World Cup curse of crashing Kiwis
Get used to it New Zealand. Come October there will be another heartache semi-final exit as yet another of New Zealand’s national teams implodes.
The Black Caps were smashed in their last three matches at the Cricket World Cup and the manner of defeat against Sri Lanka reminded me so much of the All Blacks last two rugby semi-final exits.
The Black Caps couldn’t cope with the pressure of the occasion. Their fielding was ordinary, their bowling indifferent and their batting exposed as brittle. The New Zealand batting, so powerful in the early part of the tournament, folded with the weight of expectation. It surely is a sign of things to come with the All Blacks.
Cape Town, in 2005, and Rustenburg, in 2006, were evidence enough to know that the All Blacks are more than capable of that one horror match a year. And to lose the World Cup all they need to do is be true to form and produce that shocking 80 minutes against the Springboks.
Already their management are talking up the brutality of the Springboks. Already there is doubt within the All Blacks camp. Influential members of the All Blacks keep on reminding the public that victory at this year’s World Cup is not a done deal and that South Africa, in particular, pose a real threat.
It is as if they are preparing their public for the worst and the Springboks in Jake White’s squad know the only team the All Blacks fear physically are the boys in green. There is a disregard in New Zealand for the challenge of England, Wales and even Ireland. The New Zealanders simply believe they can’t lose to those players. There is a respect for Australia and France, only because the two have done New Zealand in the World Cup at the last two semi-final appearances.
But there is genuine fear that the Springboks will be physically too potent in a one-off situation. And it is a fear the Boks can already smell.
It is interesting how many of the current Bok squad have privately noted how much respect the Boks are being given in New Zealand. As some have said, it is as if New Zealand are already talking themselves into defeat.
White has the squad to beat the All Blacks, but his job will be all that easier if the All Blacks have already beaten themselves before kick-off.
I loved watching the Black Caps getting smashed. A World Cup semi-final implosion. Get used to it New Zealanders. This one is minor to what’s coming in October in Paris.
April 25th, 2007 at 4:57 pm
Funny how the Proteas (favorites) got hammered by the Black Caps. You wish! The RWC will be like the U19 RWC…. a piece of p..s, particularly if they play the Jaapies who were outclassed in Ireland….. again.
You only hope is a Jaapie referee.
April 25th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
KEO “I loved watching the Black Caps getting smashed . A world cup semi final implosion . Get used to it New Zealanders . This is minor to whats coming in Paris ”
Never been one to ridicule but for once , i treat this article with a sneer. Why would you take joy and pride in someones misfortunes or at least be a little fascinated by other peoples trauma ?
April 25th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
What a dumb article. The Black Caps were never favorites to win the WC so comparing them to the All Blacks is disingenuous at best and dumb at worst. It seems like the only favorites to choke at the World Cup were the Proteas!
April 25th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
Sorry Keo,
I’ve always liked and mostly agreed with your articles but this one is ****.
April 25th, 2007 at 8:00 pm
#202… A little lesson in history here. Keo had his sarmies confiscated by the NZ Customs people and was slapped with a rather large fine for bringing in unproccessed meat.
he has had it in for New zealand ever since and has been forcasting the demise of teh All Blacks and The Crusaders ever since. Funny thing is that the AB’s are ranked No 1 in the world despite Keo.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:49 pm
LOL : guess there was some justice with SA’s thrashing today : Keo probably regretting some of these sentences.
April 25th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
funny article Keo.
its good to show you have a sense of humour sometimes.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:10 pm
keo, you are really asking for hate mail hahahaha.
we all know nz cricket isnt as half as good as their rugby. we all know that some ridiculously small percentage of schools in nz even have a grass cricket pitch to play on. some schools dont even have oval fields to play on, normally a rugby field. nz cricket is not nearly as good as say a aussie, india, sri lanka, pakistan, windies, even sa. they dont have the infrastructure in the sport to make it good/better. for them to compete so well needs kudos. to talk of ab implosion so early is poor form.
yes, i agree the kiwis are **** scared of us. but to say they talking themselves into a loss, a WC loss is pure ****. if they have their B squad out there we will still struggle to dominate them in the late stages of the WC.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:16 pm
“World Cup Curse Of Crashing Kiwis”
is a very funny headline in light of todays cricket result.
For the kiwi cricketer to make it to 5 semi finals is a noteworthy achievement.
We should never be in the top 4 in the first place competing agaianst countries like SA, India, Pakistan, England, etc. with 10-100 times our population to select from.
April 25th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
#147
Now this is the difference between NZ and SA.
You call them black in SA.
