Sports Today: All Blacks v Springboks 1 at Eden Park, ANZP Netball and Premier League

Sports – Easy to say the courageous Ardie Savea on the open flank 7 who did a bit of everything from defense to attack and back again on behalf of his ABs tribe.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man on what has been his 100th Test match.

Beauden Barrett under coach Scott Robertson’s orders were much better at plotting kicking bombs across the pitch along with quick passes as the ABs frontline 10 also for the 70-80 mins.

At least his laser focused creative responsibilities was good enough for him & his numbers to win games like this.

So while he would’ve loved to be the man behind the kicking tee when it comes to conversions and penalty kicks, sometimes being the sole creative 10 to open up proper patience at the ruck & breakdown benefits the team’s strategy than putting everything all on the one basket. 

Nice to see Damian McKenzie aka DMac finish things off for New Zealand as always and no doubt he will continue to be the team’s super sub next weekend.

ABs despite their own share of handling errors have got another game left to hopefully steal back the Freedom Cup off Boks and don’t forget they had injury/concussion issues too throughout the full 80 which is going to impact their selection no doubt if they want this series so bad.

But that doesn’t mean Bokke can have their cake and eat it when they also have their own selection and coherent attacking third issues which is not guaranteed in such a physical contest like rugby union.

Looking at Springboks, Cobus Reinach was gutted when his team were not far from the ABs that late if it wasn’t for their poor start, especially at the expense of Grant Williams (main 9) with a series of missed opportunities, poor decisions and handling errors off the air and open play.

They were fortunate enough to get away with it when the Wallabies dropped the ball a few times last match over in Cape Town that was enough to retain the Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate following a poor finish to Game 1 also v Wallabies at Jo’Burg in the 2025 Rugby Championship.

However, they couldn’t bet their luck this time and certainly not next time against a arch rival side like the ABs themselves.

His presence added some much needed boost for the Boks to play catch up off the bench but they sometimes can’t hold on for a fighting chance under immense pressure against such a tight ABs defensive brick wall towards the end there.

Post-Game Summary

Gotta say this ground is a tough fortress in Auckland where so many New Zealand sporting moments were made there.

Also, Ardie Savea should get a cricket bat from somewhere & celebrate that knock with the bat up high when this ground can also host cricket during the summer. 

Just a thought but maybe next Saturday night if ABs can wrap up the home series at Sky Stadium in Wellington.

Final score was All Blacks 24-17 Springboks by a seven point difference where ABs was explosive by a mile from the start while Bokke pulled back those curtains off the back of a tight finish but ABs still in it with one more game to settle in this box office series. And shoutout to Jeff McTainsh who commentated this opening match for Sky Sport NZ which is probably his first few times there at an International game involving the ABs.

Didn’t know it was a last-minute arrangement though when Tony Johnson was supposed to be behind the mic but TJ then had issues with his voice prior to Game 1. So Sky had to rush Jeff away from the Network’s Auckland studios late during the Ranfurly Shield game straight to the ground and he simply does not disappoint like he does with Netball & other sports such as the Silver Ferns’ Constellation Cup triumph last year. 

Sure we will hear Jeff again on the call later this month and next month when the Ferns begin their International Season right on home turf with the Taini Jamison Trophy series v South Africa and the usual four-game Constellation Cup v Diamonds. 

Netball

Other than a cracking night for the first of the two World Heavyweight Championship of Rugby contests with ABs v Boks, there was a huge week also in New Zealand but with ANZ Premiership Netball. 

The trade window we had there were on its finishing touches including a couple of “next door” and one odd foreign signings along the way ahead of 2026.

