:11):
This would be that.

Speaker 33 (01:41:13):
I just don't see what Mr George thinks for 25
minutes down the road for not wanting to look at
Eden Park in the bigger picture.

Speaker 4 (01:41:21):
Yeah, I guess his main motivation, in fact his only motivation,
is where are they more likely to win? That is
his one and only question he has to answer. And
he clearly believes, as do the players and the coaching staff,
that Go Media gives them a better chance of winning.
I mean, they're not getting any money from it, as

(01:41:41):
you know. David, all the money goes to the NRL.
All the Warriors care about is where are they most
likely to win. And in their mind, it's Go Media.
You make a fair point. They get twice as many along,
and they would probably win at Eden Park as well
with a massive crowd behind them. But That's the question

(01:42:02):
they ask themselves. Where are we more likely to win?
And they've surmised that that's Go Media Stadium.

Speaker 33 (01:42:09):
Well, at the end of the day, the NRL is
going to decide it because they took the semi-final off
the Sharks.

Speaker 24 (01:42:14):
They took the semi-final off the Sharks a.

Speaker 32 (01:42:17):
Couple of years ago.

Speaker 33 (01:42:18):
Jason, I just want to add one other thing with that.
And I know it puts you in a bit of
an oblivious position because you technically contract a Sky.

Speaker 17 (01:42:27):
But I have to say.

Speaker 33 (01:42:31):
Your man Bevan that you spoke to a few minutes
ago is far and away the best commentator since Graham
Hughes on the New Zealand side of the Tasman, if
that makes sense. But I get so teased with Sky
that won't let us listen to the Fox previews and
build-up and all that sort of thing. And, yeah, it's
an interesting conundrum there because in some ways, as somebody

(01:42:52):
that likes to listen to commentary, it would be much
better with these semifinals in Australia because at least then
you get the Fox.

Speaker 32 (01:42:58):
I don't sound selfish that way, do you?

Speaker 4 (01:43:00):
No, David, no, don't apologise for your opinions, mate. And look,
I know not everybody likes the same things. Look, hopefully
I've given you a fair hearing. And look, I mean,
it may well be that you're right. Peter Volandis might decide.
He might put his foot down and say, you know what,
we're having it at Eden Park. Like it or lump it,
we get the final call. You might get that opportunity.

(01:43:23):
I guess we just have to wait, first of all,
for them to make it. and then work out availability.
I haven't even checked when Auckland are playing. I'll do
it now in real time for you, David. I'll find
out when Auckland are playing next at Eden Park and
if it will clash. It'll be in round seven. Currently,

(01:43:43):
they have a game scheduled, Auckland, that is, at Eden
Park on Saturday, September 12th, which is highly likely to
be the day that the Warriors would play a finals match.
It's the first weekend of the finals, it's 11, 12,
13 September. So they couldn't play there on the Saturday

(01:44:06):
because Auckland are playing Counties Manukau there in the NPC.
I know these grounds can be turned around pretty quickly,
so you'd be able to play it on the Friday night,
for example. But yeah, so the Saturday is out as
far as Eden Park is concerned. So that might play
its part. David, good to hear from you, mate. Thanks

(01:44:27):
for calling in. It's 2.28, back in a sec on
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 1 (01:44:31):
Big calls, big moments, weekend sport with Jason Fine and
the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition from $ 139, 990.

Speaker 5 (01:44:41):
Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (01:44:43):
2.31, for the first time in close to half a century,
Northland are going to host a Ranfurly Shield defence this afternoon.
For the first time since 1978, the Ranfurly Shield, the
famous Lager Wood, is heading to the far north. It
is Northland's trophy. It is Northland's night.

Speaker 25 (01:45:07):
Northland's moment to enjoy, to soak up, to relish.

Speaker 4 (01:45:11):
They take the Ranfurly Shield. A famous, famous win. 36-12
Northland over Canterbury. After taking the famous log from Canterbury
last weekend, the Taniwha welcomed Tasman to Seminoff Stadium. That's
the old Okara Park. This afternoon, 5 past 5 kick-off.
Northland lock and vice-captain Alan Craig is with us. Alan,

(01:45:32):
before we talk about the game a bit later on
this afternoon, how's the week been with the Shield in
your region?

Speaker 15 (01:45:39):
Well, to be fair, it's been quite a big week.

Speaker 8 (01:45:42):
We've obviously tried to get the Shield around to as
many places within Northland as possible. because you don't know
how long you got it for. So it's been a
bit of a mission. But it's been really good to
kind of see the impact, I guess, it's had on
all of the community. But we have gotten a full

(01:46:03):
week of training and, yeah, it's been a big week,
but boys are ready.

