Became hardman at heart of NZ fairytale

hard-earned money in a pocket, to leave England for Christchurch United. New Zealand football is forever indebted to the Preston North End assistant coach who was the conduit for the club’s offer, which included a one-way ticket, $15 a win, and a mighty $3 a draw.

Sumner himself said he decided New Zealand would become his home only when he met Judith Brown, his future wife.

These are the sort of stories which were at the heart of New Zealand football, or soccer as it was mainly called then. Nowadays, the best prospects for the national side go the other way, young Kiwis like Chris Wood who take on the world.

Twenty eight years after the Spanish conquest, another Christchurch footballer with an iron will to match Sumner’s, Ryan Nelsen, drove the All Whites into their second World Cup finals.

For Nelsen’s team, the destination, South Africa, was really the story, the stirring win over Bahrain in Wellington a reminder of what the 1982 campaign was all about. For Sumner’s team, the long qualification journey was the story.

What times they were. It was magic, pure magic, with not a spruiker in sight, or needed.

This is not a lament for the past as a better place. But with Sumner’s sad passing, at the age of just 61, it seems like a fair time to once again thank those men for what they gave us, the stories and unexpected dramas of a genuine nature only possible in a different age.

Were the Wallabies really bugged by the bug?

If so, the All Blacks have found a new way to beat Australia. Another one.

The principal method, of course, is to simply turn up. This has been a tried and true formula for some years.

But in the wake of the latest Spygate revelations, Australian Rugby Union chief executive Bill Pulver has confirmed that the Wallabies can be beaten by media stories on game day.

“The aspect that still leaves a bitter taste out of this whole affair is that the discovery of the [bugging] device was reported publicly on game day . . . a distraction that neither team needed on the morning of a very important test match,” said Pulver.

Putting aside that one team — the one who won 42-8 — didn’t appear overly-distracted, Wallaby supporters must be further distressed to find out that their beloved heroes are so mentally frail. Or are they? And did they even know or care about the story on match day?