In NZ we call them Kiwis
You call them white in SA
In NZ we call them Kiwis
See what is happening.Grow up little one.
And by the way this article from Keo is just plain stupid
April 25th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Oh my God, is that you’re best effort Keo!
First, you’ve got to get to the semi’s or final before you meet us, and based on SA’s pathetic record, that is not a done thing.
You lot are a desperate bunch, more than I thought, and to think you need to rely on a fabled weakness, or to attempt to draw a similarity to cricket, WTF!
Grow up SA, a couple of wins in the S14 means jack **** at international level. The most crucial thing you lot need to think about is winning away from home – you’ve been found out too often.
Ever heard of playing mind games, thats what the AB management are doing to you guys, and Keo, you’ve also fallen for it, hook line and sinker buddy!
April 25th, 2007 at 11:30 pm
Gretep
Thanks for the explanation , i had put it down to the fact that traumatic situations ( suffered by others ) i believe , is the way humans vicariously , and almost completly unconsciously induldge in cruelty an aspect of humanity which is kept all but hidden in modern civilised society .
April 25th, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Boy, dont we feel stupid right now, with our cricketers folding in the same way?
April 26th, 2007 at 12:16 am
keo,
dont know what to make of u bru, however without a doubt this is the greatest article you have ever written – great in the sense that it’s so true and relevant. there is officially no greater lover than myself for sa sport and all sa. what a great article
April 26th, 2007 at 12:19 am
keo, bru, great webpage, seriously. fantastic. mba from harvard, no jokes, and your webpage among the best compared to anything.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Jackman – you dont read much do you? If this is the best thing you’ve read from Keo, you have got some serious issues – you need a councillor or something man, or a tarrot card reader, maybe a voodoo doctor from the jungle or something, coz you’ve lost the plot sucker.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Hurricane – post 210.
Dont talk bollocks mate. I live in NZ, and there is plenty race identification – and racial discrimination too. I have been quite shocked by it since I got here to be honest as I never expected it. The number of kiwi’s who have started off a ranting sentence to me with the words, “I dont meant to be racist but…”
I lived in the London before I came here and people there are a lot more tolerant than white kiwi’s (I’ll use the term even if you claim not to) so dont kid yourself or go jumping on your high horse.
April 26th, 2007 at 12:55 am
this article is surely a wind up – and you guys are taking the bait the way i thought only south africans can. its funny to see.
Kiakaka – dont go popping a blood vessel now….
April 26th, 2007 at 1:56 am
217
london attitudes differ from the rest of the uk . . . try getting out more
April 26th, 2007 at 1:58 am
219 and the article is in jest
April 26th, 2007 at 2:10 am
chch
This article is without substance, pay it no mind mate.
You too Kia.
Only a fool will ignore the threat that the AB’s pose in any World Cup year.
But, as you know….”fools rush in where angels fear to tread”.
So….
April 26th, 2007 at 2:13 am
SA cricket and AB’s have same tag: chokers
at best 50% chance for AB’s in WC due to mental frailness…is this a common thing with NZ blokes?
April 26th, 2007 at 2:26 am
And I thought that this was a RUGBY forum?, just goes to show how stupid we KIWI`s are.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:35 am
Pietman – what the hell are you on about, you’ve spun yourself into a circle man.
My response was targeted to keo – whom I assumed knew better, and a few of the horn wearing brigade trying to turn a cricket defeat into a hope that a rugby team will follow suit.
A wind up you may call it, more like another stab with the desperation stick with a sprinkling of idiot dust if you ask me.
April 26th, 2007 at 2:44 am
Kia
What now?
I am asking you to ignore keo’s article because it is without substance!
Read my 221# again mate. Is my English that bad?
April 26th, 2007 at 3:05 am
Great Keo – what a **** thing to put out the day before SA crashes out in even worse style. Now who is the joke on – hell the kiwis on this site must be pissing themselves after you have stirred the pot. They actually supported SA in preference to Aus in today’s whitewash in the Carribean but badly thought out articles like yours will make them think twice next time. Did it not even enter your mind that Aus could put us away just like SL did to the blackcaps!
April 26th, 2007 at 3:20 am
226# out wide
I agree.
Somewhat embarrassing, and a slap in the face of our Kiwi friends.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:23 am
217
i have a similar experience to munkiboi. i could have just grown up in a really sheltered environment in the southern and central suburbs in cape town, but i had never personally come across racism till i got to nz. the kind of anger towards immigrants from india, china, south korea, somalia and other central africans. i couldnt believe the abuse i heard. clearly not all kiwis are racists, but i fear the aussie race mentality kinda resided over here for far too long.
been all over england too, and didnt quite hear anything as bad as i have in nz.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:34 am
Tomsta
Kind of ironic, if you think back to ‘81 and what all those riots and boycots were about during the Springboks’ tour of NZ.
