The motivating nemonic in Chiefs land this week will be B2B - Back to Back. The Chiefs have a glorious chance to secure back to back Super Rugby titles next Saturday night when they host the Final for the 2nd year in a row in their backyard in Hamilton.
Expect big queues for tickets to the biggest show in the City of the Future this week after the Chiefs rallied from behind on the scoreboard against the Crusaders in their semifinal on Saturday. Dave Rennie must have given the boys a stern word at halftime after the Chiefs seemed bereft of ideas against a resolute Crusaders defence early on.
At first, the Chiefs looked fresh from the bye dominating possession but the Crusaders fought back and won several penalties off the Chiefs to lead 9-3 at half-time.
If the first half was a shootout between boots, the second half was a far more open affair with the Chiefs finally finding gaps in the tiring Crusaders defence and scoring through Leila Masaga and then Aaron Cruden via the intercept.
The Crusaders did strike back brilliantly through Izzy Dagg but despite kicking themselves to a point behind the Chiefs, they couldn't quite get the 2 they needed to get themselves into the Final.
It was a game worthy of a Final and the Chiefs must surely be favourites next Saturday against their opponents, a surprise Brumbies side who would have travelled from South Africa to Hamilton in days.
The Brumbies indeed were value for their lead for much of the game in the Bulls' stronghold in Pretoria and kept the parochial crowd silent for much of the game. The Bulls, fresh from the bye, did rally in the 2nd half and were leading 23-19 having turned down several shots at goal to extend the margin only for the Brumbies to score a very late and dramatic winner right at the end in yet another thrilling semifinal.
The Brumbies kicked superbly and played the Bulls at their strengths and deservedly reach the Final against the Chiefs. However, their biggest challenge now lies ahead and Jake White must now attempt to summon the last bit of energy from his young charges for the Final after a gruelling last two weeks which has seen them clock enough mileage points.
So bring on the Final next Saturday! Meanwhile Crusaders fans must be kicking themselves at their missed opportunity - they probably would have had a good chance of victory in Canberra had the final been held there.
As SANZAR looks to improve and expand Super Rugby, a suggestion has emerged that Super Rugby could be split into two conferences in a fashion similar to the NBA with the South African and possibly new Argentine sides in one conference and Australia, New Zealand and Japanese sides in another conference. Teams on either side would only play each other in the Final.
South Africa is pushing for the Lions and Kings to be in Super Rugby
SARU is firmly behind the idea on the eve of the promotion/relegation playoff series between the Lions and Kings as it would mean both teams would be playing Super Rugby. It would also appease SARU who have been the most vocal in wanting to split from SANZAR in recent times.
The Australian and New Zealand sides also seem keen on the idea as it could possibly see a huge reduction in travel miles and over many time zones - something that they have to do right now to South Africa each year and is proving a player welfare killer.
The split would occur in 2016 and could look like this -
Western Conference (8 teams) -
SOUTH AFRICA - Stormers, Sharks, Bulls, Lions, Kings, Cheetahs
ARGENTINA - 2 sides from Argentina? Eastern Conference (10 teams) -
AUSTRALIA - Force, Rebels, Brumbies, Waratahs, Reds
NEW ZEALAND - Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes, Crusaders, Highlanders
Eighteen years ago Team New Zealand, led by the late Sir Peter Blake, won the America's Cup in San Diego to send a nation into frenzy. Back then, the America's Cup was symbolically a contest between the best yachtsmen of each country with the Aussies and Kiwis taking on the best of the Yanks and Brits for the oldest prize in world sport.
Since then, with rising costs to make the sport faster and more exciting, the America's Cup has become a contest for the big and rich CEOs with their multinational corporations such as Oracle and Prada, and Kiwis like Russell Coutts and Chris Dixon have been racing against Team New Zealand for their foreign owned syndicates.
