Field Theory by Hadyn Green

Anticipating the cries of "Shill!" I have to say: I like the new Super 14 uniforms. I also like the idea of having home and away strips.

It makes a fair bit of sense. American leagues have been doing it for over 100 years now (baseball has always has "home whites" and "road greys").

But to get the most information I rang Greig Bramwell of Adidas New Zealand to talk about the new uniforms (audio coming soon).

Beforehand I was sent high-res images of all the new jerseys to pour over (they're all in this Flickr set for your enjoyment). My first thought was that "these are actually pretty cool" and "I'm glad I'm a Chiefs supporter". The advertising is kept to a minimum (Ford front and back, Rebel Sport on the sleeves) and the colour schemes work well (no crazy ideas).

The most "outrageous" design might not be the Highlanders away strip (in Southland maroon) but the Crusaders away strip in "platinum" and red, and after twisting Greig's arm he conceded that it would be the one he would least like to wear. And while he's a Hawkes Bay man, the Blues away strip is the most stylish in his opinion. Personally I don't hate the grey and red (the sword's probably a bit much) but I really like the Chiefs away strip.

But why away jerseys now? Well, as Greig pointed out, the teams have had alternate jerseys for a while now and this is just the next continuation of where the NZRU, the franchises and Adidas want to go to with the uniform design. And that's an important point: the franchises and the NZRU wanted this.

And we know why they want to wear different strips, to look different from the other team. And the players like that. By having an official away jersey the players don't necessarily feel like they are being forced out of their usual colours.

So the teams sit down with the Adidas designers and look over concepts and designs and choose what they want and what colours they want. It's a long process too and many of these designs have been in the pipeline for many years.

Of course there is money involved. This is the first time consumers have been able to purchase the away jerseys. I asked Greig if he expected this to mean greater sales and he said that in an ideal world (for him) every fan would buy a new home and away jersey but he knows that naturally they're not gonna do that. Instead fans can now get to choose a colour. Don't look good in Hurricanes yellow? That's ok, buy the grey jersey.

But what will happen when the Highlanders go to Christchurch or the Hurricanes travel to the Sharks? Well this weekend there is a meeting with all the franchises where all the jerseys are laid out for each game and potential colour clashes are sorted then.

But to the nitty gritty of the jerseys. They are all created with ForMotion, which is Adidas' technique for creating clothing so that it can "enhance the natural motion of sport". So for example in rugby the arms are often held out from the body (especially if Sione Lauki's carrying the ball) so players need their jerseys to give them that freedom.

But surprisingly this still allowed for the jerseys to be constructed differently. Check out the difference at the shoulder on the Hurricanes jersey compared to the Crusaders, compared to the Highlanders. The backs all look like they have the same construction though (but I can't say I like the Chiefs "fanny panel").

The shorts (which I don't have pics of) were also constructed to be better for the players. They are cut so that they are longer on the inner leg than on the outer (rather than straight across like traditional shorts). This was again done because players find them easier to run in. Also the Blues will be the only to have the same shorts and socks for home and away as the team felt that their away strip might be too white.

This may shock some of you who are sticklers for tidiness. The jerseys are designed to be tight (making Richard Kahui fans happy) and that means they don't have to be tucked in. But they better bloody well have their socks pulled up!

Some of you might have noticed that some of the jerseys are embossed with a design. The Chiefs have a koru pattern, the Highlanders have a Celtic shield, and the Hurricanes have their swirly logo. This was an Adidas suggestion that was taken up by the teams. The Blues and the Crusaders also went for details, though theirs are more obvious.

I asked Greig which way the development of uniform technology went and he informed me that all the new and most high-tech stuff goes to the All Blacks and then filters down to the Super 14.

And because Grieg was on the line I couldn't let him get away without asking the most burning uniform question I had all year: were the numbers on the All Black jerseys bigger this year? Not only was I the only one pedantic enough to notice, but it was actually a new font, chosen for its visibility. It is something to note because the new Super 14 jerseys will be using the same font, replacing the hard to read font of last season. Sadly Greig didn't know the name of the new font but I am trying to find out from the NZRU and when I find out I'll tell you (because you're dying to know).

I also asked why there were no poppies on the All Black jerseys when they played Scotland before Armistice Day. The reason was the players decided against it. In fact all decisions like that are made by the players and the NZRU.

