Statistic of the Day

[Lizard]

All Blacks Fullback Captains

Ben Smith, 2017, beat Samoa
Mils Muliaina, 2009, beat Italy, won 1 - lost 1 v France
Joe O'Leary, 1913, won 1 - lost 1 v Australia

[Lizard]

Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor are easily New Zealand's highest scoring pair in test cricket, with 3608 runs together. This is the most for any active pair in the world, but some way short of Tendulkar/Dravid's all-time mark of 6920.

Williamson/Taylor have over 55% more runs than the next best for NZ (2327, WIlliamson/Latham). To highlight just how rare it is for NZ to have two world-class batsmen at the same time, Williamson/Taylor are in the top 16 partnerships of all time and will climb up that ranking. No other NZ pair makes the top 60.

Top NZ Test Batting Pairs
1. Williamson/Taylor 3608 (16th in the world)
2. Williamson/Latham 2327 (64th)
3. Astle/Fleming 1951 (97th)

[zer0]

Blatantly stolen from CricInfo commentary.

"Here's a stat for you - since 2017 Kane Williamson has averaged 60.48 in test cricket, an impressive stat by itself, however his weakness has been susceptibility early. If he gets past just 5 runs his average leaps up to massive 93.90!"

Once he hits a boundary he's basically Bradman.

[Lizard]

That is amazing.

[zer0]

To celebrate one of the greatest achievements in NZ sporting history:

[zer0]

And to follow up on that stat about Steady the Ship basically becoming Bradman after scoring a boundary:

Williamson
Average 2017-current: 64.48
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 90.00
Difference: +25.52

Kohli
Average 2017-current: 61.32
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 82.23
Difference: +20.91

Smith
Average 2017-current: 62.06
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 70.53
Difference: +8.47

Root
Average 2017-current: 42.48
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 50.66
Difference: +8.18

[Lizard]

I am going to share that. Great stats.

[Lizard]

And to follow up on that stat about Steady the Ship basically becoming Bradman after scoring a boundary:

Williamson
Average 2017-current: 64.48
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 90.00
Difference: +25.52

Kohli
Average 2017-current: 61.32
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 82.23
Difference: +20.91

Smith
Average 2017-current: 62.06
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 70.53
Difference: +8.47

Root
Average 2017-current: 42.48
Average 2017-current for innings >5 runs: 50.66
Difference: +8.18

I guess the other relevant info is the proportion of innings of >5 each has:
Williamson: 29/41 = 70.7%
Kohli: 44/57 = 77.2%
Smith: 44/49 = 89.8%
Root: 67/81 = 82.7%

So the good news for teams playing NZ is that Williamson is frail until he has 6 runs.

[Lizard]

Prompted by spotting three Maori All Blacks in the 6N over the weekend...

Maori All Blacks capped in tests by nations other than New Zealand:
James Arlidge - Japan
Frano Botica - Croatia*
Riki Flutey - England/Lions
Jamison Gibson-Park - Ireland
Jamie Joseph - Japan*
James Lowe - Ireland
Sean Maitland - Scotland
Deacon Manu - Fiji
Ryan Nicholas - Japan
Bryce Robins - Japan
Blade Thomson - Scotland
Thomas Waldrom - England

Honorable mention
Tasesa Lavea (Samoa) was selected for the Maori but pulled out due to injury.
Clint Newland played in the IRB Nations Cup for a South African "A" team.
Sonny Parker played Maori Colts and for Wales.
Darrel Shelford played league for Scotland

I can't guarantee this is comprehensive, but it's a good start.

*Also capped by NZ

[Lizard]

Fuck. Missed an easy one:

Shane Howarth - Wales

[Spiffy]

Prompted by spotting three Maori All Blacks in the 6N over the weekend...

