Rugby stands together in grief
Well done, the Highlanders, Crusaders and New Zealand Rugby. Cancelling the South Island derby yesterday was the right thing to do.
And well done Brodie Retallick and Dane Coles.
It’s understood that the Chiefs and Hurricanes players’ linkedarm gesture at the start of Chiefs versus Hurricanes game on Friday night was driven by the teams’ leaders.
It sent a powerful image of unity around the world and a message of respect to the victims of the Christchurch terrorist attacks.
It also set the tone for how rugby, inconsequential in comparison to Friday’s horrors, yet still important to New Zealand, should react: with togetherness and respect.
How could the South Island derby have proceeded after that powerful message?
The answer is it couldn’t.
The only reason it was not cancelled earlier on Saturday was that NZ Rugby didn’t want to rush into a cancellation that would have no meaning.
Instead, it consulted with the Highlanders and Crusaders extensively yesterday morning, went through the options and built the consensus and framework for a decision so that both head and heart were aligned.
New Zealand Rugby chief rugby officer Nigel Cass told me there was no playbook for the decision, but in the end it was easy for both sides, who will share the competition points.
Remember, he said, that this was the Crusaders’ community we were talking about, their friends and neighbours. When he used the word ‘‘abhor’’ to express their collective disdain at the violence inflicted on our Muslim Kiwis, you could tell he meant it.
The feelings inside NZ Rugby are as raw as our own.
Of course, how lovely it would have been to go ahead with the game.
It would have would have represented two hours of normality. Tackle, pass, kick, scrum. We won’t take the simple pleasure of a rugby match for granted again.
But we would have been deceiving ourselves.
For not too far from Forsyth Barr Stadium, just across the water, police had been conducting an operation yesterday morning on a Dunedin property.
Sadly, normality in New Zealand has been suspended. It will return, but not just yet.
So, lay down those concerns about the cancellation representing a surrender to those who peddle hatred.
There will be an appropriate time to show that New Zealand will not be divided by them.
But that time is not last night. Instead, it is a time for respect. In fact, Canes halfback T J Perenara said it best on Friday.
‘‘Regardless of how that result went, that wouldn’t have been the most important part of my day, and I don’t think anyone in this circle [of gathered media], or in this country, would say that rugby was the most important thing today.
‘‘And that comes from a very competitive person who would do pretty much anything to win. My mind was on the game when I was in the game, but today was bigger than rugby.’’
Thank you TJ – and thank you to the Highlanders and Crusaders.
‘‘My mind was on the [Chiefs] game when I was in the game, but today was bigger than rugby.’’ Hurricanes halfback T J Perenara