The corruption allegations levelled at French club Racing 92 could be a sign of things to come in world rugby, says professional player-turned-journalist John Daniell. In 2012 I was tipped off about a story at Racing Metro, a French rugby club I used to play for, now renamed Racing 92 and home to half a … Read more
Dan Carter’s Racing 92 is battling Saracens for the European Champions Cup this weekend. But would either side make the playoffs in Super Rugby? And what does this have to do with dog racing? In the 1980s, dog racing would often, unbelievably, be the first sport covered on the BBC’s flagship midweek sports show, Sportsnight (best theme … Read more
Complaining about the boring Super Rugby season? An English rugby fan writes in to remind us how lucky we are. Southern Hemisphere rugby is, usually, the best rugby on planet. There, I’ve said it. Often, as a person from the Northern Hemisphere and an Englishman to boot this is not an easy thing to let pass your … Read more
Auckland has been awash with praise for the proposed waterfront stadium. Hayden Eastmond-Mein swims against the tide, and argues it’s a really awful idea. Sport has a unique ability to defy reason and distort logic in New Zealand. It’s a proud tradition. We’ve used sport to turn a blind eye to the worst of human behaviour. … Read more
Big wins for the Highlanders and Chiefs, heartbreaking losses for the Blues and Sunwolves, and the Brumbies juggernaut just keeps on rolling. Scotty Stevenson assesses all the movers and shakers after round 3 of Super Rugby. 1. The Brumbies Rd 2: 31-14 v Force Last week: 1 (N/C) David Pocock played for ten minutes of … Read more
If Tana Umaga didn’t understand how much scrutiny he will face as Blues coach, he sure does now. And all it took for him to create mass hysteria was to make a few changes to a winning team. Adages die harder than John McClane, and that’s especially true of those that apply to rugby union. One of them … Read more
It’s never too early to start talking about who might make the All Blacks. Barely a week into the season, these are James McOnie’s top 11 candidates to pull on the black jersey for the first time this year. The rugby season started in a big way at the weekend. It was a massive TV … Read more
Scotty Stevenson gives his take on the shockingly competent Blues and the Mighty and Terrible Brumbies in our first ever KFC Super Rugby power rankings. 1. The Brumbies Rd 1: 52-10 v Hurricanes The Brumbies are more organised than an obsessive compulsive’s wardrobe. From the grind of the 150-game veteran skipper and resident orc, Stephen Moore, to the metronomic goal … Read more
All you have to do is move them from the Southern Hemisphere to the North. Jamie Wall looks at rugby’s growing talent gap. Word came out this week about the French national union’s unsuccessful attempt to fast-track New Zealand-raised winger David Smith into their squad for the remainder of the Six Nations tournament. Unfortunately, it … Read more
Why was Conrad Smith always praised for his ‘intelligent’ play, while Ma’a Nonu was often branded an ‘imposing physical specimen’? Jamie Wall takes on racial stereotyping in the New Zealand rugby media. There’s an opening in the archetypes department of NZ rugby. No, not the bashful, camera-shy tight forward. Not even the first five who … Read more
Richie McCaw won New Zealander of the Year last night, proving we cannot and will not stop giving him awards. Steve Bolton tracks a humble man from Kurow’s gradual transformation into a prize-laden deity. Winning is a habit; something a person gets used to and begins to expect of themselves and the others around them. … Read more
The All Blacks great is more than just a Versatile home owner – he’s a surprisingly versatile actor. Richie McCaw was named New Zealander of the Year last night. Some people are angry. They say setting about every All Blacks record, winning two World Cups, and retiring the greatest rugby player of all time isn’t … Read more
The Wellington Sevens has gone from madcap, boozy sell-out spectacle to one hell of a tough sell, and it’s a bloody tragedy, writes Scotty Stevenson. It is a Friday in late January in the nation’s capital, the day before the Wellington leg of the Sevens World Series begins. The harbour is green and glassy, the … Read more
In 2013 Chris Pryor and Miriam Smith moved to the small Waikato town of Reporoa to shoot a documentary about the local club rugby team. One year later they emerged with a stunning meditation on what it is to be a farmer, a teammate and a man in rural New Zealand. Don Rowe talks to … Read more
Jenga, bumper boats, waka ama, go-karting, archery, ______? It would take some kind of pattern recognition genius to figure out what activity will herald the beginning of the next Super Rugby season in New Zealand. Calum Henderson looks back at the evolution of the season launch in pictures. It started with a game of off-brand … Read more