Speaker 4 (01:46:08):
As a team, how did you balance celebrating what is
a momentous achievement with then immediately preparing to defend it?

Speaker 15 (01:46:16):
We were quite lucky. So we played.

Speaker 8 (01:46:20):
on Thursday night and won it on Thursday and then
now we don't play till today, it's a Sunday.

Speaker 15 (01:46:27):
So we had quite a long.

Speaker 8 (01:46:28):
Turnaround which definitely helped with all of that so you
could do your celebrating and then take a round to
the region and then still get a full week's training in.
That definitely helps in terms of that, but that was
just fortunate and good timing, really.

Speaker 4 (01:46:44):
Yeah, absolutely. Couldn't have been better. Did you feel confident
heading to Christchurch to challenge for it Thursday a week ago?

Speaker 9 (01:46:51):
Yeah, definitely felt confident.

Speaker 15 (01:46:55):
We knew it was going to be a battle.

Speaker 8 (01:46:57):
We probably didn't quite realise the score was going to
get to where it was, but that's just a credit
to how our team's been going, like, We kind of
knew this was going to be the best shot we've
had for the last few years. So, yeah, we're quietly confident, but, yeah,
we didn't expect that kind of result.

Speaker 4 (01:47:15):
Yeah, well, I think, you know, anyone who'd watched you
play this season, it wouldn't have come as a massive surprise.
It's your third victory in four games. Your only loss
was a narrow one to Bay of Plenty away. It's
been a great first month for the Taniwha. What have
been the keys to your excellent start to the NPC season?

Speaker 8 (01:47:33):
I think it's been a couple of years, really, built
up towards.

Speaker 22 (01:47:40):
This.

Speaker 8 (01:47:40):
Just kind of laying the foundation for the last couple
of years and then building a squad around that as well.
And I think it's just kind of reached a point
where everyone's experienced enough and we've been doing the same
stuff for a while that everything's just kind of clicking, really.

Speaker 9 (01:47:56):
It's just a matter of time, really.

Speaker 4 (01:47:59):
And you narrowly missed the top eight last season. I
think you were ninth by a couple of points. So
was that used as motivation for this season or was
it more a matter of, OK, we're nearly there, this
is our season to really take that next step?

Speaker 15 (01:48:11):
No, probably not used as motivation.

Speaker 8 (01:48:14):
But yeah, as you said, it's kind of the whole squad,
everyone's a year older now and a year more experienced.
So it's just kind of expectations, I guess, as we
see ourselves in that eight and we've probably seen ourselves
there last year too but obviously we didn't quite get
there so it's probably just the expectations within our group

(01:48:35):
is that we're there in the playoff time of the season.

Speaker 4 (01:48:38):
Tasman having a good season as well they've scored nearly
100 points in their last couple of games how big
a threat will they be to you this afternoon?

Speaker 15 (01:48:46):
Oh, huge, huge.

Speaker 8 (01:48:49):
Like any team challenging for the Shield, it's pretty much
final footy.

Speaker 9 (01:48:54):
And so we're.

Speaker 8 (01:48:55):
Going to have to be at our best to retain it.
And no doubt that they'll be coming up with full
intentions to take it off us. But yeah, it's going
to be a hell of a game. I'm looking forward
to it. But yeah, it just brings the best out
of both teams, really. And running in front of a
full team Semenov Stadium is going to be pretty exciting.

(01:49:16):
Never done that for a Northland team, so going to
be looking forward to that.

Speaker 4 (01:49:20):
Yeah, sounds like there'll be a massive crowd there this afternoon.
I've sort of been looking at some of the social
media stuff about ticket sales during the week. It sounds
like it's going to be packed out. I mean, that
must give you a boost, eh? When you know you're
going to run out this afternoon, it's going to be
a packed house, everybody in blue just cheering you on.

Speaker 3 (01:49:37):
Oh, hugely.

Speaker 9 (01:49:38):
Hugely.

Speaker 15 (01:49:39):
I don't think any boys in our team.

Speaker 8 (01:49:42):
have run out to what a crowd will be this afternoon.
So I think that in itself is going to be
special too, just to see bums in seats and the
whole bank full. It's going to be pretty cool and
we'll definitely feed off the crowd's energy, no doubt. But yeah,
the group's really looking forward to it.

