Bat to Beat All
Best place to pick up a custom made stick to make sixes? New Zealand maker James Laver “just the sort of man one would want to make one’s bat”.
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Founder Found
The lost grave of Denis Hoben, founder of the New Zealand Rugby Football Union, uncovered in Sydney.
Bugger Knocked off for Nearly Fifty Years
It’s 48 years since Sir Edmund and Tenzing put themselves on the roof of the world.
Pinetree Speaks
Colin Meads on touch judges: “Boy do they give you a gut ache. Last year when there was a bit of a fight in a test match a touch judge ran on the field to break it…
Bachelor of the Game
Training? How about a degree in rugby (Certificate in High Performance Athlete Management) from Massey University and the New Zealand Rugby Academy.
Mahon’s Final Stroke
“Laconic, grizzled New Zealander” Harry Mahon, legendary international rowing coach dedicated to creating the perfect stroke, died of cancer aged 59. Mahon took team after team to the top, including the British gold medallist eight at Sydney…
Not Thick-skinned Enough
Rugby players who feel invincible because of protective clothing are more likely to be injured than their non-padded co-players says Otago study.
Captain Cayless
Sydney laments 22-year old Nathan Cayless’s decision to follow his Maori heritage home and captain the New Zealand league side.
Swinging Fortune
Michael Campbell hits an astonishing ten under par round in the Deutsche Bank-SAP Open, briefly overshadowing Tiger Woods. But, Campbell commented “It’s nice to lead, but I would rather be leading after the fourth round than after…
America’s Cup Lead-up
Update on the preparations of the American and British Challengers for the Louis Vuitton cup in October next year.
Magic Lives On
Six years ago the Black Magic team completed their historic 5-0 sweep of the America’s Cup.
Tiger Captured
Tiger Woods is a definite starter for the New Zealand Open next January at Paraparaamu Beach.
Running Man
Adrian Blincoe, promising young NZ middle-distance runner, helps the Villanova Wildcats to a historic victory in the Men’s Distance Medley at the NCAA Penn Relays.
Marathon Mania
The Times previews the mania of marathon running and the annual London race with a history of jogging and the Kiwi who changed the way the world thinks about running. In advocating that “running is not only…
Bert Sutcliffe Retires
Bert Sutcliffe, New Zealand left-handed batsman “of the highest class”, joins the “Gentlemen of Heaven XI” – a player fit to share a wicket with the late Don Bradman. Sutcliffe was “a superlative cricketer and a very…
Kiwis in League
Former New Zealand league international Dean Bell eyes fellow kiwi Frank Endacott’s job as coach for Wigan: “When Frank’s finished with the job, I want it”.
Flying Scrum
Steve Williams, caddie to Tiger, has clocked up enough frequent flyer miles “to take a manager, two coaches and three rugby teams from New Zealand to Australia.”
Running Hard
Friends of edge-bred Paul Hewitson “lionise his iron constitution. After one bachelor party that ended at 5am, Hewitson slept for an hour then rose for a 15-mile jaunt. When insomnia strikes, he gets up and runs to…
Strange Happenings in Rugby
“Somewhere in the depths of the very European Six Nations Championship, two New Zealanders have been having some pretty bizarre experiences.”
Doubtful Honour
Big Norm Hewitt’s in-yer-face rendition of the All Black haka and English hooker Richard ‘Cocky’ Cockerill’s gracious eyeball-to-eyeball acceptance makes the Guardian’s list of the “top-ten sporting feuds”.
Runner’s Trots
An urgent need for the toilet is the most common reason long-distance runners pull out mid-race, according to a New Zealand Medical Journal study.
Never a Softie
Colin Meads played 55 games for New Zealand, with “not a soft match in his entire 14 years at the pit face. No wonder the legend lives on”.
Fast and Blur
New Zealand Olympic playmaker Mark Dickel, shooting it up for Australian NBL team the Victoria Titans moves at two speeds – “fast and blur”.
Tiger’s Edge
“Stevie has been in my ear about it and he has definitely told me about his auto racing … I would maybe like to possibly catch one of his races,” says Tiger Woods, commenting on a…
Majors Story (Almost)
The amazing story of Travis Wilson: “A New Zealander needing only four years to reach the highest level of America’s national pastime? That would have been a made-for-TV movie.” Also, Wilson has a “huge future,” says
Still The Best
Leilani Joyce remains squash #1, trailed by New Zealand-based world champion Carol Owens.
