Bravo to the North Otago Rugby Football Union for drawing a line in the sand over the growing issue of referee abuse.
So the Chiefs appear set to win their second consecutive Super rugby title.
When I think of Jamie Mackintosh, three images come to mind.
Stirring up . . . There was, believe it or not, one really good thing to come out of the Nuggets' humiliation in Invercargill last weekend.
Don't panic! Like most football fans, I'm still in a state of semi-shock following news earlier this week of Sky Sport losing rights to the English Premier League.
My column will be a little different this week.
Seeing the British and Irish Lions on tour in Australia naturally leads to recollections of their 2005 visit to these shores.
Jamie Joseph is an impressive man.
Richard Perkins has been through the good times and the bad - the very, very bad - at the Otago Rugby Football Union. Through it all, his determination to look after the sport at amateur levels has not wavered. Sports editor Hayden Meikle talks to the ORFU's community rugby manager.
Two rugby fans met to digest the latest awful news from the most awful season in Highlanders history.
There has, rightly, been a lot of discussion of late over the make-up of the All Black midfield for the French series and beyond.
It always seemed like one Otago-based team, having enlisted some star power to form its most powerful squad in years, would dominate its competition this year.
Some questions . . . One of the problems of writing a Saturday newspaper column is the difficulty in commenting on Friday night sports events.
''A natural grass turf under a permanent roof - it's a world first.'' That's the line on the Forsyth Barr Stadium website and it is a generally accepted fact relating to Dunedin's covered stadium.
If I took you out to the old ballgame, how would you know which team to support? Let's find you a Major League Baseball team to follow, in the third of our handy guides to American sport.
So, how are we feeling about Mike Hesson and Brendon McCullum now?
I picked the Highlanders to get beaten last night - so I presume they are celebrating their first win of the season?
Hello there. Here we are, just tucked inside our regular spot. You didn't have to look far.
Nothing sends me to sleep quicker than yet another story about a New Zealand rugby player chasing the pound, Euro or yen.
Rooting out ... Joe Root. Joe Root. Ahhh, brilliant. The English cricketer is more than just a sensational name, of course. He looks a very promising batsman.