Speaker 4 (01:50:04):
I guess there's a school of thought that would say, okay,
you should just treat every game the same. You know,
even though this is a Ranfurly Shield defence, you should
prepare for it like just another game. Have you done
that or actually have you embraced the special nature of
this occasion?

Speaker 8 (01:50:19):
Oh, we've probably more embraced the occasion. Like, we realise
it's going to be different. Like, we haven't had this
many people at a home game probably since the last
time Northland, or North Auckland then defended the Shield.

Speaker 15 (01:50:33):
So, um, Yeah, we've treated it different, but also the same. Like,
it's a bit of a combo there. Like, our training
week's been.

Speaker 8 (01:50:42):
The same, but obviously the commitments outside of the footy
have been quite a lot different.

Speaker 15 (01:50:49):
But we're using it as a reason, not an excuse. So, yeah.

Speaker 4 (01:50:54):
How driven are you all to make sure it's not
just a one defence tenure?

Speaker 15 (01:51:00):
Oh, very, very, yeah, very....

Speaker 8 (01:51:04):
I think, as you said, just kind of the form
this year has been really good and we're not looking
to take a backward step. Just because Tasman are coming
up to get the shield, we want.

Speaker 9 (01:51:16):
To carry on. Whether or not it was for the Ramfordy.

Speaker 8 (01:51:19):
Shield or not, we want to win games at home
even more so. So, yeah, we're looking to be doing.

Speaker 15 (01:51:25):
That as well.

Speaker 4 (01:51:26):
Yeah, well, can't wait for the spectacle this afternoon, Alan,
as you and your teammates run out with the famous
loggerwood on the sideline in front of a packed house
at Seminoff Stadium. All the best, mate, and I really
appreciate you taking the time for a chat.

Speaker 2 (01:51:37):
Yeah, thank you.

Speaker 4 (01:51:38):
No, thank you, Alan. Alan Craig, Vice-Captain of Northland. Five
past five this afternoon. Going to be a massive crowd
there at Seminoff Stadium as the Taniwha put the shield
on the line. Tasman, the Mako, are in town to
try and take it off them. Five past five. So
just after seven o'clock tonight, we'll know whether the shield
is staying in the far north or headed to the
top of the south. 21 to three, back in a sec,

(01:52:01):
talking about touring and the best way to be a
good tourist and a good touring side.

Speaker 1 (01:52:07):
Sport doesn't stop at the full-time whistle. Weekend Sport with
Jason Pine and the Audi Q7 Dynamic Black Runout Edition
includes $ 30, 000 of premium upgrades. Call 0800 80 1080. Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (01:52:21):
Coming 018 away from three, touring is one of the
great traditions of team sport. You leave home, you travel
the world, you stay in hotels, you play in unfamiliar
environments and spend weeks living alongside the same group of teammates.
But while It can look glamorous from the outside. Touring
can also be physically and mentally exhausting. Disrupted sleep, travel fatigue,

(01:52:43):
being away from family, having very little personal space, and
the pressure of staying together when things are not going well.
Particularly relevant right now, of course, with the All Blacks
in the middle of a four-test tour of South Africa
and the United States. So, what does it actually take
to be a good tourist? and how do coaches keep
a team physically fresh, mentally healthy, and united when they're

(01:53:06):
effectively living in a box together for weeks on end?
Our coaching and performance expert, Wayne Goldsmith, is with us
to talk about the art and the challenge of touring. Wayne,
always good to have you on the show. Sounds wonderful
from the outside, playing sport in different countries, nice hotels,
different cultures, but what does a long sporting tour actually

(01:53:26):
demand of those who are involved in it?

Speaker 23 (01:53:30):
Well, it's funny, isn't it? It does look glamorous.

Speaker 34 (01:53:33):
And if you're a rugby fan in New Zealand, and
particularly the way the ABs have started the tour, and
I mean, not just the test, but the way they
came back the other night against the Lions and all the.

Speaker 23 (01:53:44):
Things they got, you'd go, man, you'd give anything. to
be on that tour. But even something, and I know.

Speaker 34 (01:53:51):
When I went there with the Wallabies a long time ago,
that you go, well, we're in South Africa, this is
going to be awesome. But the reality was it was
a lot of gear. from the previous tour that had
been knocked off and had been stolen at the airport.
So we had to pay for extra security people to

(01:54:12):
be at the bottom of the plane as it was
being unloaded and have all the bags numbered and labelled
and then have that cross-verified by members of the team.
So you think, well, this is going to be great
and everything's handed to you, but even the simplest thing
of landing.