Maori All Blacks capped in tests by nations other than New Zealand:
James Arlidge - Japan
Frano Botica - Croatia*
Riki Flutey - England/Lions
Jamison Gibson-Park - Ireland
Jamie Joseph - Japan*
James Lowe - Ireland
Sean Maitland - Scotland
Deacon Manu - Fiji
Ryan Nicholas - Japan
Bryce Robins - Japan
Blade Thomson - Scotland
Thomas Waldrom - England

Honorable mention
Tasesa Lavea (Samoa) was selected for the Maori but pulled out due to injury.
Clint Newland played in the IRB Nations Cup for a South African "A" team.
Sonny Parker played Maori Colts and for Wales.
Darrel Shelford played league for Scotland

I can't guarantee this is comprehensive, but it's a good start.

*Also capped by NZ

What defines a Maori in NZ? One grandparent? Rr does it go farther back than that?

[Lizard]

For general purposes, it is usually a matter of self-identification based on any degree of ancestry. Whakapapa (genealogy) and Iwi (tribe) affiliation are central parts of Māori culture and identity*. Many Māori whose family history** allows will know their ancestry quite well.

For electoral purposes***, Māori means “a person of the Maori race of New Zealand; and includes any descendant of such a person.”

For the Māori All Blacks, the minimum qualification is at least one Māori ancestor. As I understand, players are asked about their Whakapapa and efforts are made to ensure they do have a real connection to Iwi. These days. the concept of the Māori All Blacks would not last long if Māori themselves saw it as cultural appropriation or inauthentic. This has not always been the case. In the past, when NZ was much less multicultural, basically any dark-skinned player was considered eligible and Pacific Islanders and even players of African descent have played for what was then “New Zealand Maori.”

I am aware in posting this that I am Pākehā, not Māori, and commenting on other people’s culture. I am happy to stand corrected by those from that culture.


*Contrary to what is probably portrayed to tourists, the idea of a unitary, single Māori people is not really true.
**Insert lengthy essay about colonialism undermining this, and in fact most, aspects of Māori culture and identity.
***Our Parliament includes seats for Māori electorates. Māori can decide whether they vote for a Māori seat or a General seat.

[Lizard]

Here is an article from 2003 that I think illustrates it quite nicely. I've added translations where needed.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/its-mo ... OIMY3PUK4/

All Black great Christian Cullen's eligibility for the New Zealand Maori rugby team became public knowledge this week - at precisely the moment his selection for the Maori team was announced.

While plenty of rugby followers seemed aware the Paekakariki Express had Samoan and German ancestry, few knew he was tangata whenua [literally "people of the land"].

It was not the first time questions have been raised about the Maori ancestry of a player selected for a Maori side.

Nor was Cullen's the only selection in this squad to raise eyebrows: blonde-haired Auckland flanker Daniel Braid was also named, as was Otago centre Ryan Nicholas, who has played sevens as a Cook Islander.

Bill Bush, an All Black from 1974-79 and NZ Maori player from 1973-82, says such selections made a mockery of the team.

"I think there's three or four that aren't Maoris that are playing for the Maori All Blacks," Bush told the Weekend Herald this week. "If you're going to have a New Zealand Maori team you've got to be Maori to play for it."

But Maori coach Matt Te Pou was in no doubt his line-up was legitimate.

"They're all Maori, the whole lot," he said.

"I've got a couple of guys in the team that are Fijian and Maori, Europeans and Maori, Irish, German, it's just the type of life we're in at the moment," Te Pou said.

"We say to the players you require Maori blood, you also need to know your genealogy in respect to that Maori blood, because in Maoridom you will be challenged."

Peter Potaka, manager of the Maori team, said the New Zealand Rugby Union was building a database of all Maori players and who was eligible starting with the Super 12 players and working down through NPC and national and provincial age-grade representatives.

Potaka said the managers of all the Super 12 teams were asked to supply a list of eligible players, but the system was not foolproof. This year it threw up Keith Lowen as Maori, not because the Rarotongan claimed to be, but because someone from the Chiefs incorrectly assumed he was.

