The long haul back
Confession time: I do not really know Ethan de Groot.
The hulking Highlanders prop seems a perfectly pleasant young man — his Southland community obviously worships the lad — and he is clearly a very useful rugby player, but the distance between the media and most professional athletes has grown to the point I really have no other insight to offer.
I also have no inside scoop on what breach of team protocol de Groot committed to have him on the outer with the All Blacks.
His "crime" was presumably well on the minor side but the ramifications have been significant, as de Groot has missed selection for three consecutive game-day squads.
All this while Tamaiti Williams has made great strides and is now clearly the favoured loosehead prop, partly because he offers more than the Southlander around the field.
They say you never own an All Blacks jersey — you are merely the custodian of one. Our lad de Groot has some serious work to do to regain his position as the pre-eminent No 1 in New Zealand.
Hopefully, he gets a chance to clear his head over the summer, comes back fit and firing for the Highlanders, and adds a whole lot more to his 28 test caps.
No 10 crisis?
Farewell, then, Harry Plummer. Your All Blacks career was extremely brief, but you seemed a decent fella.
Plummer, at 26 and with three minutes of test rugby under his belt, is cashing in and heading to France on a mega-contract with Clermont.
And good on him. Professional rugby players have the clock ticking on their career the second they take the field, and we should not begrudge them pursuing a lucrative opportunity.
Plummer has a test cap and a Super Rugby title with the Blues, and now the tidy first five gets to make good money while experiencing life in a fabulous new country. Get in there, son.
What does it mean for the All Blacks No 10 jersey?
I can see some angst hanging over it for a while, though there are still plenty of first fives around.
Beauden Barrett will be 34 next year. Damian McKenzie will be 30 and does not convince everyone. Stephen Perofeta’s four tests starts have been at fullback.
The next cab off the first five rank is presumably Taranaki man Josh Jacomb, who started for the All Blacks XV against Georgia.
Blues utility Zarn Sullivan is an intriguing prospect, Highlanders fans hope to see Cam Millar take the next step in 2025, the Hurricanes will surely give Ruben Love some time in the No 10 jersey, and New Zealand under-20 prospect Rico Simpson has real talent.
Lots of options but no sure thing.
Doubling up
Call me an old sceptic but I am wary of our council’s bid to host two All Blacks tests in Dunedin next year.
The theory is strong — there is nothing like a rugby test to bring money and buzz into this city, and we need to make hay before Christchurch steals events off us with their fancy new stadium — but the practicalities are something else.
For starters, it would be slightly odd for New Zealand Rugby to schedule two tests for Dunedin when other cities offer bigger stadiums and much better infrastructure.
Then there is the issue of whether this region could fill its stadium twice in the space of a few weeks.
The French have openly discussed plans to send an under-strength team here next year. If Dunedin does get two tests — perhaps against 1) a France team with none of its best players, then 2) the Springboks — which one do you think people will choose if they can only afford to go to one?
We saw that situation in Wellington earlier this year when the Cake Tin had 10,000 empty seats for the Pumas test, as people waited for the Bledisloe Cup game in the capital.
End of an era
Colin Jackson has been a fun interview subject and sparring partner over 20 years as the chief executive of the North Otago union, and I am genuinely sad to see him go.
He did things his way — and yep, possibly some grumbled at times about that — but he was a relentless fighter for my home region and its rugby.
Au revoir, CJ.
Waitaki wonder
Well, of course The Last Word was just a little bit excited to see a kid from the greatest school in New Zealand finally make his debut for the Black Caps.
Nathan Smith is only my second-favourite cricketer in his own family (Jeremy is the main man), and it is sad he no longer plays for Otago, but he is a super lad with real talent who deserves every reward that comes his way.
He became the first New Zealand cricketer out of Waitaki Boys’ since left-arm seamer David Sewell played his sole test in 1997.
Meanwhile, Waitaki has not had a new All Black since lock Murray Pierce debuted in 1984.
Beneath the radar
Most of the national media outlets cover only the All Blacks, Black Caps and Warriors these days, so a recent bit of New Zealand sports news attracted virtually zero attention.
Corey Webster was appointed Tall Blacks captain for a series of Asia Cup qualifiers.
You might remember him as the bloke who loved a misguided tweet nearly as much as a council boss loved the F word.
Webster was an open anti-vaxxer who tweeted conspiracy theory nonsense during the pandemic about the vaccine killing more people than Covid, and was back at it last year when he responded to a question about what came to mind when he saw the LGBT pride flag with: ‘Mental illness."
Webster might have the job on merit, and Basketball New Zealand — who bang on about "culture" as much as other sports organisations — might be satisfied he will be a positive figure in the leadership role.
But there is a 17-year-old kid and two 21-year-old players in this Tall Blacks squad. There is a duty of care to limit their exposure to any toxic influence.
Commentary of the week
There was a rather neat story from the football game between old enemies England and Ireland the other day.
England won 5-0, and the final goal was scored by young reserve defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis.
He is due to marry Leah Keane, daughter of Irish great Roy Keane, who happened to be in the commentary box when the goal was scored.
After it was highlighted that the Englishman rubbing salt into the Irish wound was his future son-in-law, the response was classic Keane: "It’s not done and dusted. Things can change very quickly in the Keane household, let me tell you that."
