The Hurricanes’ and All Blacks’ talismanic No 10 is heading north to Auckland in the biggest Super Rugby shift for a long time. Hurricanes true believer and NZ’s leading rugby fraternity authority Jamie Wall does his best to hold it together to analyse the move. They say the first stage of grief is denial. That’s … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Makhlouf departs with questions hanging in the air, emissions still not moving the right way, and ministerial roles in housing reshuffled. A few months ago, you’d probably be forgiven for not knowing the name Gabriel Makhlouf. Until yesterday, he was the secretary of Treasury – an … Read more
As the Hurricanes held off the Chiefs on Friday night, Scotty Stevenson had a chance to reflect on the simple joy of watching a game. This is how it began on Friday night in Wellington: Hurricanes openside flanker Sam Henwood was knocked into next week by Chiefs centre Anton Lienert-Brown, Chiefs hooker Nathan Harris was … Read more
If someone pitched you the idea of using a contentious event in New Zealand history that resulted in land confiscations, hundreds of deaths and years of intergenerational trauma as a marketing idea, what would your response be? Down in Wellington at the Hurricanes rugby HQ, the answer was ‘great idea, go with it!’ Let’s examine … Read more
On Saturday the Warriors beat the Rabbitohs in a game of rugby league. On Sunday the Blues beat the Lions at rugby union. Today, Andrew Mulligan reports on a miracle. Holy shit the Blues and Warriors won on the same weekend for the first time since…April 30th 2017. Not that long ago but given confidence … Read more
An eye-catching performance against Argentina on Saturday night has made All Blacks loose forward Vaea Fifita the talk of the rugby world. Jamie Wall was there for an equally spectacular moment in the Mitre 10 Cup last year. If you’ve ever come to Auckland, you’ll know about the traffic. It’s so bad it often dictates … Read more
A team who lost to the Jaguares last weekend remains the team to beat in the Super Rugby playoffs – at least according to Scotty Stevenson’s final playoffs edition power rankings. 1. Lions Last week: 1 (N/C) You can’t judge the Lions playoff team on the result of last week’s game against the Jaguares because … Read more
Highlanders fans’ campaign of bullying against Scotty Stevenson finally pays off with a top ranking in the latest Super Rugby power rankings. 1. Highlanders Rd 12: 34-26 v Crusaders Last week: 2 (up 1)) Okay, okay! Here’s why everyone loves the Highlanders: every time they have the ball, they think they can score a try. I blame Tony Brown … Read more
The Blues hold their breath for a win against the Rebels and the Hurricanes come back with a vengeance in South Africa. Scotty Stevenson brings us the latest Super Rugby power rankings. 1. Chiefs Rd 10: 24-22 v Sharks Last week: 2 (up 1) You have to hand it to the Chiefs – they have … Read more
Beauden Barrett is bad at kicking, but there’s no rule saying he has to keep doing it. Why can’t his teammates step up? The Hurricanes lost to the Chiefs on Saturday in what is being called one of the better games this Super Rugby season – I was there and do not agree. Beauden Barrett … Read more
New Zealand teams claim the gold, silver, bronze, and fourth place medals in Scotty Stevenson’s latest Super Rugby power rankings. 1. Chiefs Rd 5: 53-10 v Force Last week: 4 (up 3) For most of the first half against the Force, the Chiefs chased the ball like it owed them money, but when they finally settled into … Read more
The Brumbies finally lose top spot after their first defeat of the season, and somehow get replaced by a team they beat 52-10. Scotty Stevenson power ranks round four of the Super Rugby season. 1. Hurricanes Rd 4: 41-6 v Force Last week: 4 (up 3) There is an irony here that the team to replace … Read more
Scotty Stevenson welcomes Mark Stafford, radio host and sports commentator, to the Spinoff podcast bunker. This week Scotty gets heated up about the place of the TMO in refereeing decisions; Nehe Milner-Skudder’s exit from the competition; the Chief’s “killer” schedule and the continually woeful story of the Reds. Listen to the whole thing right now, or save … Read more
It’s Super Rugby opening weekend and a few fresh faces are taking to the field. James McOnie does his best to describe just who the hell they are. Super Rugby opening weekend is almost upon us and no-one is really ready but too bad, it’s happening. Post-Rugby World Cup is always a big changing of … Read more
Joseph Harper power ranks the latest crop of Super Rugby uniforms. Summer is headed to its zenith in Godzone, so it only makes sense we start yakking about rugby. And what better way to get chins wagging than a rugby fashion parade featuring the new Super Rugby uniforms. They’re pretty yuck. They haven’t gone full HRV, … Read more