First in Sevens
The sevens boys had the Hong Kong final all wrapped up, taking them to the top spot in overall series standings.
Smashing Record
New Zealand batsman Craig McMillan smashed 26 off one over – a new world record. “I love hitting boundaries and I love taking on spinnners,” said the man of the season, speaking after “the most perfect…
Slight Change
New Zealand superbike champ Aaron Slight picks up two extra wheels driving for Peugeot in the British Touring Car Championships.
Kiwi Brave
“The sight of New Zealand’s Travis Wilson in an Atlanta Braves uniform seems as bizarre as anything you might see in Disney World. Especially when you consider that until four years ago Wilson had never played…
Pinetree Growl
“Colin Meads, the grim, great New Zealand lock, was once asked why British and Irish forwards were inferior to those produced by the southern hemisphere – especially the forbidding, beetle-browed men produced by New Zealand. “Too many…
World’s Greatest Sports Brand?
Brandchannel reviews “one of the most distinctive international brands in the history of sport.” “The All Blacks are a team not a brand” insist the NZRFU. “The team’s values are absolutely about winning, whereas the brand’s values…
Cross-course Appeal
“Sunline, a huge bay five-year-old, is one of those rare beasts to have jumped the fence between her sport and the wider public. She has her own website, an official fan-club and a range of merchandise.”…
The Legend of Steve Williams
Tiger’s clubs net the “amiable Kiwi” over $1 million – making Williams an international top-dollar caddy. Also, will Williams bring Tiger down under?
“Foreign Britain”
“And then there is my ridiculous fantasy that if we are to become a foreign land it might be New Zealand, where, unlike our own benighted Scotland, they know how to play rugby. (Big Hint to…
Awesome Dame
New Zealand thoroughbred superpower Sunline receives “spine-tingling” farewell from Sydney. “She is the best horse I will ever train,” states trainer Trevor McKee.
The Win
New Zealand racing legend Grant Dalton brought giant Club Med in to Marseilles 62 days after leaving Barcelona – winning The Race by over 900 miles and clocking the fastest circumnavigation ever.
Vagana Bio
New Zealander Joe Vagana, “one of the best packmen in the world”, is set to be a star with English club Bradford Bulls.
Circus Life
New Zealand Olympic gymnast David Phillips has given up the competitive grind for life as a circus performer.
Great Spinner
New Zealand-born Clarrie Grimmet’s 216 wickets from 37 tests earned him a place in Australia’s pantheon, despite a rift with the big man of Australian cricket.
Adventure on Air
The mini-series of the Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race, run in the South Island last November, will air on the Discovery in late April, showcasing some of the New Zealand’s toughest terrain.
Sydders Running
The Sydney Half-Marathon turns ten. Back in 1996, New Zealand woman Nyla Carroll won the women’s section so fast the official nearly missed her dash over the finish line.
Down Right Funny
“I’m sure New Zealand has its own sense of humour. I know so, because I once wrote a preview of the rugby world cup for a satirical magazine here, a piece which represented what I hoped…
Snow Queen
New Zealand snowboard star Juliane Bray crowned world champ at Japan’s World Cup Snowboard.
Nick Heir to Jack, Peter, John
Hutt Valley high school miler Nick Willis has become the fastest miler in New Zealand history, beating the times of Jack Lovelock, Peter Snell and John Walker at the famous Wanganui Cook Gardens.
Defending Champ
Michael Campbell came from behind to retain his title at the 2001 Heineken Classic in Perth.
Kiwi Leads Brits
“Most of Kiwi Andrew Longmore’s working life has been devoted to the pursuit of sailing’s Holy Grail. No one has helmed more miles in an America’s Cup boat than Barnes, in racing, testing and development over…
Wonderboy
New Zealand apprentice jockey Michael Walker 16 years old, 18 months riding, 224 winners, 100 this half-season. Phenomenal.
Aim Off
Twenty years ago, Greg Chappell instructed his brother Trevor to deliver the ball underarm. It was all about sending a message to the Australian Cricket hierarchy …
Dalton Speaks
“Home, however briefly, is beckoning. We should be through the Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands of my home country, New Zealand, in four days and that means we will, as far as I…
