Semi-Final of Brutal Beauty
“This was the All Blacks as they would love the world to see them: tough, mean, committed and ruthless in every department,” the Guardian’s Robert Kitson wrote after New Zealand smashed Australia with “brutal…
Tag Archives: Sydney Morning Herald (The)
Wright Has the Edge
Cantabrian and Black Caps coach John Wright “is the coach best placed to lift the Australian team” and has “an affable manner that conceals toughness and a fund of cricketing sense”, according to The…
Warriors Prepare for Battle
The Warriors have touched down in Sydney in preparation for Sunday’s NRL grand final having defied the odds to win against the Storm last weekend. Despite claims the team is favoured to win the…
Testing Theories of Existence
New Zealand and Australia are working together to build the most powerful radio telescope ever constructed, the $2 billion Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The international consortium behind the project — 67 organisations in 20…
Five Trophies at Five Nations
New Zealand has won five trophies at the inaugural Five Nations Wine Challenge, judged in Sydney. Each of the five nations – New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Chile and Argentina – was represented by…
Made in New Zealand
Zambesi’s 2012 collection shown at the recent New Zealand Fashion Week was a fusion of sportswear, workwear and tailoring with unexpected pops of electric blue and acid yellow amid the brand’s signature black. Models…
Boasting Grand Beginnings
Twenty-one-year-old singer Kimbra’s debut album Vows is reviewed in The Sydney Morning Herald by Bernard Zuel. “On Vows, Kimbra leaps from rhythmic, multi-vocal exercises in the style of French artist Camille (a comparison which…
Everyone is in on It
From Nelson to Dunedin, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Mark Chipperfield nominates the highlights of the Rugby World Cup — on and off field. “New Zealand may not be the birthplace of rugby union football…
South Pacific Role for Rhodes
New Zealand baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes will star in an Opera Australia production of South Pacific to open at the Sydney Opera House this month ahead of a nationwide tour. Opera Australia’s artistic director…
Taking Care of Carter
Swathe and swaddle him in bubblewrap and don’t drive over any potholes but every time Dan Carter goes into a tackle, a few more threads get fidgeted out of the upholstery writes Mark Reason…
Newspaper Man Takes Over
Since joining the Murdoch empire in 1991, native New Zealander Tom Mockridge — former economics editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and now Rebekah Brooks’s replacement as CEO at News International and in charge…
Fattening Up for the Swim
Happy Feet, the lost emperor penguin who turned up alone on Kapiti Coast’s Peka Peka Beach a month ago, has been eating up to 2kg of high-grade salmon each day — funded through donations…
Jumping the Gap
With New Zealand still reeling from the effects of the Christchurch earthquakes, and its economy struggling to shrug off the turmoil caused by the global financial crisis, many people are making the trip across…
Challenging the Monopoly
New Zealand company Pacific Fibre has embarked on an ambitious unlisted capital raising to fund a submarine cable from Australia to New Zealand and on to the US west coast, challenging the…
Coronet Peak Effects
“I’m at the base of New Zealand’s Coronet Peak,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Marissa Calligeros writes. “I’m seeing and touching snow for the first time. I’m soon jumping up and down and grinning…
South Pole Misadventures
A new book by New Zealand journalist and respected author on Antarctic explorers John Thomson says Edmund Hillary “cheated” his way to the South Pole in 1958. Thomson, author of Climbing the…
Left Past the Fumaroles
After a 2-minute helicopter ride from Whakatane airport to White Island, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Keith Austin’s “first aerial impression is of a volcano from a movie, albeit with one side completely,…
Breakers Outdo Taipans
The New Zealand Breakers have thrashed the Cairns Taipans 71-53 to claim Australia’s National Basketball League title in front of a capacity crowd at Auckland’s North Shore Events Centre. The Breakers are the first…