But it is a new generation and social environment in NZ now, I suppose, compared to way back then.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:46 am
Pietman – it was the “fools rush in bit” – I couldnt quite connect the dots there sorry.
Agree – a load of bollox that has really back fired to Keo.
Regarding the racists remarks Tomsta – I hear you very loud mate, and yes, to a degree you are right.
And I’ll tell you why.
For so long in NZ, our population grew organically, not by massive immigration – or to be more precise, not since the likes of the polynesians in the 70’s and the Asians in the 90’s.
Now, both sets stand out because of physical features, ie skin colour, eye shape, nose shape etc, and as with most white (european decendant types) they were looked down on – wrong I know, but they were, and every white culture is guilty of it, even France and their immigrants from northern Africa, same basic thing.
You mentioned England – good point, however, the west indians, pakistanis, Arabs and Indians have been emigrating there alot longer than the new bunch of Aisans here, and as such, the English community have grown up with it, tolerated it, and so to have the new generations of these cultures – they’re now effectively poms etc.
That kiwis eventually got used to having samoans in our community etc – coz they looked similar to maoris, was the general rule – most kiwis still do not understand the rift between Tongans and Samoans and Raro’s and Solomon Islanders etc, they group them all together in one.
Most Kiwis got annoyed because the new wave of asian immigrants decided not to blend in with Kiwis, and ostricised themselves to a point by this decision. Their choice to bring their way of life and speak their tongue as opposed to becoming like a Kiwi, learning English, blending in as did the first generation of chinese people here many moons ago, and the inidians did many moons ago, set themselves apart, and kiwis would say, why dont they try and blend in etc, and drive better, and dont be so ignorant with the language when they know they are in the wrong – selective levels of playing the “I speak no english” happens all the time, esp in business.
So who is at fault? Us for venting our frustration at their shortcomings, or them for electing to isolate themselves.
Its a tough one, as Kiwis do not really make a choice to be racist, we get pissed off when the sub culture of immigrants live a life of crime, ie triad gangs, street kid gangs, and so forth, but I have no problem working with the good ones, socialising with them or trying to do responsible business with them.
They need to embrace our values of ethics in business of which many of them are severly short on.
The Aussies are way ahead of us when it comes to racism – however, they too are selective, as they have embraced the wonders of italians and greeks into melbourne, but still scorn the vietnamese and middle eastern influences around Sydney.
April 26th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Kia
No problem.
The ‘fools rush in bit’, as you call it, was a reference to people shooting their mouths off too soon!!!!
April 26th, 2007 at 4:04 am
Kia
In Korea it is known as the ‘Uri Complex’.
Uri = us/we.
Koreans tend to live in their own ‘towns’ and areas when they go abroad.
They are very insecure and withdrawn outside of their own country.
(My wife sometimes arranges field trips to Canada and the USA to try and get Korean students immersed into the English culture.
Very difficult. The moment they land there, they look for their own kind to share a cabin with, and the whole idea is lost.)
April 26th, 2007 at 4:17 am
230
kiakaha mate, i also hear you. ive been here for nearly 10 years now. and in that time auckland has changed a heck of a lot.
i totally agree with issues of cultures immigrating here but not integrating. i have a huge problem with the south africans that immigrate here and dont integrate either. wherever the immigrant is from doesnt seem to make much difference nowadays. there isnt a need for the chinese to integrate. they have their own yellow pages for auckland. the chinese are so dam organised i wouldnt be surprised to see a few more faces in positions of power.
nz is a young country, and i think the last 5 or 6 years has been a big learning curve in terms of immigration policy for nz. nz and kiwis want to be open minded and accepting of the differences around the world through various cultures, but didnt foresee the impending issues of allowing mass immigration of an uncontrolled nature take a hold of a city like auckland.
so i guess the question still stands, and ive had long debates through my uni years about how to better integrate immigrants into kiwi culture. it took more than 5 years for me to get used to the ‘kiwi way’ and i lost my saffa accent within 16months. how do people who do honestly come here to make nz their home,integrate? i dont know how i did it, i dont know how my family did it.
i dont think it matters what culture we talking about here. whether islanders, asians, africans, whatever. it takes effort to mix it with the kiwis and do it their way. it means leaving your comfort zone altogether. and i guess just so many immigrants decide to stay within similar support groups in familiar settings, and then just never leave.
btw, is it still ok to discriminate against australians? i still dont like them much
April 26th, 2007 at 4:22 am
Pietman
same thing at uni mate. try and organise teams and project groups, and there is instant like grouping. its that fear of stepping out into unfamiliar territory.
ive since made good friends who are internationaly students in auckland. they say they feel subordinate, and insecure when around kiwis, us, europeans, western culture. things are too unfamiliar and make them uncomfortable.
it could stem into a trust thing, where they feel that communication barriers are so high that ‘they’ feel incapable of letting go. heck its probably worth a million more research essays.
