The men’s Euros are getting to the business end, but there was a nice story out of the Denmark camp before they were knocked out.
Denmark’s men refused a pay rise in a bid to give their female counterparts equal game fees, in what has been dubbed an ‘‘extraordinary step’’ to help improve the condition of the women’s national team. They took a 15% cut in insurance coverage so the women could receive equal pay and a 50% insurance coverage raise.
English captain Harry Kane could learn to select his words a little better. Speaking about the lack of success from English teams as a whole, Kane told reporters ‘‘the bottom line is we haven’t won anything as a nation for a long, long time’’. Perhaps he forgot about the Lionesses winning the 2022 women’s Euros? Or the Lionesses making the Fifa Women’s World Cup final last year? Those results — and plenty others — are proof England has actually won something recently.
Strong spirited
Great to see such depth in the Otago Spirit squad named by returning coach Craig Sneddon recently. But their Farah Palmer Cup draw is a frustrating one. They play five round robin games, three games scheduled at 11.35am, two at 12.05pm and one at 2.05pm. Elite rugby at 11.35am is baffling. New Zealand Rugby might be chalking it up to double-headers with NPC games to follow, or ground availability, but I cannot imagine any professional men’s teams being asked to play so early in the day. I struggle to see how games in the morning will attract the same crowds. There is also no consistency across the FPC with nine different kickoff times. NZR cannot expect fans to be as engaged if there is no stability. Nevertheless, looking forward to seeing this Spirit squad in action again. Catch their first home game on August 25.
Aced it
Amazing to see Lulu Sun beat world No8 Qinwen Zheng in the first round of the women’s singles at Wimbledon. Sun, who added another win yesterday, was also selected to represent New Zealand — having switched allegiances from Switzerland — at the Olympics. She will join Kiwi Grand Slam winner Erin Routliffe in the women’s doubles. They become the first females to represented New Zealand in tennis since 2012.
Wicket woes
The White Ferns really are on struggle street on the other side of the world. They have lost three ODIs against England by eight, nine and five wickets — and things do not seem to be getting any better. Is it time for an in-depth look at what New Zealand Cricket is actually doing to foster players to be ready for international exposure? Captain Sophie Devine has in the past said she did not feel domestic cricket was where it needed to be for players to prepare for internationals.
Simply the best?
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe feels like she has been woven into the fibres of the Black Ferns since forever. But still it came as a bit of a surprise when she announced her international retirement at 32 this week following the Paris Olympics. Woodman-Wickliffe, who started as a netballer for the Northern Mystics, spent 12 years representing the Black Ferns across both sevens and 15s. Alongside the multiple Rugby World Cups and Olympic medals, Woodman-Wickliffe holds the record for most tries scored at World Cups (20), most tries in a Black Ferns test (eight) and most tries in sevens series history (256). She changed the game and is without a doubt one of the best — perhaps even the greatest — to pull on the black jersey. Let’s hope she remains in sport in some capacity.