Informal checks were made if there were any doubts. This was done by the team's kaumatua [respected elder], Whetu Tipiwai, from Hawkes Bay.

"The first question is what's his iwi [tribe]and what's his marae [a place/community within an Iwi - sort of like a parish within a wider church]. It's pretty powerful; it's really interesting how it operates."

Potaka said the Maori selectors had been aware of Cullen's eligibility for a couple of years "but up until now he's never really been available for selection. It wasn't our place to say that he was being considered or was eligible".

Cullen's father, Chris, said his father was Maori and his mother Samoan, so his son qualified. "You only need a little fingernail, don't you?"

Proof of that perhaps is Braid, whose father Gary, a 1983-84 All Black, said Daniel's mother, Sue, was Maori from Te Aroha [a particular marae, also the name of the town it is in].

"I think Sue is a 16th, so Dan's probably a 32nd. He can trace it back, he's got the family tree and everything. Dan's bona fide."

Bush and Braid both recalled past instances of non bona fide selections.

Bush was assistant coach of the Maori team that toured Europe and Argentina in 1988.

North Harbour lock Daryl Williams was selected for the tour but then dropped when it turned out he was not Maori but part- Fijian.

Bush recalls a similar mis-selection in his playing days.

"In about 1975 there was a guy by the name of Laurie Holmes, he was Fijian. He got into the New Zealand Maori team that Waka Nathan was coaching and we were just about to run out onto the paddock and Waka said, 'I just found out he's not Maori' and wouldn't let him run out."

Gary Braid said his Bay of Plenty team-mate Mark Basham, who played for the mostly Maori Te Puke club Rangiuru, was selected for the province's Maori team on the assumption he was Maori.

"But his old man went and dragged him off because he was actually middle or southern European and his dark skin came from there. In fact, his old man was adopted and he never actually knew what he was but he knew he wasn't Maori."

Basham himself said it was not as dramatic as that. His father did not have to stop him playing, he made his own decision.

"What it came down to was I had to stand up before a judge and swear I am a Maori.

"I didn't know. I still don't know. I just thought this is bullshit."

According to a story on the Rugby Museum website (www.rugbymuseum.co.nz), All Black Frank Solomon made the 1927 Maori team despite being Samoan with no Maori blood. In those days there were so few Pacific Islanders in New Zealand it was assumed he must be Maori.

With other players the problem is the opposite. They know they're Maori but they look Pakeha.

When Bush coached the side he had Otago prop Steve Hotton chasing him round the country asking to be considered.

"I never thought he was Maori and he came up with his whakapapa [genealogy] and we put him in the side."

Former All Black lock Mark Cooksley, who played for the Maori side from 1992, said some people openly doubted whether he was Maori.

"There's always the odd comment but at the end of the day you're there playing the game representing New Zealand Maoris. I know my Maori heritage."

Maori broadcaster and former Alliance MP Willie Jackson said that if Cullen had Maori whakapapa "I'm quite comfortable with that".

"I don't want Maori rugby to be treated as a joke, mate," Jackson said.

"Really we're being used by the rugby union when it suits them and Christian is using us when it suits him - and we're happy to be used because Christian is so brilliant."

Maori educationalist Pita Sharples said being Maori was not as much about ancestry as a way of life.

"It doesn't bother me whether he's one- 32nd or one-half; what would interest me is whether he's a Maori when he walks into a nightclub or when he walks on the marae, and not just to get into a rugby team," Sharples said.

"When we define Maori in terms of culture it's a belonging thing rather than an exclusive thing.

"I don't applaud or condemn; as a Maori I want the strongest team we can have, but that's not the issue. The issue is when is a Maori a Maori and, I don't know, it's in the heart."

Bush said a positive aspect of the debate was it raised the international profile of Maori rugby.

"I can remember when we toured Samoa back in the early 1970s and the Samoans and Tongans used to look down at us Maori people because we sold all our land off to all the Pakehas [New Zealanders of British or European descent]. We were no good for doing that, but now they all want to play for the New Zealand Maori team."

