ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
And just like that, the Kiwi Titanic that is the All Blacks has collided with the Green and Gold iceberg and is now pretending that everything is going to be OK.
It won’t be.
The Wallabies’ 16-16 draw yesterday with the All Blacks in Wellington spells the beginning of the end of rugby union in New Zealand as we know it.
Their unique brand of rugby (which lets them play the ball while on all fours, put a foot on the touch line and still be inside the field of play, bulling the referee, deciding that they don’t really want to play the ball after they get tackled and entering rucks and mauls from anyway they want) is now on the out.
Early reports out of New Zealand suggest soccer might become the new national sport – look out Brazil.
Echoing this masthead’s sentiments this morning was columnist and author Peter FitzSimons, who agreed that this historic draw has spelled the death of rugby union in New Zealand.
“This historic draw has spelled the death of rugby union in New Zealand,” he told our reporter via telephone this morning.
“Rugby is back. Back like my latest book, which will be on shelves just before Christmas. This one is about the 1984 Sydney bank robbery and hostage crisis. The working title is Spitting Headache because (spoiler alert) the bank robber ended up getting shot in the brain by a policeman down at the Spit Bridge in Sydney. Great yarn.”
The Advocate sought comment from Rugby Australia’s marketing pigeon but has yet to receive a reply.
More to come.
