Rugby | Bangkok Post | NZ Rugby Sevens
9 February 2003
NZ’s rugby sevens team delighted a 32,000-strong crowd in Wellington, beating England 38-26 to win their first home series in four years. NZ now lead the 11-leg International Sevens series with 68 points, followed by Fiji and…
Cricket | Star (The) | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
8 February 2003
Stephen Fleming will come out looking good no matter where NZ places in this year’s Cricket World Cup. So says Johannesburg’s The Star, which included the Black Caps’ captain in their official “World Hunks XI.” “One…
Sport General | Mlive.com
26 January 2003
NZ athlete Nick Willis continues to run rings around his American college-mates. The University of Michigan student clocked the nation’s fastest 3,000m time for the year to date at January’s Red Simmons Invitational. Ironically, it was Willis’…
Rugby | Guardian (The)
25 January 2003
Former All Black captain Ian Kirkpatrick was a guest of honour at the 30th anniversary of 1973’s legendary NZ vs. Barbarians match. Dubbed “rugby’s Mona Lisa,” the Barbarians’ victory is viewed by many as the most thrilling…
America’s Cup | CNN News
21 January 2003
Team New Zealand will face the Swiss challenge Alinghi in the America’s Cup finals in February, setting up a match up between Alinghi skipper Russell Coutts and his understudy when he was at the helm of…
Golf | Age (The)
20 January 2003
Dunedin golfer Mahal Pearce has registered on the international radar after a close win at January’s NZ Open. Pearce – already dubbed “the man with the million-dollar swing” – finished just two strokes ahead of Brett Rumford….
Cricket | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
17 January 2003
New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming played the “innings of his career when his team most needed it”, scoring 133 not out, to lead the Black Caps to a comprehensive 9 wicket win over hosts South Africa…
Watersports | Fox News
1 January 2003
Kevin Biggar and Jamie Fitzgerald of Team Holiday Shoppe won the epic Woodvale Atlantic Rowing Race from the Canary Islands to Barbados in record time, despite their boat being capsized 40 hours into the event. The pair’s…
Golf | Detroit Free Press
29 December 2002
“Spectacularly gorgeous NZ a bargain for golfers” (Detroit Free Press). Golf-mad travel writer scours the length of the country for the best greens available – from the golden beaches of Kauri Cliffs to mountain views at Lake…
America’s Cup | Washington Post
27 December 2002
“They have lured away many of NZ’s best sailing minds and talents in the quest for the Cup, but they are all still chasing one Kiwi who did not budge and whose mind and talents may…
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
20 December 2002
In a rare coup for a Kiwi, Warrior Stacey Jones has been awarded rugby league’s top honour: the Golden Boot. The trophy represents the sports media’s pick for best player in the world. Andrew Johns, Golden Boot…
America’s Cup | Sports Illustrated
5 December 2002
Uncooperative wind and weather has made for a rather patchy America’s Cup series so far. Luckily, viewer-distraction has been provided in the form of feuding billionaires. Sports Illustrated: “Yachting has never been a sport for the masses, but…
Rugby | Business Day
1 December 2002
A “ferocious all-around display” saw NZ win the first leg of the International Rugby Board World Sevens Series in Dubai. NZ defeated Samoa 36-0 to take their fourth straight victory in the event. The same form didn’t…
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
30 November 2002
SMH enlists an outside view on recent Wallabies’ performances from All Black legend Grant Fox. The verdict? Not good: “There doesn’t appear to be a lot of blooding of new talent going on at the moment,…
America’s Cup | USA Today
22 November 2002
USA Today ponders Kiwi dominance of the America’s Cup. “No matter that the boats will fly the flags of Switzerland and the United States. The men at the helm are Kiwis, New Zealanders, “mates.” Kiwis are…
America’s Cup | Washington Post
10 November 2002
“America’s Cup? Why, we call it the Kiwi’s Cup now!” An encounter with “a proper cocky Kiwi” sees Post writer Angus Phillips ruminate over this auld mug called the America’s Cup. This year’s competition sees New Zealanders…
Rugby | Observer (The)
10 November 2002
“If you want a snapshot of the way rugby used to be, there is no more impressive monument to the past than Colin Meads, a man as straight as he was hard.” The Observer talks rugby,…
Watersports | Observer (The)
3 November 2002
Waikato University’s resident surf expert – Dr Kerry Black – is helping create waves in Cornwall, where a £6 million proposal for constructing an artificial reef is currently under negotiation. Black and his team of marine…
Rugby | Guardian (The)
2 November 2002
“Playing New Zealand means battling against the myths, legends and history of the All Blacks. In this professional era the aggression, determination and sheer ferociousness of the New Zealand game make them so hard to beat.” English…
America’s Cup | Time Magazine
28 October 2002
“Yacht racing has been compared to tearing up $10 bills while standing in the shower. In the case of America’s Cup racing, make that $1,000 bills.” Time Magazine delves into the high rolling depths of…
Sport General | Bernama.com
27 October 2002
NZ runners Jonathan Wyatt and Melissa Moon won the men’s and women’s categories at the World Towerthon in Malaysia. The event involves an 800m run from the Kuala Lumpur Tower entrance, followed by a grueling climb…
Sport General | Sunline | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
26 October 2002
NZ mare Sunline, Australasia’s grand lady of racing and a champion that uniquely inspired anthromomorphic devotion, ended her five-year domination of Australian tracks with a brave final run at October’s Cox Cup. The winner of 32…
Watersports | sailing.ca
26 October 2002
Sir Peter Blake has been posthumously awarded the prestigious Olympic Order for his services to sport. Honorary IOC member, the former King Constantine of Greece, presented the award to Blake’s wife, Pippa, at the Emsworth Sailing Club….
