All Blacks unlikely to win: what to expect in 2023

Aaron Gate poses with the four gold medals he won at last year’s Birmingham Commonwealth Games before carrying the flag for the New Zealand team at the closing ceremony. Gate’s haul contributed handily to New Zealand’s overall tally of 50 medals which Hayden predicted exactly. PHOTOS: GETTY IMAGES

Why does Otago Daily Times sports editor Hayden Meikle put himself through this every year? Yes, it is time to gaze into the crystal ball to see what might lie in store in sport in 2023.

Before we begin with the impossible exercise of predicting what is going to happen in a bunch of sports this year, let us wind back the clock to see how your soothsayer did at the start of 2022.

The great calls

- Covid would disrupt the year. Well, duh.

- The All Blacks would not win every test. Too easy.

- New Zealand would win 50 medals at the Commonwealth Games. Bang on, thank you very much.

- Nico Porteous would win gold in Beijing.

- The Colorado Avalanche would win the Stanley Cup (don’t mention my tips for the other three major American sports).

- Australia would win the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

- Both Novak Djokovic and Ash Barty would win one tennis slam.

The close calls

- The Blues would beat the Crusaders in the Super Rugby Pacific final. Picked the teams, but (sadly) not the winner.

The Ireland rugby team celebrates after beating the All Blacks in the third test in Wellington in July to sew up a 2-1 series win. It was Ireland’s first series win in New Zealand and the test win was just its second, a week after the first. Hayden predicted a 3-0 whitewash for the All Blacks.

- The Highlanders would comfortably make the top eight but narrowly lose their quarterfinal. Just got "comfortably" and "narrowly" round the wrong way.

- The Otago Spirit would win the Farah Palmer Cup second-tier final. Only four points away.

- Zoi Sadowski-Synnott would win bronze in Beijing. She managed gold and silver.

- England would win the Women’s Rugby Cup. Made the final — and we all know what happened!

The shocking calls

- The All Blacks would sweep Ireland 3-0. Gulp.

- Tasman would win the top NPC division and Otago the second. Eeek. In my defence, the story was written before the competition format was changed for the 87th time. Neither Otago nor Tasman even made the top eight.

- North Otago would crush its neighbour in the Meads Cup final. Reader, the Old Golds did not do much crushing last year. And we don’t need to mention the final.

- The Black Caps would beat England 1-0 in the test series. They were swept 3-0. In fairness, nobody really saw Bazball coming.

- I tipped seven different golfers to win the nine majors and did not get one right. But golf is so fickle.

On with some fearless predictions for 2023.

1. The All Blacks will not win the World Cup! Sorry to be such a downer to start the year. But it is very clear that Ireland and France start as the favourites for the tournament. The All Blacks will need a generous slice of luck, it appears.

2. The Blues will beat the Crusaders in a Super Rugby Pacific final rematch. Please. The Highlanders will miraculously keep their top XV on the park for multiple weeks, come up with a couple of upsets and again make the top eight. Chiefs Manawa will go back-to-back in Super Rugby Aupiki.

Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz holds the trophy as the ATP player of 2022. Alcaraz (19) ended the year as the youngest men’s world No 1 in history. Hayden is predicting that he will win two grand slam titles this year.

3. Canterbury will beat Hawke’s Bay in the NPC final. Waikato will win the Premiership division of the Farah Palmer Cup, and the Otago Spirit will win the Championship. North Otago will win the Lochore Cup, and somebody — anybody — will save us the agony of watching The-Team-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named win a third straight Meads Cup.

4. Bazball will show no signs of stalling. England will beat the Black Caps 1-0 in the test series and regain the Ashes with a 3-1 series win over Australia. England will also defend its World Cup title, beating the Black Caps in a final decided by best singing of the national anthem.

5. Domestic cricket champions will be Canterbury (Plunket Shield), Wellington (Ford Trophy) and Central (men’s Super Smash) and the Wellington Blaze (Hallyburton Johnstone Shield and women’s Super Smash double).

6. Jamaica will beat the Silver Ferns by a single goal in the Netball World Cup final. The Central Pulse will win back-to-back ANZ Premiership titles, beating the Tactix in the final. The Steel will finish fourth.

7. England will beat Sweden in the final of the Fifa Women’s World Cup co-hosted by New Zealand and Australia. The Football Ferns will have a draw and two narrow losses in pool play.

8. The major American sports championships will be won by the Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowl), the Boston Celtics (NBA), the Boston Bruins (Stanley Cup) and the Atlanta Braves (baseball).

9. Jon Rahm, Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Jordan Spieth will win men’s golf majors. Women’s majors will be won by Lydia Ko (two!), Nelly Korda, Hyo-Joo Kim and Brooke Henderson.

10. Europe will stun the Yanks on Italian soil and regain the Ryder Cup.

11. Men’s tennis slams will be won by Carlos Alcaraz (two), Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune. Iga Swiatek (three) and Coco Gauff will win women’s slams.

12. Manchester City will pip Arsenal for the Premier League title by two points. Real Madrid will win the Champions League.

13. Lewis Hamilton will chase down Max Verstappen to win an eighth Formula 1 title before retiring. Kiwi driver Liam Lawson will have a permanent seat confirmed for 2024.

14. Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk will finally meet in the mega-fight. And ... Fury stops Usyk in the 10th.

hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz