Crowd entertainment at sports games is a hard task, but please let’s stick to T-shirt cannons and on-field japes instead of watching strangers smooch, eh? Funny kiss cam footage is a key element of any viral fail video compilation. A “she’s my sister” sign pulled out of a pocket as the camera accidentally pans to … Read more
Online cycling system Zwift has millions of worldwide users, and now it’s scored a sports-tech coup, becoming the ‘software environment’ for a virtual Tour de France next month. Zwift enthusiast Hal Crawford talks to the company’s co-founder about the growth of indoor cycling – and why he believes its popularity will outlast the pandemic. Like … Read more
As South Africa prepares to unleash a confusing new three-team version of cricket on the world, it’s time to settle once and for all: which cricket format is the best? Cricket is a sport steeped in tradition. One of the proudest cricketing traditions calls for purists to express outrage any time a new format of … Read more
The anti-scrum camp is strong, but consigning this misunderstood mass of bodies to history will have unintended consequences for the All Blacks once international rugby resumes, reckons Scotty Stevenson. When New Zealand Rugby’s officials decided to mark the breakdown with renewed vigour in the opening rounds of Super Rugby Aotearoa, the intention was clear: get … Read more
The arrival of Dan Carter is far from the first time the ever-struggling Auckland team has hoped to turn around its fortunes with a star signing, writes Jamie Wall. New Zealand rugby Twitter is a generally desolate place, especially lately given that there’s been nothing to talk about ever since the season was suspended back … Read more
In 2014, Duncan Greive was invited to interview Dan Carter on the back of the All Black’s spokesmodelling gig for Jockey underwear – a meeting that would eventually lead to Greive co-writing Carter’s autobiography, My Story. To celebrate today’s big Dan Carter news, we republish that original Metro story here. In 2003, when Dan Carter … Read more
In their first game of the new all-local competition, Super Rugby Aotearoa, the long-struggling Blues take on their star new recruit’s former team. Can they keep up the cautiously promising return to form the pre-Covid Super Rugby season hinted at? After a 12-week lockdown-enforced break, normal media service resumed for the Blues rugby team last … Read more
The brains trust at World Rugby have conjured up some optional law trials to obviate the risks of coronavirus. Scotty Stevenson is intrigued. The World Rugby Executive Committee yesterday announced that it had “approved 10 optional law trials which are designed to provide national member unions with Covid-19 transmission risk reduction options if required”. This … Read more
In a world where players have unfettered access to fans through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, it raises the question of whether traditional media still has a role to play. But as Scotty Stevenson explains, a player-driven model powered by social media can only go so far. Among the many weird and wonderful tales of the … Read more
Listen to all four episodes of the series in which Scotty Stevenson and a panel of rugby insiders discuss the state of the sport in New Zealand, and what needs to be done to ensure it has a strong future. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you … Read more
In the third part of a full and frank discussion about the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson and a panel of insiders discuss how best to grow and promote the game. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. Find … Read more
Talks about the future of men’s rugby have dominated rugby news during the Covid crisis, but ex-Black Fern Melodie Robinson says it’s crucial New Zealand Rugby starts considering how the women’s game will fare with equal urgency. Sports organisations around the world are scrambling to figure out ways their codes can viably continue into the … Read more
In the second part of our series looking at the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson and a panel of insiders look to the future of the sport, and ask what can be done to make that future more secure. This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you … Read more
All Black and Hurricanes halfback TJ Perenara says professional players should have more opportunities to play at club level, in The Spinoff’s new video series Rugby Unwrapped with Scotty Stevenson. The future of professional sports is in a precarious position. With international and national games and competitions off the table for the time being, organisations … Read more
