News

Last year’s FIFA World Cup coverage proved our credentials in providing serious analysis, accurate predictions and the ability to type a sentence like that with a straight face. Here is an update and preview of some of the sports action that we will be reporting on and ranting about in 2015.

RUGBY
Traditionally the winter sport of New Zealand, rugby’s season has just kicked off in the middle of summer, and the super rugby clash between the Highlanders and the Crusaders was a fitting end to Ori’ 2015, with the crowd in the Zoo providing plenty of colour and noise that surely makes Hurricanes fans jealous as they look around the soulless, windswept spaces of their often half-empty stadium.

It is too early to tell what will happen in this year’s competition so we’ll wait a few weeks before making any predictions, but one thing we are certain of is the Highlanders making a triumphant march to a home semi-final. Some might dismiss this as fanciful thinking but, as several of my ex-girlfriends have reminded me, “you can’t spell Daniel without denial”.

I will not be hiding my bias as a Highlanders fan this year and will be relentlessly mocking my favourite targets, Ma’a Nonu and Sonny Bill. But once the Super Rugby season is over, all club allegiances will be forgotten and I will be 100% behind the best possible All Blacks team getting together and heading to England to defend the World Cup.

FOOTBALL
Two of the biggest-spending clubs of recent history are in a two-horse race for the Premier League title, with Chelsea leading the way over last year’s champions Manchester City. The other “big clubs” — Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham are all battling it out for a top-four finish and qualification to the lucrative Champions League. But they will have to overhaul the surprise package of the season, Southampton, who have been in the top four all season.

A lesser-known World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand in May this year, and Dunedin is one of the host cities. It is the “second biggest FIFA tournament” in the form of the FIFA Under-20 Football World Cup. Heavyweight footballing nations like Brazil, Argentina and Germany will be fielding their next generation of superstars against nations less steeped in footballing glory, such as Uzbekistan, Myanmar and New Zealand. Our unlucky Junior All Whites have a poor record at this tournament, only managing four goals and no wins from their last three appearances dating back
to 2007.

CRICKET
New Zealand are among the favourites to win the ICC Cricket World Cup for the first time, and the tournament is well underway with Dunedin doing its part hosting the Black Caps for their win over Scotland during the carnage of Ori Week. Another interesting matchup between Afghanistan and Scotland is taking place at the University Oval this week on Thursday. It would be a huge surprise if one of those teams were to make it to the March 29 final at the MCG in Melbourne, but the Black Caps have a genuine chance to go all the way, having lost several times in the semi-finals at previous tournaments.

RUGBY LEAGUE
Rugby League has always had a reputation for attracting some “less than reputable individuals” to the 13-man code; over the last few years too many players to mention have got into trouble, with a multitude of drink-driving, gambling, autoerotic urination and vehicular fellatio videos giving the NRL a fair share of PR headaches and prompting some embarrassingly insincere public apologies from these “role models”.

But on the field the NRL, in particular, the South Sydney Rabbitohs are enjoying their most successful period in a generation, winning last year’s NRL Grand Final. They backed this up by winning the second annual Auckland Nines tournament. The New Zealand Warriors will be determined to get their season off on the right foot after a slow start last year that saw them just missing out on the play-offs through an inferior points differential. A return to the top eight play-offs is an absolute minimum for the Warriors this year. Unfortunately, they ignored my Tweets about playing a game in Dunedin, choosing to host their game against the Dragons
in Wellington.

THAT’S NOT ALL, FOLKS!
You can also expect some coverage of pseudo-sports like motor racing and netball, and we may even pretend to know something about American sports. As well as covering the world’s elite professional sporting competitions, we will share the stories of some of the personalities of the Otago sporting scene.