FIRST TEST:THE VIADUCT is a swanky part of Auckland, crammed with state of the art yachts. It also boasts some of the nicest restaurants, especially for fish and of course Marlborough whites, that you could dream off.
‘Soul’, with its outdoor heated area, is top of the range, so needless to say the clintele is fairly well-heeled and overhearing three tables nearby, the main topic of conversation is not unusual this week.
The impending All Blacks Test programme? The ministerial expenses scandal (it’s definitely catching, eh?) which is gripping the former Labour government?
No, it is the impending World Cup and the participation of the All Whites.
New Zealand’s games are not exactly conducive to prime-time viewing. Their opener next Tuesday against Slovakia is at 11.30pm local time, and their other Group F games against Italy and Paraguay are at 2am which, of course, makes for finishes of around 4am.
Rugby is still the main game in all New Zealand towns, and in time honoured tradition, daily pronouncements from the All Blacks’ camp still provide the back page lead in the New Zealand Morning Herald, along with the much trumpeted arrival of the brilliant Sonny Bill Williams, who is set to play with Counties Manakau and the Canterbury crusaders.
But despite odds of 1,000 to 1 or 2,000 to 1 on the All Whites, the World Cup has nudged their All Black counterparts off the front pages most days this week, as well as many of the sports television and radio bulletins.
As well as page one updates on stories such as vice-captain Tim Brown’s remarkable recovery from the broken shoulder he sustained against Australia on May 24th, the first nine pages of the Herald’s 16-page Friday sports supplement is devoted to the World Cup, complete with centerfold wall chart.
The All Blacks’ coverage begins on page 10. Likewise, the Dominion Post has a Friday sports pull-out devoted entirely to the World Cup.
This also comes at a time when interest in soccer has never been so high in New Zealand and where there has been documented fears amongst parents of white children especially about them competing with physically much more mature Polynesian boys especially.
Needless to say, the NZRU chief executive Steve Tew denies that rugby is losing ground amongst the youth of New Zealand. “Our numbers are good. We had an increase again in 2009 and our registration process is tracking well this year. Anecdotally, we’ve got some unions who have got more junior teams and school teams coming in.
“So, looking after our own patch we’re comfortable that we’re holding our ground, but it’s a very competitive market place. It might sound a little trite, but we actually are not defensive about soccer or any other sport for that matter and I’ve got teenage kids who I’m watching go through a number of these sports myself.
“We play a role in this country which I think is a good one and that is we help get kids out there playing different sports, and good things come out of playing sport. If they play other sports, that’s fine. We’ve just got to make sure that our sport is as attractive and compelling as it possibly can be for kids. It’s still the cheapest team sport in the country.
“We’re not complacent. We don’t take anything for granted but we’re also not going to have a face-off battle and I wish the All Whites the very best at what is a great event,” he says, diplomatically and confidently, perhaps also comforted by New Zealand hosting the Rugby World Cup next year.
Things are also different in New Plymouth. Whereas the Irish squad took two short flights to Taranaki, some of a reduced press corps (economic times we live in) opted for the five-hour, 366 kilometre trek by road. Where else would you find Bernie’s Gas and Gobble, a self-explanatory petrol station cum café, in Te Kuiti amid the rolling hills of King Country? Then there’s the even more spectacular winding roads on the descent to the final coastal stretch toward New Plymouth in Taranaki “Winding roads – Be Patient,” is the advice to motorists.
With each passing kilometre, hardly encountering other motorists, it seemed as if we were moving further away from World Cup fever and instead deep in to rugby territory. Admittedly, the All Blacks are here for only the second time, having hosted Samoa in June 2008. Accordingly, the entire front page of yesterday’s Taranaki Daily News was devoted to the impending Test match and the “Warm welcome for Irish” headline over a picture of a smiling David Wallace, Ronan O’Gara and Brian O’Driscoll, albeit with a lingering resentment that “the Irish rugby team finally arrived in New Plymouth yesterday five days after the All Blacks”.
Even so, a mixture of about 200 fans and well-wishers greeted the team, including 150 boarders from New Plymouth Boys High School who greeted the Irish squad with a performance of the haka. In seeking to make up lost ground, the non-playing members of the squad this weekend visited a local school yesterday afternoon.
There were eight cameras trailing their lenses on Declan Kidney and Brian O’Driscoll as a 25-strong media pack were crammed into a rectangular room to the front of Yarrow Stadium about the size of an average living room.
Yarrow Stadium is also where Taranaki, Liefemi Mafi et al, hosted the Lions in 2005, Donncha O’Callaghan recalling how he was pack leader that night and called the line-outs on himself. “I felt like Paul O’Connell,” he quipped.
Since those days, the Taranaki union have turned one grassy bank into terracing (which is just as well) and installed bucket seats, albeit uncovered, increasing the capacity to 25,000.
As of yesterday, they were only 2,000 shy of their anticipated capacity. The sand-based pitch has been relayed and O’Callaghan extolled the playing surface despite the downpours of the previous 48 hours or so.
Whether it’s because of the All Whites’ participation in the World Cup or not, it seems as if even by their own unequalled standards, the All Blacks’ publicity machine has moved up another gear this year. Updated press releases confirm details of some sort of media activity every single day of this three-match Steinlager Series against Ireland and Wales (two games) and the upcoming Tri Nations.
There also appears to be more mixing with locals more than ever. Much has been made of them “winning the publicity battle” (although if Ireland had been here for a month would it have affected the supporters’ loyalties come kick-off?) and augmenting their customary Monday open sessions with visits to golf courses, public autograph sessions and even house visits!
Of course, the All Blacks bus that pulled up outside the home of Mike and Heidi Griffin and their two teenage sons on Tuesday were accompanied by camera crews and journalists.
Richie McCaw chatted away in the lounge as Richard Kahui made tea in the kitchen before Brad Thorn played a version of the Star Wars theme on the piano.
In the land of the Long White Cloud, this is akin to a surprise call-in from royalty.
The All Blacks are pushing the boat out like never before, probably because they have to.
