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The Classic All Blacks could be a shining light for NZR

Richard Kahui at the All Blacks' victory parade after winning the 2011 Rugby World Cup. (Photo by Martin Hunter / Getty Images)

New Zealand’s not short of former All Blacks. Nor are we limited in our affection for them.

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No, we all love an ex-All Black and would relish the opportunity to be around one.

Forty thousand Spaniards packed out a park in Madrid the other day, to do just that.

The Classic All Blacks aren’t a new phenomenon. They turned up at a tournament in Bermuda for years, playing a bit of footy, swapping old yarns and enjoying the hospitality..

The more you read or heard about those trips, the more you wish you could’ve been there.

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Hosea Gear talks to RugbyPass

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Hosea Gear talks to RugbyPass

If I had a dollar for every person who’s told me “I used to watch rugby,’’ I wouldn’t have to write columns for a living.

This country is littered with dyed in the wool rugby folk who’ve fallen out of love with the game, in large part because they can’t relate to the players.

They idolised player X or player Y, but haven’t been as enthused since he gave the game away.

I’m not telling you anything you don’t know. If you’re reading this then you remember when All Blacks played club rugby and had regular jobs, lived in modest houses and drove the kind of car you could afford too.

The players were relatable and visible and loved a beer as much as you did.

Well, if fans are to re-engage with the game, then our former players wouldn’t be a bad place to start.

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Why should the Classic All Blacks be confined to playing overseas? Why couldn’t New Zealand Rugby (NZR) use them as a marketing tool, travelling the country, playing games, running clinics, hosting aftermatches and generally appealing to the nostalgics in all of us?

Some of my happiest days in the rugby media were spent in towns such as Eketahuna and Waverley, where our Super Rugby stars had come to play pre-season games.

To see the smiling faces and interaction between fans, coaches and players was to see the sport at its finest.

No-one went home unhappy and everyone agreed that rugby was the winner.

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But it’s hard for active players to do those things too often. There are so many demands on their time that days like that have to be the exception rather than the rule.

That’s where our former All Blacks could come in.

My interest in watching ex-players do rugby analysis is nil, but I would love to see them play or coach or talk about their era.

I’m not alone.

A second series of Match Fit is about to hit our television screens, Piri Weepu now has a lucrative second career as an TV outdoorsman and every word uttered and deed done by Daniel Carter is front page news.

And that’s just three random examples of people’s continued fascination with those men who’ve worn the most famous rugby jersey of them all.

We have a huge, under-utilised resource here that could help win back the hearts and minds of the rugby public and I would strongly urge NZR to tap into it.

I would pay to watch the Classic All Blacks play and then pay to listen to them talk at a function afterwards. I’d pay to have them coach kids’ teams, adult teams, you name it.

We have the Black Clash Twenty20 cricket game these days and the old Fight for Life boxing in the years before that; both wildly popular and both built on our unstinting admiration for former All Blacks.

There’s a buck to me made here but, more important than that, there is a connection between the public and the game that can be rebuilt.

Put the Classic All Blacks on club grounds, provincial stadiums or Eden Park; I don’t care. Just put them somewhere where fans can watch them, talk to them, touch them, drink with them or just simply tell them how much they love them.

New Zealand has a rich and enviable rugby tradition and it’s about time we made the most of it.

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Comments

2 Comments
M
Machpants 905 days ago

The real question is where can we get a replica jersey, they were awesome! I'd love one

D
Denis 905 days ago

I think all of what you suggest but promoting the game in third tier rugby countries like Spain a couple of times a year for charity and funding to grow the game in the host country. Speakers at club fund raising lunches at cost would help grassroots clubs and their aligned schools, not the big schools who recruit from Nuku'alofa to Invercargill though.
Cheers Denis H.

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Hellhound 58 minutes ago
Scotland's Gregor Townsend confirms Tom Jordan Glasgow exit

NZ lost a great player there. Played brilliantly for Glasgow and against SA was the best player on the pitch. Caused the Boks some headaches. Slot him into the current AB's team, and they would be very dangerous, especially broken play.


However, the Scots isn't stupid and their recruiting from the SH countries is starting to pay off. They don't have the player pool the SH countries have, nor that of their neighbours even.


I applaud them for being so open-minded as giving those players who have loyally played their rugby in Scotland for years a chance. SA for one have such a vast pool of players that's so talented and could be world class given the smallest chance, but will never get a look in because there is just so many stars in the country.


I don't mind that Saffas play for other countries to further their own careers. Besides, it makes Scotland better and makes for one more team to step up to the big stage and make rugby more exciting than just the top 4 that usually wins.


Scotland may have lost by 17 against a rusty Bok "B" team, but that score is not a true indication of that match. The Scottish biggest mistakes was kicking at goal the entire time, instead of going for the jugular. If they tried to go for tries, they may have been stopped and the score might have been bigger, but the game was on such a knife edge, that if they did go for it, they might have scored a couple of tries or more and we very well might have seen a Scottish upset.


It was by no means a bad effort at all. Tom Jordan is one of their best new talents coming through. He should've stayed with Glasgow. What a loss for the URC Champs. Going to Loftus and getting one over the Bulls is something that not even the so called best team in club rugby could do. Leinster keeps losing at Loftus. For Glasgow to do that in a Final was phenomenal and Tom Jordan was no small part of that feat.


Rugby is truely becoming a global sport now, where the eligibility rules is making rugby a much smaller world, but a much bigger global game. The Scots is most likely the team with the most aliens in their team. They welcome players with open arms. I applaud that. They are a sleeping giant, and if they continue playing like they did against the Boks, despite the results, they will become a real threat for 2027.


I admired how they played. They impressed everyone. I say good on them. Results will come if they continue on their upward trajectory. I wish them and Tom Jordan all the luck they deserve.

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