New Zealand Sports

New Zealand is a sports-crazed nation; almost half the population belongs to the New Zealand Sports Assembly, 150 national sporting associations. In addition to the multitude of outdoor sports, including skiing, rafting, swimming, hiking, and jetboating, Kiwis also hit the grass in organized sports like rugby, cricket, golf, tennis, and field hockey. New Zealand keeps certain sporting heroes close to its heart. While Sir Edmund Hillary is the most treasured Kiwi athlete, Olympic level track and field heroes have also won the affections of many Kiwis. Jack Lovelock was a 1500m gold medalist in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, Peter Snell and Murray Halberg took home the gold in the 800m and 5000m respectively. Though New Zealand’s performance in the 2000 Sydney Olympics seemed less than stellar, Rob Waddell brought home a gold medal in the single scull. Several Kiwis carried the proverbial torch in Athens at the 2004 Olympics; Hamish Carter and Bevan Docherty brought home the gold and silver in the men’s triathlon.

Rugby. This country likes to sit on the sidelines, especially to watch rugby. When a big match is televised, all the locals will be glued to their TVs. Most people in New Zealand are die-hard Rugby Union fans. The Super 12 tournament is a popular rugby event with the best players from Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa organized into 12 teams.

Kiwi pride swells enormously for the All Blacks, the national team whose season usually runs from late May to September. The team shines during the Tri-Nations Games that take place among the Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa teams from July to August. The All Blacks won the Tri-Nations in 2002, 2003, 2005, and 2006 and look to continue their winning ways in the abbreviated 2007 series. During the same months, the All Blacks also compete for the coveted Bledisloe Cup, which they won in 2003 and 2004. If anything, this obsession reached a fevered pitch following the All Blacks’ 1987 victory in the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks hope to recreate history for the 20th anniversary of their win in France in the fall of 2007. Despite their popularity, however, the team has garnered controversy. In 1960, the All Blacks made a protested tour of South Africa in which Maori players were excluded. Then, in 1981, the South African Springboks made a tour of New Zealand, prompting claims that New Zealand tacitly supported apartheid.

Be sure not to confuse Rugby Union with the less popular Rugby League, which features regional teams instead of national teams. The difference between the two can be confusing, but long ago the Rugby League split with Rugby Union over a disagreement about the “purity” of professional rugby play.

Cricket. There are two types of cricket competition. The first is test-match cricket, which takes place between two teams in a six-hour match each day for five days. The second method is one-day cricket, typically played, as the name suggests, as a one-day series between pairs of teams or round-robin competitions between teams. A World Cup one-day competition is played between all the Test nations—the nine nations recognized by the International Cricket Council. New Zealand’s next chance for World Cup glory will be in late 2007 in the Caribbean.

Sailing. In 1995 the Kiwi sailing team Black Magic swiped the America’s Cup from the United States, marking only the second time in 145 years that the cup was not won by an American team. The 1996 mauling of the cup at the hands of a sledgehammer-wielding Maori rights activist drew international headlines to tense Maori-Pakeha relations. Fully restored, the cup made several countrywide tours.

In March 2000, Team New Zealand, determined to protect the Kiwi hold on the Cup, trounced their Italian opponent, Prada Challenge, with innovative racing techniques. With this decisive victory, New Zealand cemented its reputation as a top yachting nation, becoming the first country other than the US to defend the Cup. New Zealand’s reign came to an end in 2003, as the Swiss snatched the prize. The presence of Kiwis on the Swiss team may have had a bit to do with this victory. While early races in the Louis Vuitton Cup look promising for Team New Zealand, the boat has yet to qualify for the challenger position in the 2007 America’s Cup race, which will begin in late June 2007 in Valencia, Spain.