All Blacks May Win Again
Graham Henry’s team will end their series of Rugby World Cup chokes when they host the global tournament for the first time since 1987 believes former Springboks coach Jake White, the man…
Shift in Strength
Following this year’s World Cup, All Black and Crusaders lock Mosgiel-born Brad Thorn will play for Japanese club Fukuoka Sanix Blues. Thorn, a key component of the All Blacks’ engine room for 5 tests,…
Luxurious Isolation
By helicopter to the Southern Alps, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Tricia Welsh discovers Minaret Station, a soft landing in a luxury tent on a sheep and cattle station. “We’re having the ultimate New Zealand…
New Zealand Cradle for League
According to this year’s Australian NRL media guide, which lists the birthplace of each first grade and Toyota Cup player, New Zealand has overtaken Brisbane as a cradle for rugby league top-graders, with 67…
Snoop and Rico Salute Sun
Air New Zealand’s mascot Rico has teamed up with US rapper Snoop Dogg to produce a music video for the airline. Rico, whose controversial antics promoted Air New Zealand’s Skycouch, joins Snoop, who dons…
Legendary Friendly
“We here in the ‘west island’ like to cling to that old cliché of New Zealanders being slightly simple sheep-botherers, so it’s a bit of a shock when you get there and realise how…
In The Press Building
“I was on the phone to a man whose earthquake-damaged home burned down in Pines Beach when the earthquake hit,” eyewitness Nicole Mathewson writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “At first I thought it…
Rear View Girls
Aspiring Auckland actresses Jessie Gurunathan and Reanin Johannink used hidden cameras fitted to the back of their jeans to film unsuspecting individuals staring at their backsides. The footage, taken in LA, was the idea…
Money Helps
“Even when wandering through the heat in the transport black hole of Pyrmont, Sam Morgan is alive to a gap in the market,” Tim Dick writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “He asks why…
New Face of League
Wests Tiger Benji Marshall “is the new face of rugby league” according to The Sydney Morning Herald, having been “chosen as the man to front the code as the game prepares for a new…
Nice Uppercut
In a unanimous points decision Sonny Bill Williams has won his third professional boxing bout in six-rounds against Sydney forklift truck driver Scott Lewis at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Williams took the first…
Field of Dreams
Mangatainoka farmer Neil Symonds has taken his fanaticism for rugby to a new level. There are Test centuries and famous tries scored in many a backyard but not many play host to actual sporting…
Tourism Awakening
These days, Nelson is a city “very much awake to the rewards of top-class dining and swish eco-stays”, Jimmy Thomson writes for The Sydney Morning Herald. “‘I’ve been to Nelson … it was closed,’…
Sydney’s Secret Weapon
Thirty-four-year-old former Olympian basketballer and Albanian coach Dunedin-born Mark Dickel recently played at point guard for the Sydney Kings. The Sydney Morning Herald asked: “Is it a publicity stunt or the ultimate act of…
Kayaking with Seals
Tauranga winemaker Tim Taylor, 24, has kayaked almost 1km on his attempt to be the first person to complete a solo circumnavigation of New Zealand. Taylor has been travelling for 25 days, paddling for…
Generations Loved Her
New Zealand-born author Ruth Park, who moved to Sydney in 1942 and who was the author of classic Australian books such as The Harp in the South and The Muddleheaded Wombat, has died in…
Tickets sales on track
Rugby New Zealand 211 Ltd chief executive Martin Snedden has said that key World Cup match ticket sales and revenue targets had been met in 21. Since the sales program was launched earlier this…
Airline alliance
Air New Zealand and Virgin Blue will form an alliance on trans-Tasman routes, after the competition regulator dropped its opposition to the plan. After indicating three months ago that it would block the deal,…
Incentive for training
All Black Sonny Bill Williams, 25, will soon step back into the boxing ring for a bout against Australian Scott Lewis on January 29 ahead of the Super rugby season and the 211 World…
Island artscape