Why the NZ government is still wasting taxpayer's money on what is essentially a corporate man's sport is beyond me. It is a legacy from the Helen Clark/Labour days but with America's Cup glory last in New Zealand in 2003 is it perhaps time to move on? Putting all that taxpayer money on the small chance that Auckland's Viaduct Harbour will see America's Cup action again is like putting the company payroll on a game of Russian roulette, when that money would be better invested in our youth.
When you consider that NZ basketball can't even afford the insurance premiums to get Steve Adams to come over and represent his country, who invested heavily in his development to the big time, you wonder where the government's sporting priorities lie.
Naturally, the boaties came after me saying that I didn't understand the sport.
I just want to come out and say that I am a lover of all sports and endeavour to understand every single intricacy of each sport - I am obsessed with it. And I certainly fully understand the nature of the America's Cup, i.e. the rules, costs, etc. which is why I responded like this in the first place.
First America's Cup in 1851
Yes, the America's Cup started out originally as a contest between nations, i.e. the United Kingdom and the United States of America. The New York Yachting Club from the fledgling New World took on the Royal Yacht Club from the Old and that's where the oldest sporting competition in the world started.
Indeed, winning the America's Cup has historically been a source of pride for the United States of America for a long time before credible challenges from Australia, New Zealand and Switzerland emerged.
America's Cup 1995 - a proud moment for all Kiwis
The prize for winning the Auld Mug was huge for the winners and the benefits have been magnified in today's predominantly capitalist society. Winning the America's Cup helped put Fremantle in Western Australia on the map in 1983 and it helped transform Auckland's waterfront into a viable economic hub for the city. Alinghi's win was also terrific news for Valencia - the waterfront even hosted a F1 grand prix briefly which is apt for the wealth and push for technological advances in the sport, and San Francisco is definitely reaping the benefits from hosting this year's America's Cup, just as San Diego did in America's glory days.
So yes winning the America's Cup has been a boon for the winners but with costs quickly soaring, the yacht clubs from each country are no longer able to carry the burden alone and are heavily dependent on corporate sponsorship. Even then, the days of the company of five that sponsored Team New Zealand's Loyal campaign in 2003, with the costs of the America's Cup now far greater than what the likes of Steinlager, Lotto, Enza and TVNZ could provide.
Only the likes of Emirates and Toyota can afford the costs to sponsor an America's Cup team nowadays, as well as Oracle, BMW, Prada, etc. And that's just to field a team - as we've seen in the Louis Vuitton Cup, to really dominate, much more needs to be spent and it appears that the New Zealand taxpayer might be the difference between Team New Zealand missing out and challenging Oracle for the America's Cup.
Fremantle was put on the map after Australia brought home the Auld Mug in 1983
Now, from a socialist and logical point of view, putting all your taxpayer's money on beating the home team, Oracle on their home turf in the USA in a best of 5 series so that Auckland can host the Cup for the first time since 2003 may seem like a very high risk investment. And that's a pretty fair point of view especially when we haven't quite seem the apparent rewards filter down to the yacht clubs of New Zealand as the politicians have advertised.
On the other hand, many endeavours by the government into sport don't often make sense from a people's point of view apart from providing some light relief from the daily rigours of living and working.
New Zealand welcomed RWC teams in 2011 with open arms - the tournament is considered the best ever in history
The Rugby World Cup was a success but it wouldn't be considered an investment that made big money for the country - although from a tourist and sporting point of view, the Rugby World Cup was a godsend financially and symbolically.
So, I'll continue to enjoy the America's Cup and hope Team New Zealand get to the position where PJ Montgomery's famous words from 1995 are echoed. But I still don't quite agree that it is a valid investment by the government. But good luck to Dean Barker et. al.
4 teams left. Only 2 can continue after this weekend.
This weekend, the Chiefs, Crusaders, Bulls and Brumbies all play for the chance to play for the Super Rugby championship and the best club rugby side in the Southern Hemisphere.
There will definitely be a New Zealand side in the Final - although for the neutral viewer in New Zealand, they would be hoping the Chiefs win as it would mean a Final in New Zealand and at a nice hour rather than possibly having to get up early on Sunday morning to watch the Final in South Africa.
