Tour of duty There is a cynic inside — sometimes quite obviously on the surface — every sports reporter who has been beaten down by life, er, been around a while. So, when your man heard the All Blacks’ tour of South Africa had been labelled the “Greatest Rivalry”, his eyes rolled just a little. It seemed to be blatant marketing puff relating to a traditional sporting clash that required neither artificial hype nor a tacky, tacked-on test in the United States to make it great. But something has happened to turn the old cynic back into a believer. This is the closest thing we have had to a proper old-school tour for a long time and it is going to be a lot of fun. Most modern All Blacks get to play tests and nothing else. Midweek games hark back to the glorious past, and are always an interesting opportunity for outsiders to play their way into test contention. And it’s South Africa. The world champions, our greatest rivals (catchy name for a tour), an immense foe at home. Bring on the tour — and let’s see if Dave Rennie and crew can beat the odds. Our No 8s There are bolters. Then there are Semisi Tupou Ta’eiloa-sized bolters. The reality is nobody thought the Otago Boys’ High School product and son of a North Otago rugby legend was going to be an All Black this year. He offers something so different to the other No 8s in the land, and if the national coaching staff can harness his game-breaking physicality and polish the rough edges, there is a serious player there. Speaking of No 8s, it’s funny to think this region had Sean Jansen (Irish test No 8), Christian Lio-Willie (All Blacks No 8 last year) and Tupou Ta’eiloa (soon to be All Blacks No 8), and none is a Highlander. Look for a bumper chat with Jansen next week. Clear as mud Congratulations, then, to Christchurch Boys’ High School for winning the inaugural breakaway South Island Boys’ Schools First XV competition. Just a shame virtually nobody seemed to know what was going to happen if two schools ended up tied on points. It will be a long time before I see it as anything other than a betrayal of the other schools in our region and a futile attempt to match the North Island schoolboy rugby arms race. At the same time, I acknowledge there are some good people — and great lads — at those schools who obviously believe the competition will have benefits. I look forward to football, basketball, table tennis and other codes getting the same opportunity to foster “wellbeing and leadership” among boys’ schools. Glasgow glory It has been a funny old Commonwealth Games, really. The drastic cuts to the event were always going to dilute the excitement surrounding it, coming so soon after the magnificent Fifa World Cup did it no favours, and most of the timings are not particularly Kiwi-friendly. Still, there have been some excellent performances and some vibrant memories created. It will be hard to see how anything can beat Zoe Hobbs flying to victory in the 100m. REUTERSZoe Hobbs is in shock after winning the women's 100m final at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Photo: Reuters Off track There are rightly some extremely disappointed and concerned people in the southern racing community following the release of the Project Stamina/One Equine View report. It is no surprise the industry feels there are still too many courses for a shrinking horse population. But that is cold comfort for the people of Oamaru and Gore, who have been told their courses are surplus to requirements. Seems to me there are bigger issues in the industry — and a couple of courses further north with much greater financial concerns — that shuttering some good southern courses will not address. Make it click Few expected the biggest global sports story of the week to centre on a lower league cricket game in England. The North Yorkshire and South Durham league has launched an investigation into a game involving two clubs with very English names, Saltburn and Norton. The alleged crime being investigated? Finger clicking. Yep. And if you have not seen the viral video yet, it is quite something to see the generously proportioned Saltburn slip fielder clicking his fingers just as the ball passes the bat, thus tricking the umpire into thinking it has been edged behind for a catch. Amateur sleuths have been looking into Saltburn’s recent games and discovered an unusually high proportion of catches behind the wicket. The cad has earned himself the nickname “Clicky Ponting”. Name of the week Fencibles. It is possible The Last Word, as obsessed with names as it is, has touched on this before. But what a great name that is for the Auckland football club who have made the semifinals of the Chatham Cup. Turns out Fencibles were formed in 1995 following the amalgamation of East Auckland clubs Howick and Pakuranga Town. “Fencibles” — coming from the word “defencible” — were the military defenders of the first settlers in the Auckland region, and the largest Royal New Zealand Fencibles Corpsbase was in Howick. Love it. Birthday of the week Nwanko Kanu is 50 today. Aside from having a great name, the Nigerian striker is best known for scoring 44 goals in 197 games for Arsenal, helping their “Invincibles” win the title unbeaten in 2003-04. hayden.meikle@odt.co.nz
