Ah, the good old NPC.
Put aside the reality (it has long been relegated to third-tier status) and the concerns over its future, and you should be able to enjoy the heart of New Zealand rugby as much as ever.
I have long advocated for the NPC to double down on its grassroots appeal, ditch the pretension of being a major professional competition and just pick local club players to represent their provinces at smaller grounds for nothing but pride — and maybe some fuel vouchers.
For now, it’s a sort of halfway house where the Sky-generated hype comfortably out-weighs the public interest, where Super Rugby players sometimes do not seem to be entirely committed to the cause, and where 14 unions appear determined to recruit from as far afield as possible.
And it’s great.
The NPC has the romantic whiff of glories past, the results can be unpredictable and the rugby can be more chaotic than at higher levels.
It technically resumed on Thursday night but it really starts in Invercargill today.
Stag Day has become the best thing about the NPC apart from the Ranfurly Shield. And, as much as it pains me to say it, that is largely because of Southland’s passion fuelling the rivalry.
It wouldn’t hurt Southland to have ambitions higher than just beating Otago once a year, but their fanaticism for getting one up on big brother has generated a buzz around the southern derby not seen since the halcyon post-war years.
Pfft. Whatever.
Those were quite remarkable scenes near the end of the fourth test between England and India at Old Trafford.
In case you missed it, the test was destined for a draw but Indian batters Ravi Jadeja and Washington Sundar — who had batted wonderfully well to foil the English attack — were each nearing three figures.
English captain Ben Stokes approached the pair with an outstretched hand, indicating he was keen to pull stumps, but the Indians declined, and their captain back in the sheds gave no indication he was ready to agree to an early finish.
The Poms, with a fatigued bowling attack and that classic sense of moral superiority, proceeded to sledge and mock the pair constantly, and put on a part-timer bowling garbage as an act of protest.
Cricket remains the weirdest, greatest sport.
Nothing but net
Another week, another deal cut that leads to a major sport returning to free-to-air television.
Netball New Zealand has clearly lost a vast amount of cash for broadcasting rights by switching from Sky to TVNZ, and it seems certain the best players will either take a hefty pay cut or look at opportunities in the Australian league.
But the massive silver lining is that hundreds of thousands more sets of eyeballs will be on netball next year.
Cash is king. But expanding public interest, which can both lead to more commercial opportunities and encourage more people into the sport, is not a bad thing either.
The Kiwi Messi
Happy trails to Marco Rojas, who announced this week he was hanging up the football boots.
Rojas was unbelievably exciting at his peak.
Famously awarded a trial with the Phoenix after winning a fan club scholarship, he later played his best football with the Melbourne Victory before embarking on a globe-trotting career.
There have been better All Whites and many New Zealand footballers who had more success overseas, but few could take the breath away quite so regularly.
Droning on
It really is an amazing story.
Coach leads sophisticated, systemic spying programme that includes surveillance of the New Zealand women’s football team at the Olympic Games.
Coach gets banned.
Coach gets a new job ... coaching a New Zealand football team.
Fair play, Bev Priestman and the Wellington Phoenix. That is what you call an audacious move.
She is clearly a phenomenal coach but it will be some time before the taint of that scandal evaporates.
My heroes of the week are the folks at School Sport NZ.
They have announced plans for a blanket ban on year 14 students — or second-year sevenths, for us old-timers — competing in school sports.
Come at me with a single reason why we should not be on board with this change.
Schools — especially bigger ones, and especially in rugby and rowing — have for too long abused the system by stacking their teams with young men who are no longer there for education reasons, and who often take off once the season is done.
Vale, Sir Michael
All southern golf fans owe a tip of the hat to the late Michael Hill.
The New Zealand Open was an utter mess when the jewellery king played the major role in breathing new life into the tournament in Arrowtown.
He also let us walk around his own backyard once a year, and The Hills will forever remain my favourite golf course.
The Open is at Millbrook now but it would be most appropriate if the tournament did something next year to commemorate Michael Hill, golfer.