April 26th, 2007 at 4:23 am
Pietman – I thought as much, it sends off the wrong signals when we see other immigrants from UK, SA, Canada etc really doing their best to reach out and connect with Kiwis.
I know many of them are attempting to learn English etc, but you have to question why they leave their own land first if they are that insecure about it, things not so good in Korea?
April 26th, 2007 at 4:32 am
You’re always allowed to pick on Aussies mate, they think they’re the next USA!
Hell, I spend more time at work here socialising with the saffers, poms and irish than I do with most of the kiwis – I know many wont believe this, but there are many many kiwis who hate rugby, its bloody true!
April 26th, 2007 at 4:39 am
yeah, ive found that since AB’s keep losing world cups, more and more kiwis are turning to sailing or soccer
naaa, but seriously now, it seems its not a majority of kiwis who are mad about rugby. but the folks who do, go absolute bonkers about it and make enough noise for the rest of the world to think nz is a rugby mad country. some past teammates enjoyed playing the game a lot, and some are even overseas on contract, but they dont watch it or talk about it like the rest of us beer drinking mad rugby people. strange
aussie bashing is great fun. i always look fwd to the trips to the gold coast, or when the aussie cricket or rugby team are at eden park.
oh the days of dossing in london,,,we were totally outnumbered by aussies but still gave them stick day in day out.
April 26th, 2007 at 5:58 am
232 Pietman
in Korea do you live in an expat community ?
April 26th, 2007 at 6:29 am
chch
No, I have a house in the country side. I don’t mix with ex-pats, except on ’special’ days such as Freedom Day.
They are a negative bunch mostly, expats.
I prefer the locals.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:34 am
235# Kia
Cultural and language barriers hard for them to cross.
Look at that pshyco in Virginia, for instance.
They dream about the ‘West’, but the Koreans are a young nation. They only started learning English about 20 years ago, and for them the USA is the ‘dream’…until they get there.
April 26th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Pietman – Hmmm, yeah I thought that was the case, I knew many had gone there, how come we get so many too – is NZ/AUS etc seen as the next best thing to USA? I understand USA probably has more opportunities etc, but if they dont mix in, they’re always going to be on the outside looking in arent they?
April 26th, 2007 at 6:58 am
Tomsta – I also think many kiwis are simply “rugbyed” out. I’m lucky to watch one game a weekend at best now, too many other things to do/watch/get involved with etc
With over 90 live games of rugby every year, the wives are fighting back!
(and thats not even the league/yachting on now/cricket WC/F1, and other random sporting events!!)
April 26th, 2007 at 7:02 am
Kia
I don’t know about you guys being the next thing to the US, but there is an exchange programme with the unis for instance, and also Hyandai, Kia, LG and those do have some pull in your part of the world…and it is nearer and cheaper.
But Koreans on the whole, are OK.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:03 am
74: Just looked back through some of the posts – and that post officially surpasses Keo’s dribble as the best piece of info put on here in the past few days, well done Viewer, well done.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Kia
Dont forget, we have 100,000 sq km, that’s S-Korea, 30% of which is habitable, 48,2 million people living here..
They have to get out.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:05 am
Pietman – I only meant it from a country who allows immigration of Koreans etc, I know we are a million miles away from the infrastructure of the states, but it was more about Koreans wanting to move to an English speaking country etc
April 26th, 2007 at 7:07 am
48 million – thats insane in that amount of space, there’s still only 4 million of us in all our rolling green hills – we like it that way too.
April 26th, 2007 at 7:08 am
Hello Pietman – 239 – so true, also here in USA. Negativity alsmost always include mouthing off against SA…coutry of birth..I’d say 75% of saffers in USA you do not want to mix with..who knows why they are this way…like the country owes them something..
April 26th, 2007 at 7:11 am
Ok boys
I’ll cath ya’ll later…and then we can save the world!
April 26th, 2007 at 7:13 am
249# ‘catch’
Multi-tasking not my strong point.
Cheers.