Speaker 23 (01:54:27):
and trying to get some.

Speaker 34 (01:54:28):
Bags can cause issues and challenges.

Speaker 23 (01:54:32):
Look, it is wonderful. I've been lucky to do it
all over the world with teams.

Speaker 34 (01:54:37):
But yeah, there's a lot more to it than just
going on a holiday with your mates.

Speaker 4 (01:54:41):
I want to unpack a couple of specific aspects of this.

Speaker 18 (01:54:45):
And one.

Speaker 4 (01:54:46):
that I find quite intriguing is being away from family
and away from normal life. How significant is the psychological separation,
particularly perhaps, Wayne, for those younger athletes who haven't done
a lot of touring?

Speaker 23 (01:55:02):
I find that's a good question.

Speaker 34 (01:55:03):
And the bottom line is with the experience that, for example,
the ABs have got, now, and I've always got some very,
very smart people in and around the team, you're going
to be aware of that.

Speaker 23 (01:55:16):
And some of the strategies that.

Speaker 34 (01:55:18):
You can put in place, you say, well, look, no
matter who they are, if they're.

Speaker 23 (01:55:25):
18, 19, 20, 21, 22, or if they come from.

Speaker 34 (01:55:26):
A rural area quite often where they're used to having
friends and family around that they went to school with,
the transition into being really in a battlefield in another
country can be substantial. You need to know the players
before you leave and things like simple buddy systems, a
senior player with a junior player or two junior players

(01:55:48):
together or relative rookies together who get each other and
have got similar likes and have got similar interests. They
might like to play golf on their down days or
surf or do something together. So you try to create
a little bit of family structure and within the team
and look it's not mum and dad and it's not
partner and brothers and sisters and schoolmates but in another

(01:56:12):
way it is and you know what I've found from
tours I often think it's a make or a break
is that if you get it right and you get
your rooming right and you get your travel companions right
you're sitting next to the the people that you've got
things in common with and who you like spending time with,
it can be the making of a group. If you
don't get that right, so they're away, they're lonely, they're frustrated.

(01:56:37):
And if they're losing or if they're not being selected,
then the cracks start to appear. And that's when that
overall team family environment becomes incredibly important.

Speaker 4 (01:56:50):
In a normal situation, when you're playing a normal season, Wayne,
you play your game, you train, you go home. You
play your game, you go home. Even when you're playing
away from home, you might only be away overnight. In
a tour of this length, you're basically living in one
another's pockets for weeks on end. Does that lack of
personal space, is there the danger that it creates personality clashes, irritations,

(01:57:13):
if you like, that wouldn't happen under normal circumstances?

Speaker 23 (01:57:19):
I think so, and you'll see that.

Speaker 34 (01:57:20):
Sometimes I've been away, and I've been surprised, Piney, when
you've been away and you've gone, I didn't see that
one coming. And it was because I can think of
a tour when I was in Europe with the triathlon team.

Speaker 23 (01:57:32):
And again, it was a long tour. It was about
nine weeks.

Speaker 34 (01:57:35):
And the first two or three weeks, it was just
train and, you know, traveling and then competing in places
like Lyon and training in southern France.

Speaker 23 (01:57:45):
And it was just idyllic. Then we get to four
or five.

Speaker 34 (01:57:49):
Weeks in and there's some injuries and there's fatigue and
there's a bit of stress and then there's some bad
news coming from home and all those things.

Speaker 23 (01:57:56):
And you started to see the cracks form.

Speaker 5 (01:57:58):
And I think it's.

Speaker 34 (01:57:59):
Important that, and I know that what we were doing,
what every tour I've done is the first thing in
the morning, last thing at night, you have a meeting
with the coaches and senior players and talk about where
things are at. And if you're seeing any sort of
a cracks or any problem whatsoever, you to get onto
them quickly and not assume that they will resolve themselves immediately.

(01:58:21):
over time because, you know, these things have got a
way of spreading, Piney. It's interesting that when you're in
your own little microcosm and there might be a player
who's not playing well or injured or is out of form,
whatever it might be, and they've got someone who listens
to them. So now you've got two people talking about
things that are not working or frustrating or annoying or

(01:58:42):
whatever it might be. That can all of a sudden
become nine and you've got a fracture in the team
and things start to go haywire from there. So really
important that the coaching group, the staff, and the management
team have got a real finger on the pulse.

Speaker 23 (01:58:58):
You know the people who quite often have got.

