HOUSE OF PAIN . . . FOR SOMEONE
WHETHER the All Blacks win or lose their Rugby World Cup semifinal tonight, Brent New is damned.
That’s because the avid Dunedin supporter is married to enthusiastic English rugby fan Dawn.
If the All Blacks lose (heaven forbid), he will be devastated and will get a ‘‘major ribbing’’ from his wife, who will have all the gloating rights, he said yesterday.
If they win, life may not be much better.
He reckons he is likely to get the cold shoulder for a while, and will have to woo her back by making breakfast in bed and cups of tea for the next week . . . at least.
Mrs New is originally from Kent, in the south of England, while Mr New was born and raised in Dunedin.
The couple have been happily married for more than 30 years, and the only time there has been a bit of friction in their relationship has been when their two teams met.
‘‘It’s been a longterm battle between the two of us,’’ Mrs New said.
‘‘I won’t give him too much of a hard time, as long as he makes the tea.
‘‘For me, it’s a winwin situation. I’m easy either way.’’
Mr New said their children would be away tonight, and he and his wife were looking forward to watching the game together with a quiet drink.
‘‘The atmosphere — there will be a lot of laughing and giggling, and the odd snide comment now and then, but it’ll be all right.
‘‘It’s always a good game when England is playing the All Blacks.’’
Asked to predict the score of tonight’s game, Mrs New said it would be too difficult.
Mr New was more confident. ‘‘We’ll be up by 20. There’ll be a runaway in the second half. The boys will pull through.’’
He didn’t appear to be quite so confident about how his life would be tomorrow morning.
‘‘As long as it’s a good game, I’ll be all right.’’
YOKOHAMA: If there has been an overarching message from the All Blacks camp this week, it has been one of excitement at facing England for only the second time in five years and, what is more, for a spot in next weekend’s Rugby World Cup final.
But, as All Blacks strongman Joe Moody admitted at a press conference yesterday, the prospect of meeting one specific individual from the opposition excites him just that little bit more.
Asked about the talk coming out of the England camp in the buildup to the semifinal in Yokohama City — and his meeting with loudmouth English tighthead Kyle Sinckler — Moody could hardly keep from grinning.
England, and in particular head coach Eddie Jones, have made clumsy attempts at unsettling the All Blacks this week with Jones following up his bizarre spying claims on Tuesday with the admission that he was engaging in some psychological warfare ahead of the blockbuster match.
Jones also lavished praise on Sinckler, calling the burly tighthead a ‘‘runaway rhino’’ after his sensational try in the quarterfinal demolition of Australia last weekend.
According to Moody, the All Blacks have taken note of suggestions this week that they ‘‘had everything to lose’’ and would be the team under most pressure.
‘‘There’s plenty out there who like to talk it up but I haven’t really focused too much on anyone in particular . . . but there has been some classic forward battles between us in the past and it should be good to get out there,’’ Moody said.
‘‘As far as their whole front row goes, I’m looking forward to that battle with them and hopefully we can get one up.’’
Sinckler was the most controversial figure on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand two years ago, instigat
ing a tunnel skirmish after the second test having just been restrained by teammates on the field.
Reports at the time suggested Sinckler had traded verbal insults with All Blacks TJ Perenara and Ngani Laumape, after refusing to walk through a
guard of honour that the home side had formed in the tunnel shortly after its 2421 loss.
Sinckler also finished the tour with an apology, after being arrested during a big night out following the third test draw with the All Blacks at Eden Park.
The 26yearold faced New Zealand again in November last year but was replaced early in the second half of the All Blacks’ narrow 1615 win at Twickenham.
‘‘Honestly, I don’t really look back on the Lions series too much to compare it to [today’s game],’’ said Moody, who has never faced England in his 41test career.
‘‘It’s a new challenge and a new team. We can’t really take too much out of past experiences...
‘‘We know it will be physical, just like any other test and especially because it’s a semifinal. We know they’ll be direct and want to take it to us.
‘‘We’ll match fire with fire. It should be a big old dingdong battle.’’ —