The highlights, lowlights and oddities of the Sporting Year

It’s that of time of the year – the RNZ Sports crew look back of the sporting highlights, lowlights, and oddities of the sporting year that was.

Here are sports editor Stephen Hewson’s thoughts on 2022.

What was your sporting highlight of the year?

The world champion Black Ferns.
Photo: www.photosport.nz / Andrew Cornaga

Hands down the Black Ferns winning the Rugby World Cup.

From a tough four test loss on the 2021 end of year northern hemisphere tour where they were beaten by England and France, the Black Ferns under the guidance of Wayne Smith, Whitney Hansen and Wes Clarke turned the side around.

The style of play and the players passion shone through and the New Zealand public couldn’t help but be swept up in the tournament.

Refreshingly the engagement of the players with the media and the public is to be applauded and the All Blacks could certainly take note of their approach.

Let’s hope that openess and frankness doesn’t disappear as the women’s game becomes more professional.

What was your sporting lowlight of the year?

‘Should he go or should he stay’ – ultimately All Blacks Coach stayed.
Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon

It’s tempting enough to simply opt for the All Blacks home series loss to Ireland and it would be a valid contender.

But I’m going with New Zealand Rugby’s fallout from that series and the toing and froing over whether All Blacks coach Ian Foster was going to keep his job.

It seems Scott Robertson was all set to take over the reins..only for the All Blacks Johannesburg test win to stave off his departure.

The losses to Ireland, the Springboks and the draw with England simply show that this All Black is not one for the ages and simply an average side.

NZR chief executive Mark Robinson seemed to go missing in action – he’s had a steep learning curve as CEO over the past couple of years.

Foster was certainly not a popular choice when appointed as Steve Hansen’s successor which meant the knives were out very quickly when the wheels began falling off.

Should Foster have kept the job – time will tell – but come next year’s World Cup I am not anticipating the All Blacks will feature in the final.

Remember changing coach a month out from the tournament didn’t seem to do world champions South Africa too much harm last time around!

Biggest upset?

Saudi Arabia’s midfielder #08 Abdulellah Al-Malki gestures to the fans after the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group C football match between Argentina and Saudi Arabia.
Photo: AFP / ODD ANDERSEN

It came late in the piece but Saudi Arabia’s shock 2-1 win over Argentina at the football World Cup is my pick.

According to sports data group Gracenote, Saudi Arabia’s win is the biggest upset in World Cup history.

Led by Lionel Messi, ranked third in the world, unbeaten for three years and among the pre-tournament favourites Argentina had been expected to sweep aside Saudi Arabia who were ranked 48 places below them.

The previous most surprising World Cup win in the tournament’s 92 year history was USA’s victory against England in 1950, according to Gracenote.

The Lucky Escape.

Wallabies first five Bernard Foley pleads with French referee Matthieu Raynal, Bledisloe Cup test, Melbourne 2022.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

This goes to the All Blacks and their controversial 39-37 win over the Wallabies in September in Melbourne.

French referee Mathieu Raynal was the villain in the piece as far as the Australians are concerned awarding the All Blacks an attacking scrum after telling the Wallabies they were taking to too long to take a penalty in the closing stages of the match

Jordie Barrett scored from the scrum and the All Blacks narrowly escaped with victory when they had been up 31-13 midway through the first half.

Those lapses of concentration were a hallmark of the All Blacks performances this year – the 25-all draw at Twickenham against England encapsulating their season, blowing a 19 point lead in the final ten minutes.

Deflation of the Year

The Black Caps .. after a superlative 2021 winning the test championship and finishing runners-up at the T20 World Cup, they failed to fire in 2022.

Hard to live up to the achievements of the previous year, as they had set the bar high – but we had hoped for better.

Skipper Kane Williamson’s dip in batting form had serious implications for their results.

Oddity of the Year

Photo: Gladson Xavier/Pexels

Allegations of cheating rocked the world of Chess this year.

American Hans Niemann a teenage grandmaster has been accused by world champion Magnus Carlsen of cheating, though no evidence has been presented.

Nieman has admitted cheating in informal games when he was younger but denies doing so in competitive games.

An investigation by Chess.com says it is likely Niemann has cheated “much more often” than he has acknowledged.

But it found no evidence he had cheated in his game against Carlsen or in any “over-the-board” games.

The scandal began after Carlsen, considered by many to be the greatest player of all time, was defeated by Niemann at the Sinquefield Cup in a major upset.

The Norwegian made veiled accusations of cheating against Niemann at the time before openly accusing him.

Its analysis compared Niemann’s moves to those suggested by chess computers – which are far stronger than even the best players – and the probability of his results, among other factors.

Chess.com has produced a 72-page investigation into Niemann’s games on the site, which most of the world’s top players compete on, including for cash prizes.

The site, which has banned Niemann for alleged cheating, claims it is likely he cheated as recently as 2020, including in prize money events and against highly-rated “well known” figures in the game.

Its analysis compared Niemann’s moves to those suggested by chess computers – which are far stronger than even the best players – and the probability of his results, among other factors.

The final delivery…

Ajaz Patel is congratulated by teamates after his historic effort.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT

It didn’t happen in this calendar year but… cricketer Ajaz Patel must surely get the Halberg Supreme award.

The Halberg award year runs from December 1st to November 30th annually.

On December 4th 2021 became just the third bowler in Test history to take 10 wickets in innings, following India’s Anil Kumble and England’s Jim Laker.

The Black Caps left armer took all ten Indian wickets to fall in the first innings of the Mumbai test – although he was still on the losing side as the Black Caps lost the test by 372 runs.

Yes there are Winter Olympians with gold medals and the Black Ferns and golfer Lydia Ko who have all had a wonderful year.. but surely the third player to take ten wickets in a innings over 150 years of test cricket must be the Supreme Winner?

-RNZ