Speaker 34 (01:59:01):
The best finger on the pulse, quite literally, Pony, are
the massage and physio team because they're they're caught off
in indirect physical proximity with players. And there's a great
line I like, which is you tend to share your
deeper secrets with anyone who touches you. So your barber,
your hairdresser, your massage therapist. And I quite often find

(01:59:24):
that in teams, without breaking the trust of the players,
this is important, is that quite often I've had a
relationship as coach or manager where the massage therapist will
come to me and say, listen, Wayne, I can't break
the trust of the player, but I think you need
to spend some time with John because it would be
important for him to have you spend time with him

(01:59:46):
right now.

Speaker 23 (01:59:47):
We leave it at that.

Speaker 34 (01:59:47):
All they're doing is flagging that one of the team
needs a little bit of extra love and attention right now.
So you've got to have those mechanisms where your finger
is really on the pulse of how everybody's tracking.

Speaker 4 (01:59:59):
On long tours, how important is time off, not just
for players, Wayne, but for the coaches and the management
team as well?

Speaker 23 (02:00:07):
Oh, they've got to have downtime.

Speaker 34 (02:00:09):
You know, the days of looking at it say, well,
you know, again, where the All Blacks are at the moment,
you go, it's a tough game.

Speaker 23 (02:00:18):
It's a hard game. Therefore, none of this stays off rubbish.

Speaker 26 (02:00:22):
No.

Speaker 34 (02:00:23):
The idea is that right through the series for the
test matches and the provincial games, the consistency of world-class
excellence across their team in every detail, management, playing, recovery, physio, medical, everybody,
to be at a consistent world's best level all the

(02:00:44):
way through. No one can do that for a month
away from home, under pressure, different foods, exposed to all
sorts of viruses, bacterial problems potentially, and be at your
best for that whole period of time.

Speaker 23 (02:00:57):
I've tried it. Doesn't work.

Speaker 34 (02:00:59):
And quite often the coaches break down because the coaches
are working, usually the first one's out of bed, the
last one's to go to bed, and they're giving everything
they can to every game, and then they get through
four weeks and then they burn out. So many times
I've been away leading a tour and I've just gone

(02:01:19):
to the physiotherapist and one of the coaches and said.

Speaker 23 (02:01:21):
Right, guys, get on a train, go to Paris, have
a weekend off, just go.

Speaker 34 (02:01:26):
Because you started to see that they were– you could
see that they were tired all the time. Their energy
level had dropped. You could just see that they needed
a break. That's all part of it. The players have
got a great recovery program. They'll have all that stuff
in nutrition, hydration and massage and all those things under control.

(02:01:48):
But we often underestimate the stress load and the fatigue
load on everyone around the playing group.

Speaker 23 (02:01:55):
Yet if they break down, everything breaks down.

Speaker 4 (02:01:59):
As always, Wayne, brilliant advice from you. Thanks for giving
us the benefit of your wisdom, as always, across the
airwaves of New Zealand. Look forward to catching up again soon.

Speaker 23 (02:02:08):
Always a pleasure, my friend.

Speaker 4 (02:02:09):
Thanks, Wayne. Wayne Goldsmith, our coaching guru here on Newstalk ZB.
of ZB Podcast has dropped, and you'll like this one.
Hosted by Mike Hosking, the series is bringing you the
famous names and iconic moments of your radio station. In
this latest episode, Mike takes you through how Newstalk ZB
have covered the biggest sporting moments from 1987 through to today,

(02:02:33):
the elation and the heartbreak and everything in between. To listen,
find the 100 Years of ZB Podcast on iHeart Radio
or wherever you get your podcasts. Eight away from three.

Speaker 1 (02:02:44):
When there's a line call, it's your call. Weekend Sport
with Jason Pine. Newstalk ZB.

Speaker 4 (02:02:52):
Coming up four away from three. That'll do us on
Weekend Sport for today and for the weekend as well.
Thank you so much for tuning in. Thanks for all
your calls and correspondence. Always great to hear from you
via phone, via text, via whatever method you decide. Tim
Beveridge is on the radio after three o'clock with the
Weekend Collective. Massive thanks to Andy McDonald for producing the show.
As far as an exit song today, well, no Luke Metcalf,

(02:03:15):
no Tanner Boyd, no Tamari Martin, no Chanel Harris-Tavita. Andrew
Webster said, no problem. I can see clearly now. See
you tomorrow night.

Speaker 9 (02:03:32):
Boo!

Speaker 1 (02:04:09):
For more from Weekend Sport with Jason Pine, listen live
to News Talk ZB Weekends from Midday or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.