All in all we have very little to complain about in the uniform department, unlike these poor bastards.

Super busy today so just a quick note that Rattue has returned and with some great lines like:

The most significant achievement by far during this series was Australia's ability, under Robbie Deans, to pull back from the brink of a disaster that was facing the sport across the Tasman.

He would have been my coach of the year, by a long chalk.

Still clinging to the one loss in the World Cup as the sign that All Black rugby is now, and always shall be less than the best.

We did actually hold a number of teams try-less. Including the Welsh team that beat the significantly achieving Walabies (Warren Gatland, coach of the year).

Rattue really can’t find a nice thing to say:

The high point was the Tri Nations triumph, but let's be realistic here because it was against an Australian side that doesn't have the necessary spread of quality players yet, and a South African squad under the command of an excitable novice and with a backdrop of familiar infighting.

For godssake Chris, cheer the fuck up!

Also the 2009 Super 14 jerseys were revealed. I’ll do my proper “analysis” tomorrow (ps. If anyone from Adidas reads this drop me a quick line, cheers)

So we finished the "Grand Slam". We knocked off, in varying fashions, two poor teams, one mediocre team and one good team (I'll let you decide which was which). Where to from here?

First of all a two-finger salute and a raspberry to Chris Rattue and all of the other Robbie Deans fan club members.

Second we reflect on the wins and ask so who was the best of our Mighty All Blacks? Duncan Johnstone at Stuff did an "analysis" of the players and came up with Ali Williams and Ma'a Nonu as the players of the tour. I was dubious. What about Richie or Mils or Sivi? What variables did Johnstone analyse to come up with this?

Like most New Zealand rugby analysts it was a qualitative analysis done on "what I reckon". Hence the perception of the commentators during the England game that Jimmy Cowan was one of the "best players on the tour" didn't gel with me, my friends or Johnstone.

Qualitative analysis is a real skill, and to do it properly is more than just making some observations. You can argue that an experienced sportswriter should be able to make inferences and judgements that others can't. But I'm also dubious of the bias that they can apply to their analysis. Think of the amount of times that New Zealand commentators notice that the All Blacks are infringing compared to the amount of times English commentators might.

So that's why I found this graphic (pdf) of the game from the Times to be extremely informative including the very good pie charts at the bottom showing exactly how the All Blacks dominated. (Also interesting is that Delon Armitage was wearing Adidas boots with his Nike uniform). And then there was this graphic (jpg) showing that (during this tour) New Zealand were the best Tri-Nations team in carrying the ball, second best in lineout percentage and a woeful 68% in goal kicking.

These are real numbers and should be reveled in, they're not a "I think Conrad Smith is better than Richard Kahui" style of analysis. Though to be fair on our rugby analysts, the NZRU does not collect statistics for overseas games so they may not have much to go on.

You may think passion is hard to quantify. It is not. Just look at the results and the 18% [Six Nations victories over Tri-Nations since 2003]. There is a burning intensity in the All Blacks and the Springboks that is light years ahead.

And that came from Stephen Jones. He also wrote:

The south are better because they want it more. In Europe, our players think they are passionate, they hang their heads when they lose, they sing their anthems lustily and know when the camera is on them as they are doing so.

Goodness gracious Stephen!

Oh and the 2011 World Cup pools have been announced. There doesn't look to be any Pool of Death this time around, which is a little dull.

Well it's a long hot summer ahead of us now and we can all kick back and look forward to the cricket season. The Windies heading into a rather awkward marketing campaign in Dunedin, further losses to the Aussies, and maybe some even uglier uniforms (why did the Black Caps play a test match in t-shirts with bibs on them?) At least until February when the rugby starts again.

*******
ps. I apologise to anyone who heard me on bFM on Sunday morning. It was far from being my best performance. When asked to list the best sporting moments of 2008 I completely had a brain freeze and forgot everything. From the Olympics to the Rugby League World Cup to the U17 Women's Football Cup. I even forgot who won the Super 14! My excuses include the following: half asleep; car towed due to stupid Santa parade; racing to the airport to catch a flight.

The Dropkicks play games during our podcast (Russell famously cleaned up in one game by creating the best Sarah Ulmer haiku). During one of these games I stumped the entire group by asking which golfer was retiring after 72 tour wins. I neglected to mention the ten majors because I thought it would give the answer away: Annika Sörenstam.