Bailey, a full-time artist whose Maori, Irish and Dutch heritage is central to his work is one of more than 1 who make Waiheke Island their home, many of whom open their studios to…
World-first treatment
Auckland-based Living Cell Technologies, which is pioneering a world-first treatment for type 1 diabetes using insulin-producing cells grown in pigs, has been approved for sale in Russia. Professor Bob Elliott, who heads the Auckland…
Onward to Invercargill
Wellington actor Bret McKenzie will co-star with Australian television and radio personality Hamish Blake in a New Zealand feature film, Two Little Boys, which is due to start filming in January in Southland. Based…
Distinctive Edginess
Unnerved: The New Zealand Project, an exhibition of 26 contemporary local artists in various media, including photography, sculpture, video, painting and installation has opened at the National Gallery of Victoria in Brisbane. The pieces…
U2 pay tribute
The 29 men who perished in the Pike River coal mine tragedy were honoured during the song One Tree Hill at the November 27 U2 concert, with their names listed on a massive stage…
Beware the shy crook
“It does not pay to be a shy criminal in New Zealand,” Tim Dick writes in an opinion piece for The Sydney Morning Herald. “On this side of the Tasman, if you are invisible…
Conchord revival
The Flight of the Conchords are in discussion to bring a live version of the cult television series to Australia and New Zealand next year. US comedian Arj Barker, who plays the philosophising stoner…
Leap over loveliness
Crammed in a small plane nearing 4m above the “gorgeously rustic” Bay of Islands, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Steve McKenna is about to throw himself out into the blue. “Peering out of a little…
Sons change codes
The sons of former Kiwis captain Hugh McGahan and ex-All Blacks skipper Tana Umaga have chosen to play league rather than pursue representative careers in union. Matt McGahan, 17, and Cade Umaga, 16, are…
Sticking to his guns
George Fistonich, founder and owner of New Zealand’s self-proclaimed most successful winery, Villa Maria Estate, is living proof of the wisdom of sticking to a quality ethic, The Sydney Morning Herald’s Huon Hooke writes….
Holiday hero
Hamilton sergeant Murray Stapp has received a bravery award from the Governor of Victoria, Professor David de Kretser, after a July 28 arrest of an armed man who had just dragged a motorist from…
Hospitable angles
“Inspired by the nearby Remarkables and Bob’s Peak, architects incorporated intriguing roof angles into a low-line structure housing just 19 rooms, including a fabulous two-level tower suite complete with fireplace,”…
Height advantage
A study of 2 children undertaken by researchers at New Zealand’s Liggins Institute has found individuals conceived using a certain In Vitro Fertilisation technique were several centimetres taller, by age six, when compared to…
Unmistakable humour
Comedian Rhys Darby, 36, has an “unmistakable” voice, retaining his “thick New Zealand accent despite increasingly frequent roles in Hollywood films,” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Kylie Northover writes in a profile headed, ‘Darby acts…
Their Own chapter
Dunedin trio Die! Die! Die! is currently touring Australia and are profiled in The Sydney Morning Herald. “Die! Die! Die! is feeling right at home on seminal record label Flying Nun,” Craig Mathieson writes….
Wilderness gold
“Just like the safari camp and the ski chalet, the New Zealand lodge is a triumph of reinvention, the transformation of a utilitarian wilderness refuge into tourism gold,” writes The Sydney Morning Herald’s Max…
Winning waves
State science company Wave Energy Technology New Zealand (WET-NZ) has won a grant of more than NZ$2 million from the United States Government to develop a wave power prototype design. WET-NZ has developed a…
Tasman trounce
New Zealanders have done it again, bemoans Huon Hooke writing for The Sydney Morning Herald. “They have trounced us in the Tri Nations,” Hooke continues. “Not at rugby but wine. It’s becoming…
Black in the sky
Air New Zealand’s chief executive Rob Fyfe revealed images of the company’s design for a black domestic jet aircraft in Sydney this month. Fyfe said: “In celebration of Air New Zealand’s long running support…
