On Saturday night, the highly anticipated rivalry between New Zealand’s best rugby players, bidding for an All Blacks selection, kicked off in Sky Stadium, where the depth of New Zealand rugby was showcased in a clash between the North and South Islands of New Zealand. The South edged out the North for the win, with a score of 38-35. The scoreline alone highlights the talent of New Zealand rugby and that not even COVID-19 could keep the flair of New Zealand rugby at bay.
The last time the North vs. South fixture occurred was in 2012. The first match has been dated back to 1897 in Wellington, where this rivalry has stewed for many years. Initially set to be in Auckland’s Eden Park with a capacity crowd, COVID-19’s resurgence into New Zealand resulted in the shift to Wellington without fans. For those wondering what on Earth this North vs. South fixture is and how it works, let me explain.
New Zealand is renowned for its rugby and the high level of talent and success that comes out of the tiny nation of just five million people. Usually, an All Blacks squad is picked from the Super rugby campaign where five New Zealand provincial teams play against each other and the teams from Australia, South Africa, and Argentina. This was barely able to get underway before COVID-19’s impact cut the competition short. Therefore, New Zealand reverted to its own unique competition where the five provincial sides battled it out for the first Super Rugby Aotearoa (New Zealand) championship, which was won by the Crusaders, based out of Christchurch. If COVID had not gotten in the way, the All Blacks squad would have already been picked, and they would have taken on Wales and Scotland as well as competing against arch-rivals Australia and South Africa. Thus, New Zealand rugby has been thrown into jeopardy financially with fewer games being available and has forced creative solutions to keep fans engaged. Hence, the rebirth of the North vs. South game, where the nation’s best players are put on a show looking to cement their All Black spot. Players are eligible for either of the North or South teams strictly based on where they played their first provincial game for New Zealand. This resulted in exciting new match-ups and “mates versus mates” combinations that were previously unattainable within the parameters of Super Rugby.
Now to the spectacle. Even though the South took the win and claimed the “Loving Cup” (which had previously been lost within the depths of Eden Park for 88 years), it was not a walk in the park by any stretch of the imagination. The North took an early advantage through Rieko Ioane receiving a pinpoint grubber at pace from fellow All Blacks star Beauden Barrett, to go crashing over the line to put the North up 7-0. However, it took only four minutes for the South to retaliate thanks to the quick thinking of Nepo Laulala to dot the ball down right under the noses of the North. Damian McKenzie finished off a beautiful offload series for the North to score at the 17-minute mark, but only to be outdone by some serious strength by the South as Codie Taylor and Jordie Barrett both barreled their way to tries to make the scoreline 17-14 to the South at halftime.
Told you it wasn’t easy
The North had only wait five minutes into the second half to strike back as All Black halfback Aaron Smith made his impact felt off the bench running a great support line off McKenzie, who skirted up the right-hand touchline. A mistake from the otherwise impressive left-winger Caleb Clarke resulted in the electrifying Will Jordan to scamper 40 meters to put the South ahead 24-21. Fast forward to the 71st minute, where things get interesting. Ash Dixon of the North burrows over for a very debatable try where grounding seemed to be obscure. However, for referee Paul Williams it was deemed a try, much to the South’s objections. There was no time for dwelling on the past though, as just on full time, Dixon seemed to gift the South an opportunity via a penalized lineout throw. The South worked their way down into the Norths red zone and with a perfectly weighted kick from replacement first five Josh Ioane which landed in the hands of Will Jordan, sealed the victory.
Looking back on the game, regardless of what team won, it was very heartening to see such talent on display within the realm of New Zealand rugby. And to see seven new All Blacks named in the team announcement on Sunday is reflective of the young talent that is continually making an impact on the game. I feel that I can speak for a lot of fans who would echo the support for this fixture to return in 2021, and to even potentially make it a three-game series would be very interesting, and we look forward to hopefully seeing this new All Blacks squad in action very soon!
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