Golf | ABC News
16 October 2002
Golfer Philip Tataurangi had the first US PGA Tour win of his career at the Las Vegas Classic, beating Australia’s Stuart Appleby by one shot. The 32-year-old pulled out his best round ever – 10 under…
Sport General | Mlive.com
14 October 2002
Lower Hutt born Nick Willis is the University of Michigan’s latest star athlete. Still in his freshman year, he is already the No. 2 cross-country runner on campus. The best seems yet to come; according to…
America’s Cup | New York Times (The)
6 October 2002
Warren St. John backgrounds the moguls and money questing for the America’s Cup, pondering at the ‘pet projects’ of sporting tycoons like Larry Ellison: “they have hired the best sailors money can buy, sometimes moving them…
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
6 October 2002
The New Zealand Warriors averted an Australian national emergency by falling at the final hurdle in their proud and historic run to the National Rugby League Grand Final, losing to Sydney Roosters 3-8. From ruin two…
America’s Cup | BBC News | CNN News | New York Times (The) | Yachting World
1 October 2002
The 2002 America’s Cup challengers series has begun (click here for BBC, CNN coverage), launched with fanfare on the streets of Auckland. The competing teams paraded through the central city, the Swedes blasting ABBA,…
Rugby | Observer (The)
1 October 2002
Tours to the Northern Hemisphere winter by the The All Blacks, Wallabies and Springboks saw some interesting pre-World Cup square offs with NZ, France and England (!) jostling for favouritism at the whistle. The match…
Watersports | World Rowing Championships | worldrowing.com
21 September 2002
Living up to expectations, Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell powered to gold at the 2002 World Rowing Championships in Seville, continuing a strong lineage of NZ international rowing achievement. Winning comfortably, the twins knocked more than three seconds…
Watersports | Star Bulletin
16 September 2002
Team NZ/Hawaii had an impressive surf canoe win in the Steinlager Henry Ayau Men’s International Race, Maunalua, Hawaii. TNZH broke the course record by 10 minutes under conditions described as “perfect.”
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
9 September 2002
“Kiwis break a few hearts.” The New Zealand Warriors continue an impressive NRL season by finishing top of the table and taking out the minor pemiership (and a $100,000 bonus for the club) – meaning…
Watersports | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
7 September 2002
Australian fly-fishing convert Margie Blok declares NZ an angler’s paradise. Blok describes her chopper ride into the inaccessible headwaters south-east of Lake Taupo as yielding “the ultimate fly-fishing experience”: “…the hypnotic noise of the river and the…
Sport General | CNN News | Sports Illustrated
31 August 2002
The Cinderalla New Zealand Tall Black’s sensational hoop dreams soared as they hustled and impressed their way into the semi finals of World Championships (Indianapolis). Sports Illustrated calls them the ‘thunder from
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
6 August 2002
The heart-stopping (breaking?) Bledisloe battles are becoming enshrined in Ocker sporting lore: “Once, Australians could rattle off virtually every ball of an Ashes cricket series. Now it is Bledisloe Cup rugby.” According to Spiro Zavos, the battle…
Watersports | Independent (The)
5 August 2002
NZ twins Georgina and Caroline Evers-Swindell continue to impress on the international rowing circuit. The pair won gold at July’s World Cup in Munich and are tipped to do the same at next month’s World…
Rugby | BBC News | Independent (The) | NZ Rugby Sevens
4 August 2002
Kiwi dominance impresses at Manchester where they prove themselves masters of the form: “New Zealand dominate seven-a-side rugby the way that Lance Armstrong lords it over cycling, Tiger Woods bestrides the world of golf and…
Rugby | Rugby Heaven
1 August 2002
The All Blacks positioned themselves to take the Tri-nations title for the first time since 1999 with a gripping and eventful tussle with the Springboks (including a spectator who took the game into his own hands). The…
Sport General | 2009 Manchester | NZ Rugby Sevens
25 July 2002
All-comers finished in the green and gold shadow of Australia, but New Zealand completed a successful Commonwealth Games campaign, finishing a credible 5th on the medal table, with 11 golds in rugby sevens, cycling (Sarah Ulmer…