And this weekend Annika retired (though sadly it was in a tournament where she didn't make the cut). All of her previous victories naturally make her the highest earning female golfer ever ($22 million) and would have her at number 16 on the men's list (between Fred Funk and Scott Verplank). She is also the only player (male or female) to win the same tournament five years in a row.

Sörenstam played during and, some would argue, created a huge wave of public interest in women's golf. Players like Sörenstam and Michele Wie excited golf fans especially in the US as they were able to be branded as true "superstars" of the sport. Wie would later ruin much of her status by continually entering men's events and performing poorly.

With her form in decline it is probably the right time for her to retire to focus on (as the athletes often say) other projects. But hopefully her contributions to the sport will be long-lasting.

And if you are a fan of women's golf you might be in luck. Sky is cutting back on the number of sports it holds exclusive rights on. This may mean that sports like tennis (because y'know, nobody watches tennis) can be purchased by other stations.

And who wins because of that? We do! Yes, we'll have to put up with Tony Street and Andrew Saville shouting at Venus and Serena: "anything to say to New Zealand?" But at least we'll get it for free.

And for those who need at least one bit of rugby in these posts: The IRB have reviewed their Player Release policy. The new policy will come into effect on January 1, 2009.

Here's the bit that effects us the most:

Global release periods

June international window – the right to release for the senior national representative team, the next senior national representative team and the Under 20 national representative team. Three matches played in June.

November international window – the right to release for the senior national representative team, the next senior national representative team and the Under 20 national representative team. Three matches played in November.

There are no Global Release Periods in a Rugby World Cup year.

So gee this Rugby League World Cup thing, it's probably quite a friendly affair. I mean all the guys know each other from the NRL right? So it's probably going to be a hard match but probably not that intense…

Oh my!

Still the far superior Kangaroos would surely defeat the gallant Kiwis as they have done for many many years… NZ 32 - Australia 20.

With the half-time score being 18-16 it pretty much seemed to be another Australian victory in the making. But then something happened. We hammered them in every aspect. Spiro Zavos said it was the "Big M", momentum. I would totally agree. (I wouldn't agree with his statement that Americans use the term "Big M" all the time, I've never ever heard it used).

Once we had a few break outs and once the Aussies had a few calls go against them they fell apart. Perhaps completely dominating the opposition for years meant that they had never prepared for having to really battle to win an important match.

After a game like that I imagine some people would "go fuckin' mental" (isn't YouTube fantastic). I personally went so far as to yell at the television image of the Australian coach: "Ricky Stewart you're a [expletive]!"

But the main question that came out of that game is: does this mean Stephen Kearney is a better coach than Graham Henry or Robbie Deans? Because that would seriously fuck with my head.

New Zealand 29 Wales 9 (HT 6-9 Wales)
I missed the haka but I figured that it wouldn't be that interesting. Boy was I wrong. Following the showdown in Australia, the Welsh decided they weren't going to be stared down in their own stadium and in front of their fans. I fucking loved it!

(On a related note the Welsh uniforms are made by Under Armour, whose slogan is "Protect This House")

The first half really was just awful. We couldn't make tackles, we couldn't keep our feet, and we couldn't keep the scrums upright. And most importantly, we didn't have the ball.

Then we did what we always do in the second half: play well and don't give up points. That's been the game plan since the All Blacks left on this tour.

I blasted the commentators last week for misuse of "average" (then you lot blasted me for line charts), this week I think we can't be surprised that the northern teams think we're arrogant when people like Tony Johnson are saying things like "[the All Blacks were] penalised for their superiority"

We used to worry about our lineouts, but it seems now we have to worry about our scrum feeds. Jimmy Cowan feed was so crooked I don't think I saw a leg hook it back all game.

Still we should be able to humiliate England next week.

One of the things I've noticed on the tour so far is the singing the crowds do (when they aren't being deathly still). This art form is something lost in the southern hemisphere (beyond the grunting to that awful "oo, ah" song that is played ad nauseum during the Super 14 even though Umaga is long gone).

The Kiwis did us another great service by singing Slice of Heaven on the celebration stage.

New Zealand has created hundreds of perfectly singable songs that would be perfect during sports matches (or at least as perfect as Swing Low Sweet Chariot). The obvious one is Don't Dream it's Over, perfect for those world cup campaigns. Feel free to make your suggestions in the comments.

Then after all that we lost the cricket. This weekend totally sucks