• Ameliaranne Ekenasio now back at Central Pulse to be closer to her young family who is now joined by South African International Ine-Mari Venter along with a few youngsters from Central Manawa & a returnee too.
• 2025 Pulse last-minute recruit Laura Balmer going back south despite Kelly Jackson already Australian bound for the QLD Firebirds but not back to the Steel though as she’s now a Tactix player representing Canterbury alongside Amorangi Malesala.
• With Tactix, Charlie Bell – a towering shooter from Brisbane – is staying in NZ after all by returning to her 2024 club which is excellent news for her playing development offshore. Plus, there’s another QLD Firebirds player joining Bell too in Ash Barnett.
• Kinda surprised to see Waikato BOP Magic not going aggressively for taking players from offshore or even to other teams across the country.
• Magic would instead want to focus on building togetherness within their own DNA like wanting to push Saviour Tui over to GA and have Kate Taylor play upfront instead – interesting take.
• More Aussies now coming through without NZ ties like Aimee Landrigan from Giants to the Northern Stars in Auckland plus both Gold Coast Titans Netball squad players coming over to fill the Southern Steel’s final two playing spots for 2026: Jess Milne & Josie Bingham. 
• Credit to Cat Tuivati who is indeed in charge of the Titans even though they’re not an SSN team right now & she’s glad she had good talks with her former Silver Ferns team-mate & current Steel coach Wendy Frew.

The biggest news of all was Parris Mason staying on with Pulse and Silver Fern Claire O’Brien move down to Auckland-based Stars so she can be closer to home from a plane flight away in Sydney.

Thought Parris would get a Super Netball opportunity who also made her Silver Ferns debut 12 months ago but still needs some time to achieve everything at senior level at such a young age at like 21-22.

Yes, she will have to do that on her own now that Amelia Walmsley and Maddy Gordon have moved out to their own ways. 

At the end of the day though, Parris is ready to bring back a Premiership to the rightful hands of the Pulse despite a tough last 1-2 months with top players already leaving for better opportunities. Maybe that tough window of pain may have left Pulse with a huge rebuilding job but it’s just the start of something new as you never know across 10-12 weeks in 2026.

The same would say with Claire when Jamie-Lee Price wanted to be Melbourne-bound full-time for her Aussie Rules partner Harry Perryman whose wishes were granted with the Mavericks. But then Giants would rather have International quality players with Jo Harten now retired from playing and not even a temporary replacement would help at the Swifts despite Paige Hadley sitting out for the next year due to her ongoing pregnancy.

All in all, staying in NZ was right for COB as having to fly to and back from Sydney within the one three-hour stop was easier for her to pick with the Stars hands down.

Not only that, Claire will also benefit from a superior group including 2nd year Head Coach Temepara Bailey, as there’s no reason why Stars can’t be last anymore by going for Top 3 like it was two years ago.

Premier League Soccer

Finally, some PL soccer even though they’re on hiatus right now due to International Football except the lower leagues like League One & League 2.

It was a busy finish to the summer transfer window with Alexander Isak getting his huge transfer wish from Newcastle to Liverpool valued in the region of £125 million with Nick Woltemade onboard as his replacement sitting near 2m tall!!

As long as Eddie Howe plays him right with the coach’s tactics being good attacking football, they could be good as they can be after all even without Isak – no offence to him since he wants to be a top team by winning continental trophies all the time.

Fortunate enough to watch some of the Wolves v Everton replay from Molineux on 9Go earlier also from the weekend following another tight contest which was a bit like the opening ABs v Springboks match.

Brilliant start by Everton who were fortunate enough to spend well with thanks to Dan Friedkin the new owner and returning manager David Moyes.

Early goals were scored by No.9 Beto and Iliman Ndiaye plus the one early 2nd half strike following half-time from last season’s Chelsea star Kieran Dewsbury-Hall which goes to show it was a huge team effort as seen with in the past when Moyes always knows how to win games.

Yes, Wolves did have some good moments as well including that Rodrigo Gomes strike for the team’s 2nd goal in the 79th minute. Unfortunately, their finishing touches were willy nilly despite their good ball as Moyes’ counter-attack play has prevailed once again with the win by 3-1.

Sure there will be another PL replay or two to come on 9Go every weekend but live and even on-demand access football is only guaranteed on Stan Sport by picking up a sub at anytime for the month 24/7.