Crusaders have hit form at the right time
The Chiefs and Crusaders take each other on for the 3rd time this year with the ledger at 1-1. The Crusaders have found Hamilton a bit of a bogey ground in recent times and the Chiefs will be keen to underline that fact when they take on the 7-time champions.
Blackadder, Carter and McCaw will want to right the wrong of the last few years when they've fielded a side laden with All Blacks yet keep falling short of the ultimate prize especially with Carter heading on a sabbatical next season.
However, the Chiefs go in as favourites despite injuries having plagued their squad all season. Dave Rennie's credentials as a coach have strengthened further this season after winning the championship last year and the Chiefs are the power brokers of New Zealand Super Rugby right now.
It should be a cracker.
Meanwhile, it's the best of South Africa v the best of Australia in Pretoria. History suggests that the Bulls should be clear favourites with the Brumbies having stuttered to victory last weekend and having to travel to South Africa only days before.
Brumbies just only sneaked home against the Cheetahs last weekend
However, it's Jake White who's in charge of the Brumbies now and if anyone knows and understands how the home side plays at Loftus Versfeld, it would be the former Springbok and RWC winning coach.
Should the Chiefs falter in Hamilton, this game would determine who hosts the final so there will be plenty placed on the line and this will be a physical encounter as is the case in South Africa v Australia Super Rugby clashes.
It seems, if you're British right now, you can't really do anything wrong right now when it comes to sport - apart from the golf.
Chris Froome's Tour de France victory was formally confirmed on the Avenue des Champs-Elysses this morning New Zealand time - his third place behind Nairo Quintana and Joaquim Rodriguez in the mountains overlooking Annency on Saturday effectively confirmed him as the winner of the Tour de France prior to the traditional finish around Paris on Sunday night given that the race around Paris' lovely streets is traditionally contested by the sprinters well down the field by this time.
It's a shame Lee Westwood and Mark Cavendish couldn't quite add the icing to what would have been a pretty tasty cake for Brits anyway - Westwood missing out on the British Open to the greatest round of golf played on any final day by Phil Mickleson and Mark Cavendish beaten on the line in Paris by Marcel Kittel, who has by far been the best finisher in this year's Tour de France.
But none of that will shadow what has been a glorious day for British sport. And in my opinion, it is good that British sport excels and shows the world that champions can be made without having to cheat.
Chris Froome has stood out in this year's Tour de France
Chris Froome's victory hopefully underlines the case that cyclists do not need to take drugs to win the Tour de France - the reputable French newspaper, L'Equipe recently cleared Chris Froome as a doper n a recent article with substantial scientific evidence and crediting his - and newcomer Nairo Quintana's - superiority this year to Froome's upbringing where he spent hours and hours riding up the hills and high altitude of Kenya (Quintana likewise in Colombia).
Froome, like Bolt, appears to be a freak of nature and his superiority was evident even when his team wasn't quite there on the day. It's a shame that Team Sky didn't let Froome race Wiggins last year - otherwise we would have been looking at both Britain's first ever Tour de France winner and a double Tour de France winner too; not that we should take anything away from Sir Bradley Wiggins' historic achievement in 2012 which was superb in itself.
As for the cricketers, well, they're not entirely angelic with Stuart Broad's failure to walk in the last test still rankling deep with the Aussies. Mind you, people often overlook that the Aussies themselves on this tour have been far too panicky and emotional with the referral systems and that has come to haunt them in this test.
Unlike cycling, the cricketers are bound heavily by what the umpires do but it is often down to what the players do and perhaps it is not surprising that the team that is 2-0 up in the series is one that has made the right decisions and stamped their authority on the opposition at the right time.
Surprisingly, that team is England for once, with the Aussies looking an absolute rabble and quite possibly the worst Aussie side to tour England in a long time. That title will surely be confirmed should the English retain the Ashes by winning/drawing the 3rd test at Old Trafford next month.
In the meantime, Brits all over the world will be basking in their continued run of sporting glory particularly over their great foes from Down Under.
