I’m sure I am not alone at sighing with relief in the knowledge that the Rugby World Cup is over and it and it’s accompanying hyperbole won’t be seen again for another four years. This isn’t an attack on the game of rugby union itself-it’s not my cup of tea to be sure but plenty like it-it’s the idea the 2015 champions, the New Zealand All Blacks are some holier than thou group of entities the likes of which have not been seen before and will not be seen again. Anywhere. Ever.
I have a tenuous connection to New Zealand through my partner and I have been there a number of times. I find it an incredibly fascinating country full of people of charm and vigor and they punch far above their weight in many areas, especially sport. But the God-like devotion of the populace to the All Blacks has to be seen to be believed. If you thought soccer fans were passionate or that a Carlton-Collingwood blockbuster at the MCG on a Saturday afternoon can really get the tribal juices going then think again. The All Blacks in their native land are on another plane altogether. Really.
New Zealand of course is not the first country and it won’t be the last to sink so much emotional investment into a national sporting team. God knows Australians have done it for years but I do feel there is a sort of national flat-lining going on in this country when it comes to celebrating sporting achievement. Australia winning the cricket world cup earlier in the year (defeating New Zealand by the way) seemed to barely raise the average national pulse rate above “mildly excited” and the same can be said for the Socceroos triumph in the Asian Cup football tournament, possibly a victory almost comparable to either of the aforementioned world cups. The last time Australians seemingly lost their heads and went ga-ga over a famous sporting victory was probably in the immediate aftermath of Cadel Evans’ historic victory in the Tour de France in 2011. That was a band-wagon which became horribly overloaded if ever there was one. But that was a few years ago now and we seemed to have cooled our enthusiasm for sporting excellence a little. Or maybe we have all just grown up?
Of course in this nation we still stop on one day of the year so as everyone can watch a horse race on television so I suppose I shouldn’t hang too much rubbish on others or start believing that we are suddenly so mature. But the Kiwis did get a tad annoying over the last six weeks.
No one should deny that the All Blacks are a remarkable sporting team and that a country of four million people can field such a side, not just now but continually over the decades is astonishing. The game is followed and played almost to the detriment of all other sporting endeavors. It really does give the country much of it’s self-worth and national identity. And I have no problem with that.
I follow national New Zealand papers on Facebook so I had a pretty good read into the New Zealand psyche over the course of the world cup and quite frankly the kow-towing to the team and the assurance of victory (which proved to be well founded) and the idea that the All Black players themselves were virtuous to the point of giving the Knights of the Round Table a run for their money got a little tedious after a while. In fact Richie McCaw, the All Black captain was being written up as something of a cross between King Arthur, Dwight Eisenhower and Alexander the Great! Even Willy Aptia VC was parading with the team and being compared favorably in the press to Captain McCaw. Nothing any All Black has ever done compares in any way to the feats of Corporal Aptia. Do we really have to keep comparing sport to war?
Some may say that I am an embittered Australian fan cranky at losing but I barely follow the game. In fact not many Australians do. It has almost always seemed to be a “boutique” sport here in Australia played by private school boys in their own private competitions, far away from the egalitarian and rough-house air of the working man’s game-Rugby League. I wonder how many Kiwis actually understand that the national game in their country is dwarfed in ours by the poor cousin of New Zealand Rugby Union-Rugby League. Along most of the eastern seaboard the NRL holds sway and the State of Origin series is about as close as we get to raising the bar to New Zealand like levels of excitement. And Rugby Union-despite the popularity of the Super Rugby series isn’t likely to make inroads into League’s dominance anytime soon. And then of course there is Aussie Rules.
The real heart of Australian football culture is the Australian Football League which continues to suck the best of the footballing crop away from other ball-games in Victoria and other states west and south and is head and shoulders above the pack in terms of popularity,money and media coverage nationwide.
Rugby is the third string code in Australia and one may even suggest is being challenged by soccer in many metropolitan areas where the round-ball game holds sway in ethnic communities. It’s administration over the last decade and a half since the last Australian world cup victory has left something to be desired although it does appear to be getting back on track and the future looks bright for the team. Runners-up this year has been quite a feat.
Maybe I am just getting cynical in my middle-age. New Zealanders are quite entitled to be proud of their team and shout it from the roof-tops although the idea that this particular All Blacks team is, in the words of many scribes “the greatest sporting team in history” is a long bow to draw when there are probably only five teams that could conceivably win the World Cup. In fact only four nations have ever done so.
Yes, I was hoping for some schadenfreude to hit New Zealand and for someone, anyone to knock them off their perch and put their supporters in their place. Alas, it was not to be and they took a well-deserved victory. And New Zealand rejoices.
For the next few days I may just ignore my links to the New Zealand Herald on Facebook. The Kiwis will have their way and the Aussies will be the target of jokes and snide remarks from here and well into the future. But watch out. Four years is a long time in sport. Knees get weak. Reflexes falter and the Wallabies are on the rise. Perhaps in 2019 it will be Australia who are the annoying sods. And wont the Kiwis hate it!
Have a nice day.
Strange Notations From a Laborious Life 