His toughness is legendary, but how is the man recently voted the world’s best rugby player of the last decade holding up now? Richie McCaw had vowed to quit lifting weights once he hung up his boots. He changed his mind. Instead, he told me, he decided to stick with it, to keep his remarkably … Read more
In the first of a wide-ranging three-part series looking at the state of rugby in New Zealand, Scotty Stevenson asks where the sport is at, where is it going and how will we get there? This content has been made possible by the support of The Spinoff Members. If you can, please consider donating here. Find the other … Read more
As a boy, finance minister and cricket tragic Grant Robertson was given the nickname Jock, in honour of the big-hitting batsman Jock Edwards, by his older brothers. It was a name he carried with pride. It must have been the summer of 1980/81. We were on a family camping holiday in Te Anau. It was … Read more
One of test cricket’s great partnerships has been brought to an end. Alex Braae listens to the last call of Bryan Waddle and Jeremy Coney on Radio Sport. Watching Test cricket sometimes feels like sitting on the side of a pond on a summer day. Each ball is a pebble thrown into the surface, and … Read more
At the highest gathering place of New Zealand sport, UFC champion and sportsman of the year Israel Adesanya delivered the message he has long been destined to give, writes Scotty Stevenson. I met Don Rowe in a Hamilton toilet. At the time I was editing a sports magazine and he was a pending graduate of … Read more
The controversy around the unexpected (but ‘pre-planned’) mid-season break for Black Caps coach Gary Stead left countless cricket fans feeling they were being taken for suckers. And no wonder: it’s only reasonable to be suspicious of what sports administrators tell us, writes Alex Braae. In the English Premier League, there’s a phrase that inevitably causes … Read more
In a classic case of better late than never, pioneering Māori tennis player Ruia Morrison was honoured at the 2020 ASB Classic in Auckland. She looked so small, standing on a tennis court with Kiingi Tūheitia on one side and Serena Williams on the other. In her slightly-too-large blazer she looked too small to have … Read more
Sam Brooks watched today’s NFL Super Bowl and recaps the moments that mattered. 12:30 NZ Time: Demi Lovato sings ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, seemingly live! Did you know that a lot of people lip-sync this specific gig? Including Whitney Houston, singing objectively the most famous rendition of the ‘Star Spangled Banner’! Sorry to ruin your … Read more
Alex Braae heads to North Harbour Stadium to watch the Auckland baseball team play a crunch game before a wild, Baby Shark-chanting crowd. By rights, the Auckland Tuatara shouldn’t be a big deal. They’ve been around just two years, playing a sport that almost nobody in New Zealand bothers with, in a competition largely unheralded … Read more
Far from home, the Latin American football fanatics of Waiheke Island are fighting to regain their place on the New Zealand football league. It’s a tale of passion, pride and love for the beautiful game, writes Michael Andrew. This story was made possible by Spinoff Members. To support independent, homegrown journalism, join today. For the … Read more
After three years, Serena Williams is a champion again. Sadly not everyone was too thrilled about a mother competing. When Serena Williams won the ASB Classic women’s title in Auckland on Sunday, the sold-out crowd stood and cheered. As the organisers rushed the court to prepare for the trophy presentation, Williams left. She strode off … Read more
After a dreadful whitewash of a test series in Australia, Alex Braae assesses the questions that will be asked in the wake of it. So that was awful to watch. Three games, three massive first innings deficits, six batting performances that ranged from brittle to pathetic, and three shocking test match defeats. It wasn’t meant … Read more
Catch up on Scratched, The Spinoff’s video series celebrating New Zealand sporting heroes who never got their due – but whose legacies deserve to be in lights. Ruia Morrison: An unlikely tennis journey from Rotorua to Wimbledon Meet Ruia Morrison, the first New Zealand woman and first Māori tennis player to compete at Wimbledon. Raised … Read more
Simon Day and Alex Braae, co-hosts of The Offspin podcast, look back at the 10-year evolution of the Black Caps. The last 10 years have been a bizarre time for Black Caps supporters, because the team has been consistently good. The true joy of being a millennial New Zealand cricket fan is built on the team’s … Read more
The Silver Ferns went from top of the world to rock bottom and back again in the 2010s. Four different coaches brought four very different approaches to the game over 10 years, and the team ended up writing the biggest comeback story of the decade. Here’s how. At the start of this decade, the Silver … Read more