[Lizard]

So the Chiefs have now racked up 10 losses on the bounce, failing to record a win since humbling the Waratahs 51-14 just over a year ago. They then lost their last Proper SR match against the Canes, before going 0-8 in SRA2020 and now dropping their first match of SRA2021.

Since then their average margin has been -7.7. Half of the 10 losses were lost by 5 points or fewer.

This is easily the Chiefs worst run of results ever, bearing in mind that usually they get come respite from playing other NZ teams. Their 2nd worst runs (v all-comers) were both 6 losses in a row (May 1998 to April 1999, again May 2008 to Feb 2009). There was also a run of 8 without a win (7 losses and a draw) from April 2010 to Feb 2011.

[Lizard]

This weekend, the All Blacks starting back 3 will be George Bridge, Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett. As far as I can tell, this will be the first all-Pākehā/Palagi starting back 3 for the All Blacks since Terry Wright, John Kirwan and Kieran Crowley started against Argentina on 13 July 2013.

[morepork]

This weekend, the All Blacks starting back 3 will be George Bridge, Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett. As far as I can tell, this will be the first all-Pākehā/Palagi starting back 3 for the All Blacks since Terry Wright, John Kirwan and Kieran Crowley started against Argentina on 13 July 2013.

2013?

[Doorzetbornandbred]

This weekend, the All Blacks starting back 3 will be George Bridge, Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett. As far as I can tell, this will be the first all-Pākehā/Palagi starting back 3 for the All Blacks since Terry Wright, John Kirwan and Kieran Crowley started against Argentina on 13 July 2013.

2013?

The Aussies refused to play unless the AB's weakened the side, they fielded the above three. Still won convincingly...

[Lizard]

This weekend, the All Blacks starting back 3 will be George Bridge, Will Jordan and Jordie Barrett. As far as I can tell, this will be the first all-Pākehā/Palagi starting back 3 for the All Blacks since Terry Wright, John Kirwan and Kieran Crowley started against Argentina on 13 July 2013.

2013?

Wait, what? Where the hell did I get that from?

1991.

[Lizard]

Anyway, todays stat is Canada’s performance at Rugby World Cups:

1987: Pool, W1, L2
1991: QF, W2, L2
1995: Pool, W1, L2
1999: Pool, W1, L2
2003: Pool, W1, L3
2007: Pool, W0, D1, L3
2011: Pool, W1, D1, L2
2015: Pool, L4
2019: Pool, L3
2023: DNQ

[Lizard]

RWC2023 will be the first to not feature Canada. Only NZ, Aust, all 6N teams and Japan have qualified for every event so far.

It will be the first time Uruguay has qualified as Americas 1.

[Lizard]

The All Blacks' match this week will feature 6 members of the NZ U20 squad that played in the IRB 2011 World Junior Championship. The match will feature no members of the Welsh squad from that tournament who lost 92-0 to NZ, for whom Gareth Anscombe kicked 11 conversions.

The 2011 NZ side is regarded as the probably the greatest U20 side ever assembled. Its members have amassed 503 test caps (by 13 players) for NZ, 27 for Wales, 13 for Tonga and 9 for England.

[Lizard]

Here’s a good one:

Last weekend was the first time since 1997 that Wales and the All Blacks have met without Warren Gatland, Steve Hansen or Graham Henry taking charge of one of the sides.

[Mr Mwenda]

Stat query, was last week the first time the all blacks and black ferns both lost on the same day? Likewise, was yesterday the first time they both lost to the same opponent on the same day?

[Puja]

I don't know that one, but here's a stat - yesterday was the first time that Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa all lost on the same weekend since 2002.

Puja

[Lizard]

The All Blacks last lost 2 in a row on a Northern tour in 1935/36.

They last lost 2 (non-consecutive) on a Northern tour in 1953/54.

Wales beat us on both those occasions.