We asked 12 Rugby World Cup winning All Blacks for their Kiwi sporting hero of 2015. Six of them – Liam Messam, Victor Vito, Jerome Kaino, Beauden Barrett, Dane Coles and TJ Perenara – picked heavyweight boxer Joseph Parker. So, in the first of our All Blacks’ Kiwi Sporting Hero selections for 2015, Scotty Stevenson takes a look … Read more
Club rugby was once an essential part of New Zealand’s rural life, but in the professional age its prominence has been in sharp decline. So what happens when one of the smallest and most remarkable clubs in the country watches its old hall burn down? It rediscovers its importance, and its people. Scotty Stevenson writes about … Read more
Sir Gordon Tietjens picks his first New Zealand Sevens squad for the 2015/16 season today with the ultimate prize an Olympic Gold Medal. We look at the coach and his team and ask why didn’t more big name players commit to his cause? The story, apocryphal maybe, goes that when Sir Gordon Tietjens first became … Read more
One of the true legends of Rugby died today in Auckland. Scotty Stevenson reflects on the passing of the one and only Jonah Lomu. The most unstoppable man in the history of rugby was finally stopped today. He was just 40. Jonah Tali Lomu died unexpectedly in Auckland this morning after returning from the Rugby … Read more
There have been false dawns before but American Rugby is about to take its first steps into the pro leagues with the announcement of the PRO Rugby competition. Scotty Stevenson talks to the men behind the league and assesses its challenges and potential. At Travers Island last weekend the Old Blue of New York defeated … Read more
Arguing with my Dad is a new occasional column which features Greg Bruce in conversation with his father about sports. This first instalment covers the RWC final… Dad answered his phone and I asked how his morning was going. “Yes, yes,” he said, “I got showered and shaved and now I’m on the last of … Read more
If you are reading this, it isn’t too late. It isn’t too late to disrobe from your disloyal, multi coloured garb. Fanciful? Yes. Patriotic? Not nearly enough. If you are wearing anything that isn’t a shade of black right now, I suggest avoiding eye contact with everyone on the street. Your laissez faire attitude to … Read more
An NPC debutant at the ripe old age of 21. A schoolboy and club career spent playing at halfback and first-five. Just one international appearance before turning 25. Shunted to wing or centre to occupy a regular Test berth as a 27-year-old. It’s not exactly the fact-file you’d expect to find for a player regarded … Read more
The All Blacks quarterfinal victory over the French was the most dominant in Rugby World Cup finals history, a 62-13 hammering that left the world in awe. All it took, says Scotty Stevenson, was a re-imagining of rugby’s geometric boundaries. The Springboks need only to watch the opening ninety seconds of the All Blacks in their quarterfinal against … Read more
The Alternative Commentary Collective return for an unprecedented fifth week of Champagne Rugby, previewing the weekend’s big semi with what could be the most dangerous prediction mechanism yet. A member of the public finally agrees to climb inside the social media testicle, and poses one of the best questions ever posed to the collective: who … Read more
There may be a spot in a Rugby World Cup final at stake, but if you thought you were going to get anything other than mutual respect out of All Blacks coach Steve Hansen and Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer, you must be incredibly disappointed with the build up to this weekend’s semifinal. We’re not disappointed. We … Read more
Getting ready for the Quarterfinals of the Rugby World Cup? Feeling a little anxious about your team’s chances? Never let it be said that the team at The Spinoff Sports aren’t here to help heighten the tension or assuage the anxiety. Here we present a factual analysis of the quarterfinals, so you don’t have to bother. Firstly, Here … Read more
Intrepid Rugby World Cup Correspondent Alexander Bisley talks about not fighting back, Welsh Journalists and Dark Satanic Mills. “I ain’t doin’ nothin’,” the shaven-headed mugger said as he relieved me of the 47 pounds worth of notes and shrapnel in my wallet. I was being mugged by an evil Ali G. “Give me that money,” … Read more
It’s quarterfinal time at the Rugby World Cup so who will be in charge of the first of the knock out matches at the 2015 edition? The Spinoff Sports reveals the likely contenders for this weekend’s whistling action. 1. Wayne Barnes, England Undoubtedly one of the world’s leading referees, though Barnes remains less than popular … Read more