Sport General | Telegraph (The)
22 July 2002
Sebastian Coe reminisces about the grand days of athletics, when athletes focused on ambitious all-round feats. For a middle- distance runner, “no championship season was complete without a tilt at the 800m-1500m double.” He cites NZ legend…
Sport General | BBC News
21 July 2002
New Zealand athletes received a special welcome on their arrival at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester. After getting the green light from the Maori Minister of Education, students from Tarvin Primary School (Cheshire) performed an enthusiastic haka…
Sport General | NZ Rugby Sevens | Observer (The)
21 July 2002
An Observer run-down of the 10 greatest Commonwealth Games’ moments gives two spots to NZ achievers. No. 4: one of the finest middle distance races run, the 1974 1,500m race between John Walker and Tanzania’s Filbert Bavi…
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
15 July 2002
Crys the Sydney Morning Herald. In a great weekend for trans-Tasman rivalry the All Blacks put one hand on the Beldislode Cup with a tough 12-6 victory over the Wallabies in atrocious conditions in Christchurch and the…
America’s Cup | CNN News
8 July 2002
Team NZ captain Dean Barker beat ex-boss Russell Coutts 3-0 in the Swedish Match Cup finals. Coutts is heading Alinghi, Switzerland’s America’s Cup challenger. In other Cup news, Team New Zealand launch the first of…
Golf | BBC News
7 July 2002
Michael Campbell rose to 16th in the world rankings and received a timely boost before the upcoming British Open by winning the European Open and half a million Euro winner’s cheque. But the Maori-NZer with the…
Watersports | CNN News
1 July 2002
Sailor Graham Dalton (older bro of Grant) has set up an educational website where children can watch his yacht “Hexagon” circumnavigate the globe as part of the Around Alone race yacht race beginning 15th September. Hexagon was…
Rugby | Times (The)
1 July 2002
Great rugby commentator Bill Mclaren names his all-time greatest XV for The Times. Featuring three All Blacks: the “New Zealand totem” Colin Meads, the legendery skills of Zinzan Brooke, and “one of the great international captains” Sean…
Cricket | BBC News
1 June 2002
Confirming their 3rd place ranking in the ICC World Test Cricket Championship the Black Caps achieved a remarkable milestone with their first ever test series victory against the West Indies on…
Watersports | Australian Yachting
1 June 2002
Lead paragraph to Australian Yachting editorial: “What is it with New Zealanders? Not only do they bash us at rugby (both literally and metaphorically) and regularly make off with the Melbourne Cup, they also have the hide,…
Sport General | ducks.org
1 June 2002
NZ axemen Jason Wynyard and David Bolstad came out ahead in the points race at the 8th Annual Ducks Unlimited Great Outdoors Festival in Memphis, Tennessee. Over 72,000 people attended the Festival, with the Stihl Timbersports stage…
Rugby | Independent (The)
27 May 2002
“It is apparently not enough that New Zealand have just waltzed away with their third successive World Sevens Series title. So complete was their domination of the Emirates-sponsored London leg of the International Rugby Board’s season-long tournament…
Sport General | Guardian (The)
25 May 2002
Fly-fishing enthusiast Andy Pietrasik raved about his recent trip to the rivers of the South Island. Following his guide up the river in search of fish made him feel like “Ernest Hemingway’s shadow,” so perhaps…
Rugby | Sydney Morning Herald (The)
12 May 2002
“New Zealand’s Crusaders put up a persuasive case as world rugby’s champion provincial team with their unbeaten sweep through the Super 12 series” … sealing the tournament with a dominant 31-13 win over the ACT Brumbies. Earlier the…
America’s Cup | Laureus.com
1 May 2002
Sir Peter has been posthumously given both the Laureus Lifetime Achievement Award and the Laureus Sport for Good Award at the 2002 World Sports Awards in Monte-Carlo. Sir Peter, was a founding member of the Academy…
Rugby | Star (The)
29 April 2002
New Zealand won the World Rugby Sevens series title for the third consecutive year, wrapping up the series with a convincing 29-5 victory over South Africa in the Malaysia Sevens final. Said coach Gordon Tietjens: “I am…
Rugby | Guardian (The)
24 April 2002
All Black legend, winger John Kirwan, to take over as coach of the Italian national team from NZer Brad Johnstone – this includes touring Italy through his homeland where playing for the ABs he scored…