Barrett has perhaps copped the full brunt of this, having played just nine minutes off the bench through the first seven tests of the year, before injuries saw him start at fullback in the first Bledisloe Cup test in Auckland.
Had Love been healthy for the Bledisloe Cup tests, I expected Barrett’s place in the squad entirely might have been at risk. After the last two weeks, Barrett has made me – and I’m sure many others – sorry to have ever doubted him.
In two starts at fullback against the Wallabies, Barrett has reminded everyone just how good he is. He might not have the same explosiveness or speed of a 20-something-year-old, but his instincts and ability certainly have not declined. He has injected himself nicely into the attack, with two tries in Sydney on Saturday, including a long-range intercept, but his defensive work over the last two weeks should be commended as well as he has been in position to tidy up some potentially tricky situations and has thrown himself into work around the breakdown where and when it has been needed.
Codie Taylor was among the All Blacks’ best in their win over the Wallabies in Sydney. Photo / Photosport
Not to be outdone, Taylor had his best performance of the season in Saturday night’s win. In taking over as captain with Ardie Savea out injured, Taylor led the way with his ball-carrying, breaking the line a few times to get the side on the front foot, while he had a characteristically high tackle count and the set piece functioned pretty well when he was on the park.
While Barrett said early last week that he doesn’t listen to the outside noise around his position in the team, performances like this challenge the idea that these veterans are ready to be written off. I hope they continue to prove people (myself included) wrong.
Loser: Men’s Rugby League World Cup draw
Who comes up with this stuff?
Pool A makes sense – four teams, everyone plays each other once and the top two teams move into the semi-final.
Then you get to the rest of it. Generally in a tournament, teams will play opponents in their own pool and the top however many move on. Not here. The Rugby League World Cup prefers a more confusing methodology.
Instead, Pool B and C feature three teams in each and only play the teams in the opposite pool. After that, the pools are combined and the top two teams between them then move on, so there is a chance that one pool is not represented in the semi-finals at all.
It was a move brought about by a reduction in teams – from 16 down to just 10 – and, as Nick Bewley points out on the Big League Podcast, seems like it’s manufactured for several outcomes: Australia and New Zealand to play each other at least once, Tonga and Samoa to play each other at least once, and the potential for an Australia-New Zealand final.
Cutting the number of entries also means there are no quarter-finals, meaning some decent teams will miss out on the knockout stages. Had they cut the number down to 12 instead of 10, maybe they could have perhaps had another knockout round, with eight teams progressing. It’s now trending towards the potential of the semi-finals simply turning into a Pacific Championship.
Winners: Brutal Black Ferns
Thirteen tries. 81 points. No mercy.
The Black Ferns have looked every part a world-leading team in 2027, playing a brand of rugby that appears to have found the balance between the physicality of their pack and the speed and skill in the backline. There seems to be a clear focus on winning through the middle and earning the right to attack the space created out wide.
And in the first of three tests against a new-look French team, the visitors could not stop their hosts.
The Black Ferns impressed in their big win over France in Hamilton. Photo / Alyse Wright
The Black Ferns were able to open up the French defence often and when the visitors had possession, the New Zealand defence was dominant in the tackle and got off the line quickly to pressure ball-handlers.
When it came to icing their moments, the Black Ferns were more clinical than they were on their European tour – a key lesson from that trip.
With two tests left this year – against France in Whangārei and Christchurch – the New Zealand side continue to show the potential they have, which bodes well for next year’s Lions tour and, looking much further ahead, the World Cup in 2029.
Losers: White Ferns’ wait goes on
The New Zealand cricketers fell to a two-wicket defeat against Australia on Sunday night in the first of three T20s.
An unbeaten 85-run knock from Georgia Plimmer, with Maddy Green also not out on 52, wasn’t enough to see the White Ferns home. Posting 162-2 after their 20 overs, Australia were able to chase it down with seven balls – and two wickets – to spare, Ellyse Perry leading the way with 52.
Plimmer was named player of the match, but it was little consolation as the New Zealand outfit fell to their 10th T20 loss to Australia in a row. You have to go back to March 2021 to find the last time the White Ferns beat their Australian counterparts in a T20.
Winner: Daniel Hillier surges ahead
After a poor start at the DP World Tour India Championship, it would have been easy to write off Kiwi golfer Daniel Hillier’s hopes at saving a decent result.
By the end of the second round, the 28-year-old was in contention to win the tournament.
This was an important week for Hillier’s hopes of securing a PGA Tour card in 2027, with the top 10 players on the former European Tour not already exempt invited to join the American tour next year.
Hillier went into India holding the last of those spots, but with some big events still on the schedule, that could easily be snatched from his grasp.
Daniel Hillier finished second in the DP World Tour India Championship. Photo / Getty Images
But Hillier showed determination to storm home in India, holding the clubhouse lead when he finished his final round before ultimately settling for second place at 19-under-par, two shots behind the Spanish winner, Eugenio Chacarra.
As a result, Hillier jumped from No 14 to No 8 in the DP World Tour rankings, which sees him move to fifth on the list of 10 potential PGA Tour call-ups.
Winners: Silver Ferns make a statement
The Silver Ferns could not have got off to a more satisfying start.
It was expected the Australian Diamonds would rebound after being bounced out of the Commonwealth Games in the semi-finals, but the gold medal-winning New Zealanders did not let that happen in their 56-50 win in Auckland; a scoreline that flattered the Australians.
Goal shoot Grace Nweke converted 40 of her 41 shot attempts, the Silver Ferns shooters collective making 90% of their attempts on the back of strong work from the midcourt.
But the big winner was the Silver Ferns’ defence. The Diamonds shooters struggled under the pressure of Ferns goal keep Kelly Jackson and goal defence Karin Burger, held to just 82%.
It’s a strong start to the four-match series, particularly given the series tiebreaker is goal percentage this year, rather than extra time.
Kelly Jackson battles Australia’s Cara Koenen for the ball at Spark Arena. Photo / Photosport
Loser: Death is not enough
A college football game was played under a shadow of darkness in the United States at the weekend after a man died during a pre-game exhibition.
Before the University of Texas at San Antonio’s clash against the Navy on Sunday (NZT), part of UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game included a pre-game ceremony during which four officers were set to rappel down to the field 15 minutes before kickoff. ESPN reports one of the officers appeared to lose control while descending and crashed to the turf.
Medical staff were quick on the scene and the officer was transported to the hospital but died of his injuries. Kickoff was delayed by 10 minutes, before UTSA went on to claim a 38-34 win.
That came after the Lions’ Champions Cup match against La Rochelle went ahead after Lions lock Hyron Andrews was found dead in his hotel room the night before the game. The teams agreed to play the game as planned, with the Lions losing 31-14.
There aren’t many situations in which I would expect a fixture to not go ahead, but surely death is a good enough reason to maybe put the brakes on, let everyone process and grieve what has happened if they need to, and figure things out from there.
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.